All Access Basketball Practice with Mark Few

with Mark Few,Gonzaga University Head Coach;
Highest winning percentage (.836) in NCAA Division I basketball (min. 600 games);
2021 National Championship Runner-up;
2021 NABC Coach of the Year;
2021 Naismith Coach of the Year;
2017 NCAA National Runner-Up;
2017 AP Coach of the Year;
2017 Naismith Coach of the Year;
2017 Henry Iba Award;
2017 NABC Coach of the Year;
21 consecutive seasons in NCAA Tournament (2000-2021) with 10 Sweet Sixteens, 4 Elite Eights and 2 National Championship Appearance;
14x WCC Coach of the Year;
over 625 career wins;
Six straight WCC Regular Season and Tournament Championships (2013-18);
through 2021, has led Gonzaga to 20 Regular Season and 17 Tournament titles

Efficient is the word to describe Mark Few's practices. Every minute of every drill is used to improve his players' skills and understanding of the game. Coach Few opens the doors to the first three practices of the 2014-15 season, which resulted in his 11th West Coast Conference crown and an Elite Eight appearance in the 2015 NCAA Tournament.

Practice 1
In Gonzaga's first practice of the 2014-2015 season, you will see live, unedited practice footage of the Bulldogs working on defense, transition, and half-court offensive execution. Using breakdown drills, Coach Few introduces the principles and fundamentals of man-to-man defense. In the "3 v 3 Circle Drill," players work on close outs, defensive positioning, and "bluff and recover" to help on dribble penetration.

On the offensive side, a mix of breakdown drills to improve passing and shooting are taught. In the "In/Out Shooting" and "Angle Passing" drills, you'll learn how to teach common actions. The Bulldogs also begin to develop their offensive system using 10 set plays.

Throughout the practice, you'll see how Coach Few breaks down the whole to ensure players learn how to do the little things - which leads to getting the big things accomplished. Coach Few and his staff are constantly communicating and teaching. Every mistake is addressed and every success is acknowledged.

Practice 2
Coach Few continues establishing the foundation of his defensive system. Many of the drills emphasize raising the intensity of the on-ball pressure. In the "Z Drill" and "Snake Pit," defenders focus on keeping the ball in front of them. The "Pressure Trap Drill" teaches players to aggressively play for deflections. In another major defensive segment, the team focuses on coordinating with one another to defend ball screens with hard shows, soft shows, traps, switches, and X-outs.

The team breaks down by position for individual skill work. The post players work on high/low entries and finishing in the post while the guards drill driving, spacing, and relocating. Both guards and bigs simulate the shots that they will get in Gonzaga's half-court offense. The practice session concludes with a 5-on-5 half-court scrimmage. Coach Few goes into the detail teaching the Bulldogs' set versus man-to-man defense. He stresses making the proper reads and knowing the fundamentals of each play.

Practice 3
The building blocks of offensive and defensive strategies continue to be emphasized in the third practice. To read ball screens effectively, new drills are introduced to teach players how to quickly dismantle defensive reactions. After working on fundamentals, the Bulldogs work on defending off-ball screens and helping on drives.

Coach Few introduces "icing" the pick-and-roll in this practice. Icing is a ball screen defense in the NBA that forces the ball handler, in a side pick and roll, towards the baseline and away from the middle. Gonzaga's Blue coverage is also introduced. Blue is a big-on-big double on the post when the offense has three on the perimeter and two inside. Coach Few goes over how to trap and rotate. In 4-on-4 shell drill, the Bulldogs use a scoring system that rewards defense in various ways.

On offense, breakdown drills are used to teach players how to make reads out of side ball screen situations. Full-court drills such as "Laker Break" and "Rebound to Break" are used to show players how to score in transition off a fast break or to flow into their half-court offense while keeping the defense on their heels.

In the guard/forward skill segment, each position learns how to battle for rebounds. Practice ends with a 5-on-5 scrimmage where defensive efforts win the game.

As you watch this presentation, it becomes clear why the Gonzaga program has been so successful over the past 15 years. As a coach, you'll have the opportunity to learn different drills and sets that you can implement into your program. Understanding and then teaching these principles will help teams regardless of age and skill level to play smarter and more effectively.

378 minutes (3 videos). 2015.

All Access videos are designed to allow viewers from all over the world to see how successful coaches run their practices in a "live" practice setting. All Access videos allow viewers to see the practices un-edited and in real-time. You will see how top coaches run their drills, interact with their team and staff, how they motivate their team, the cue words they use, the atmosphere of the practice and how practices are structured from day to day. Many coaches visit successful colleges and high schools to watch practice. But if you live out of state or out of the country, visiting another coach's gym can be costly. That's why we created the All Access Practice Series of videos -- to bring the practices to you!