Open Practice: Offensive Drills and Strategies

Take your ball screen offense to the next level! Coach Bob Hoffman focuses on offense and the various plays you can implement to make your offense more adaptable and less predictable. In 2014, Coach Hoffman led the Bears to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1985.

Using chalk talk and live practice footage, Coach Hoffman shares the ins and outs of his system from transition offense to quick hitters to zone offense and more. A key element of Coach Hoffman's offensive philosophy is to keep plays simple yet adaptable in setup and execution to keep opponents guessing.

Before hitting the court, Coach Hoffman explains the offensive philosophy behind his mode of attack. He believes a fast tempo secondary transition is a crucial element. Using the whiteboard, he covers some of the different quick hitters he uses in his version of the Carolina Break. These actions are utilized based on defensive reads and can easily flow into the main offense if a scoring opportunity does not immediately present itself.

Coach Hoffman shares two examples of box set plays used by his teams to score off of delayed ball screens. Both of these plays make use of some early screening action to transform into any Horns set you'd like to run.

Believing that dead ball situations should be viewed as opportunities to score instead of just getting the ball in, Coach Hoffman shows you two baseline inbounds plays to attack man or zone defenses.

Once Hoffman's team hits the court for practice, you'll see more plays from their ball screen offense. In both 5-on-0 half-court and full-court practice segments, players work through scoring options in their transition offense and also run through several series of plays in their early offense.

With the Double, both posts set up a double ball screen in transition that the point guard can use or reject to initiate different options. Use this play to confuse the defense over who has help responsibilities on the ball handler or the roll player. Chin offers set plays that use a down screen to free up a post to run into a high-ball screen without a defender in position to help. You'll also learn how to flow into early ball screens in your transition offense along with a couple variations to the play that will help you tweak this basic action.

This practice also gives you a chance to look at other aspects of the Mercer offensive system. You'll see a review of four baseline inbounds plays that make use of stagger screens and screen-the-screener actions.

Coach Hoffman practices his zone offense against a 1-2-2 zone defense with the "Muscle" and "Muscle Runner" set plays. Both of these plays overload the defense and create post-up opportunities against the zone with a high ball screen and quick reversal to a corner shooter.

You'll also learn how to confidently advance the ball against full-court defenses with a simple press offense.

This presentation is a culmination of over 25 years of coaching offense. Coach Hoffman has created a diverse and adaptable offensive strategy that is easily learned and used by his players. These strategies will keep you in the driver's seat while your opponents are left guessing.

86 minutes. 2015.