Open Practice with Jeff Jones: Sets That Use Multiple Cuts & Screens, Daily Defensive Work, Half-Court Offense & More!

with Jeff Jones,
Old Dominion University Head Men's Coach from 2013 to 2024;
2019 Conference USA Coach of the Year;
2019 Conference USA Regular Season Champions;
2019 Conference USA Tournament Champions;
American University Head Coach from 2000 to 2013;
2x Patriot League Coach of the Year ('02, '09);
2x Patriot League Tournament Champions ('08, '09);
4x Patriot League Regular Season Champions ('02, '04, '08, '09);
Rhode Island Assistant Coach from 1999 to 2000;
University of Virginia Head Coach from 1990 to 1998;
played college basketball for Virginia (point guard)

In this Open Practice instructional coaching video, Jeff Jones takes you on an exclusive journey inside the Old Dominion practice facility for an up-close look at two of his daily workouts that emphasize all elements of the game.  

Utilizing the structure of an organized practice – complete with on-the-court demonstrations and coaching points-of-emphasis – Coach Jones demonstrates his practice techniques for offense, defense, player development and situational basketball throughout a set of fully loaded practices.

Covering a wide range of topics that are critical to his team’s success throughout a season, Coach Jones offers a wide array of coaching information that you’ll be able to immediately add to your own practices.

PRACTICE NO. 1: Warmups, Daily Points-of-Emphasis (Skills, Offense & Defense)

Coach Jones goes through various daily warm ups, which include offensive and defensive work that you can use as your ‘daily basketball vitamins’ to build and improve player development. 

Included in the initial segment, is a valuable full-court, passing-drill that Coach Jones uses to emphasize the importance of beating pressure defense, while building an aggressive press-break offense. 

As an offensive point-of-emphasis, Coach Jones uses another early segment to focus on improving his players’ ability to get open on offense, as well as how to properly use their feet to rip toward the basket to get paint touches. 

Defensive Segment

To improve defensive skills, Coach Jones dives into the next practice, which features how to execute proper on-the-ball defense and utilizing smothering close-out techniques on a shooter, while preventing a drive to the basket. 

Coach Jones then moves on to a terrific segment focusing on proper ball-screen coverage, while also covering strategies for securing defensive rebounds while the opponent is shooting foul shots.

From there, Coach Jones breaks down critically important elements of his 3-2 zone defense – including a detailed lesson on top-line and back-line slides and responsibilities. 

Offensive Segment

Beginning with an in-depth presentation on his press-break attack, Coach Jones provides an inside look at his press offense – beginning with a 5-on-0 situation and graduating to 5-on-5 live action. This segment is very strong on details and is sure to provide you with quite a few new wrinkles to add into your own press-break offense. Next, the Monarch’s head coach dives into a variety of game-like situations for both BLOB and SLOB scenarios, offering up great plays you’ll want to keep in your back pocket for those tight games.

Coach breaks down multiple sets in a 5 on 0 situation within the half court. He then has multiple segments throughout practice with 5 on 5 situations executing these various actions in the half court.  He places a teaching emphasis on the defensive side as well. 

In a good scouting segment, Coach Jones breaks down a 5-on-5 half-court situation focusing specifically on how to use their 3-2 zone against various actions in preparation for a future opponent on their schedule. 

Coach Jones ends Practice No. 1, with a demonstration of his ‘Full-Court, Layup Drill’ which features a priority point-of-emphasis on advancing the ball full-court while using the fewest amount of dribbles.

PRACTICE NO. 2: The Next Day

The second of this two-part Open Practice coaching presentation, follows the same structure as Practice No. 1, focusing on ‘daily basketball vitamins’ to improve fundamentals, and segments on half-court offense, defense and full-court press-break offense. 

This second look at a similar structure, allows you to see the development of these aspects over a two-day period, especially as Coach Jones builds in and adds additional emphasis and details between the days.  This time, though, Coach Jones ends Practice No. 2, with a demonstration of multiple shooting and skill-development drills – including two of his go-to favorites, the ‘5-Minute 3’s Workout’ and ‘Pressure Free Throws.’  

Presented over two practices, this Open Practice instructional coaching video is just jam-packed with valuable information and key strategies that will help you win more games.In addition, you are looking to expand and develop your press offense, while adding in offensive sets and all-around skill-development work, then this is a must-own video for you.

The exploration of the basics of Coach 3-2 Zone Defense is essential for coaches at all levels of coaching to see, as it offers fresh perspective on something you can implement based upon your scouting of an opponent.   

Customer Review: 5 Out of 5 Stars. ‘Excellent video! This is the best ‘Open Practice’ video that I’ve ever seen! The video is filled with valuable coaching lessons and drills that show concepts a coach can easily implement with their own team. In particular, the press-break segment is extremely strong. It is also great to see how Coach Jones takes a similar practice plan, develops its structure – only to modify it slightly to achieve his coaching goals – while executed over a two-day period!’

115 minutes. 2023.