Bob Huggins Open Practice 2-Pack

with Bob Huggins,
West Virginia University Head Coach from 2007 to 2023;
2022 Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame inductee;
935 career wins (#3 all time for Division I coach);
2015 Big-12 Coach of the Year;
2015 Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year;
2010 Final Four;
2010 Big East Tournament Champions;
Kansas State Head Coach from 2006 to 2007;
Cincinnati Head Coach from 1989 to 2005;
C-USA Coach of the Decade (2005);
3x C-USA Coach of the Year;
1992 Final Four;
8x C-USA Regular Season Champions;
Akron Head Coach from 1984 to 1989;
1986 OVC Coach of the Year;
played collegiately for West Virginia

Hall of Fame coach Bob Huggins opens the doors to a defensive-oriented practice. You'll see how he builds his full and half-court pressure defenses, which led the nation in forced turnovers in 2014-15. Using whiteboard lectures and practice footage, you will learn Huggins' philosophy and many of the strategies and drills that he uses to develop this style of defense.

Defensive Philosophy

Coach Huggins whiteboards his designs of cutting the court in half in order to shrink spacing and better enable trapping areas. Huggins speaks of the various traits prevalent to good team defense and his up-the-line / on-the-line style, such as disrupting the opponent's attack, taking away vision and not allowing direct passes. Other topics discussed are the West Virginia approach to defending the pick & roll, when to trap, guarding an inbound pass, scouting, rebounding and toughness.

Up-the-Line, On-the-Line Drills

With a high-level approach to team defense consisting of all help defenders positioning themselves directly on a line between the passer and their man, Coach Huggins and his staff use several variations of break down drills to help teach the proper angles on close-outs and 1- or 2-pass positioning.

Using 2-on-2 (as well as 4-on-4) drills with the aid of an unguarded manager, Huggins stresses the need for proper angles to be taken on every close-out, weak side on-the-line help positioning in order to deny direct line passes, and applying ball pressure to disrupt vision. "Pushing" the ball towards the sidelines and off of the 3-point line is a common theme. Back-door cuts, proper angles when rolling off of back-screens and pin-down screens are also emphasized, as every detail regarding the angles taken fall under Huggins' watchful eye.

These breakdown drills progress up to 4-on-4 drills that work on positioning and help defense before culminating in the "4-on-4+1" drill that puts the defense at a disadvantage by forcing them to have to communicate and scramble to defend an extra player.

Position-Specific Drills

Perimeter players work on close outs and handling jabs while applying maximum on-ball pressure. Post players work through five different drills with a special emphasis on improving their on-ball defense. Drills, such as the 1-on-1 Fast Break, challenge post players to protect the rim versus an attacker coming at them with a full-speed dribble.

Full Court Pressure

Coach Huggins describes the press as something that isn't easy to diagram, as it's based on exploiting your opponent's weaknesses and taking away their strengths. To compliment his white board lecture, you will see five breakdown drills in practice. The Flick Drill teaches players how to create fast break opportunities by forcing a turnover with a back tip to a teammate. Post players work on playing "up the line" to deny flash cuts by offensive players up the sideline. You will also see how back line defenders shift from denial defense to make interceptions as a help defender as the ball moves. Posts also practice working on protecting the rim against 2-on-1's by forcing an extra pass. Guards at the front of the defense work on denying the inbound pass to the point guard and forcing the dribble up the sideline.

These practice drills from Coach Huggins will show you how to force more turnovers and raise the pressure of your defensive system.

111 minutes. 2015.

with Bob Huggins,
West Virginia University Head Coach from 2007 to 2023;
2022 Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame inductee;
935 career wins (#3 all time for Division I coach);
2015 Big-12 Coach of the Year;
2015 Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year;
2010 Final Four;
2010 Big East Tournament Champions;
Kansas State Head Coach from 2006 to 2007;
Cincinnati Head Coach from 1989 to 2005;
C-USA Coach of the Decade (2005);
3x C-USA Coach of the Year;
1992 Final Four;
8x C-USA Regular Season Champions;
Akron Head Coach from 1984 to 1989;
1986 OVC Coach of the Year;
played collegiately for West Virginia

Fearing that too many play calls from the sideline yields robotic players, Hall of Fame coach Bob Huggins instead leans to a free-flowing, open-post style offensive scheme in order to help players feel comfortable and make plays on the court.

In an open-practice setting, Coach Huggins discusses how to build this style of motion offense with individual and team breakdown drills. You will get to see the motion offense and set plays that West Virginia uses in action through competitive segments in practice.

Motion Offense

Learn how to instill the passing and cutting skills necessary to run the Open Post motion with the Straight Line Cuts and 5-on-0 Backdoor drill. Both of these drills work on technique, spacing and timing for players to get open for the ball while filling to the next spot or a backdoor versus a defensive overplay. You will see how Coach Huggins uses the screen away to free up players by curling or rejecting the screens.

The playbook opens more as viewers witness how the motion-based offense flows into flex sets, 1-4 sets, and single/double screen situations. The segment ends with a full-court, 5-on-5 look that sees Huggins repeatedly stop play to instruct on errors in spacing, timing, effort and flaws in decision making, depending on how each set is defended.

In addition, Coach Huggins uses the whiteboard to diagram his 3-man screen-the-screener action that can be run out of the open post motion. You will then learn all of the teaching points for this set play as Coach Huggins has players demonstrating a variety of actions that can be run with this set.

Positional Drills: Posts

Post players go through over 11 individual-based drills that work on move sets (jump hooks, reverse pivots, drop steps), screening (roll vs pop) and duck-ins while also fine tuning their shooting range from 15 feet and in. All shots attempted are the types of shots they will see within the motion offense.

In the Reject, Backdoor, Post exercise, a post player cuts from the corner to the wing while simulating setting a screen, before executing a backdoor cut to the post. The drill incorporates both perimeter-based actions that the post player will be presented with (filling the wing, backdoor cuts) as well as the inside opportunities that will be available if open on the cut (individual offense on the block).

Positional Drills: Guards

The guard position is paced through various drills that work on over 14 different shot types. Catch and shoot 15-footers, catch and shoot 3-pointers, pump-fakes, 1 dribble pull-ups (both directions), 2 dribble change-in-direction moves and middle drive pull-up jumpers are all on display as players build an offensive repertoire not only to benefit themselves, but also to create shot opportunities for teammates.

All drills are partner-based and involve a ball handler driving down the center lane from half-court and executing a move in order to set up a drive-n-kick shot attempt for a teammate, before relocating and receiving a pass from a coach for a shot of their own. The shot types on display are done at game speed and are designed to improve on the perimeter-based skill level required to function within the offensive scheme.

Come see how Coach Huggins, a guru of the open post motion, develops his offense with this inside look at a West Virginia practice.

97 minutes. 2015.