All Access Basketball Practice with Mike Anderson

Mike Anderson is no stranger to playing up-tempo, fast paced basketball. As a part of the Arkansas basketball program in the early 90's, he assisted legendary coach Nolan Richardson during a National Title run utilizing speed, pressure defense and playing 40 minutes of hard nose basketball. Now, as head coach of the University of Arkansas, he practices some of those same principles as he guides his teams.

This All Access video gives you a look at how Coach Anderson puts together practices that push his players to play 40 minutes of fast-paced basketball every time they take the floor.

These live practices take place two weeks into the start of the season and with a little over two weeks remaining before the team's first game. Anderson emphasizes reducing turnovers, getting out on the fast break, and individual defensive intensity. The majority of the team's skill development and drill work is done in the full court with a special emphasis on pressure defense and getting up and down the floor quickly.

These practices are filled with ideas and drills for developing fast break offense and full court pressure defense.

Practice 1
Practice one of this three practice package delivers a heavy emphasis on skill development. You will see time-saving practice drills that simultaneously work on passing, footwork, ball handling, and shooting.

In the Two-Ball Shooting Drill, players improve shooting accuracy while shooting off the dribble and while taking spot-up shots. During guard/post breakdowns, the perimeter players work on attacking the rim and playing through contact while the bigs practice footwork and post moves.

You will see defensive breakdown drills like the "1-on-1 Drill" that works on denying passes to the wing and forcing the ball baseline. You'll also see 2-on-2 drills for developing defensive awareness, while stressing wing and post denial.

The Arkansas coaching staff reviews offensive sets vs. man defense. The squad runs plays 5-on-0 and practices running each option of the play while developing spacing and timing.

Coach Anderson's team also reviews some of their secondary break options while running dry in a full-court up-and-down scenario. Practice closes with live 5-on-5 action with Anderson focusing heavily on the team's half-court, attacking, trapping, zone defensive system.

Practice 2
In this practice, the intensity of the workout is ramped up with a bulk of the session devoted to 5-on-5 competitive scrimmages. Players are pushed to use their skills and fundamentals at game speed.

The warm-up consists of a variety of defensive and offensive drills like the 1-on-1 Zig Zag, which has players guard the ball the full length of the court, and the Medicine Ball Weave that develops strength as they run the floor.

The skill development segment has the posts working on multiple skills such as curl shooting, rebounding, finishing, v-cut attack moves and 3-on-3 in the half court. Guards work on shooting back screens and pin down screens. Coach Anderson also incorporates some 2-on-2 and 3-on-3 controlled scrimmage drills into the segment.

In the 5-on-5 scrimmages, players work on multiple aspects of the Arkansas up-tempo philosophy including their fast break offense, half court man-to-man defense, 41 full court press, and match-up zone defense.

Practice 3
Practice three begins with post players working on skip passing, re-posting, screening, wing catch attacks and passing. Guards work on catch and shoot, one dribble pull ups and dribble hand offs.

You will see a breakdown of defensive skills beginning with proper trapping then moving to post defense and 2-on-2 rebound outlet. The 5-on-4 drill has players scrambling and communicating as a team to get a defensive stop in a disadvantage situation.

Coach Anderson gives an extended look into how they run their 2-2-1 press, which ends in a half-court trapping 2-3 zone in "Full Court 5-on- 5." From there you see their pressure man defense.

Special situations like running off free throws is also covered giving you a comprehensive look into the full-court pressure system.

Practice ends with "Shooting Game," a competitive partner drill that works on conditioning and hitting different types of game shots from game spots.

These practices are a valuable resource for any coach who wants insight into what it takes to be successful running a pressure-oriented system.

257 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!