All Access Basketball Practice with Cuonzo Martin

with Cuonzo Martin,
Missouri State Head Coach;
Missouri Head Coach from 2017 to 2022;
California Head Coach from 2014 to 2017;
Tennessee Head Coach from 2011 to 2014;
Missouri State Head Coach from 2009 to 2011;
2011 MVC Coach of the Year;
MVC Regular Season Champions;
2011 Ben Jobe Award;
2010 CIT Champions;
played college basketball (Purdue) then professionally (NBA & CBA)

Cuonzo Martin has experienced success everywhere he's been. From his playing days at Purdue to leading Missouri St, Tennessee, and California to winning seasons, Coach Martin knows what's required to develop a great program.

In this presentation, Martin opens the gym doors for two all-access practice sessions. From offense to defense to transition development, Coach Martin demonstrates it all for you to observe and apply to your own team.

Practice 1:

Coach Martin begins by diving into his practice philosophy, defensive philosophy, and offensive philosophy, leading into how he builds his practice drills for each session.

Coach Martin builds his transition offense by demonstrating his Through Action. This action is great for any team that is looking to add an up-tempo transition set that utilizes post play. The Bears run their secondary set in both a 5-on-0 setting and against a defense. This set features a cross screen for a post-up followed by a down screen (screen-the-screener action).

Additionally, the Bears demonstrate their Progression Drill that starts with a 2-on-1 break and builds all the way up to a 5-on-5 scenario. The Rush Drill works on defending a 5-on-4 scenario the length of the floor with a trailing defending. This drill forces the defense, which is at a disadvantage to start, to communicate.

Defensively, the Golden Bears place an emphasis on closeouts, which focus on containing the dribble while contesting a potential shot. Coach Martin uses a 2-on-2 drill to work on defending three types of specific screens: pin downs, flare screens and back screens. The staff uses position breakdown drills to brush up on defending ball screens with their "weak" pick and roll coverage. Coach Martin puts everything together in their 4-on-4 Defensive Shell Drill.

Skill development is completed by position on this disc. The guards work on ball handling, mid-range shooting, and using ball screens in their station work. Meanwhile, the post players work on post moves, footwork and finishing.

Practice 2:

Coach Martin demonstrates how to break out your players into position development. He shows how to maximize your time in practice and improve your players' skill sets. With each group, he teaches how to defend the ball screen; his bigs utilize their weak action, and the guards force the ball to the left side of the floor. This leads to 5v5, putting it all together and teaching the entirety of ball screen defense.

Coach Martin uses the same philosophy to teach his half court defense. You'll observe a 4v4 shell drill that works to build technique and teach parts of the defense before Coach Martin allows his players to go up and down the floor. Players are able to combine everything they've learned over the past two practice sessions into a 5v5 scrimmage session. At the end of practice, the half court ball screen "weak" defense is revisited, focusing on technique.

This is an excellent video that demonstrates how Coach Martin is able to teach his players new concepts and points within his offensive and defensive philosophies. If you are looking to add some skill development drills and ball screen concepts on both the offensive and defensive end, this is the perfect video for you.

220 minutes (2 videos). 2016.