Open Practice with Kelvin Sampson: Shell Drill to Emphasize Rotations & Helpside Defense + Game Shots at Game Speed

with Kelvin Sampson,
University of Houston Head Men's Coach;
2025 NCAA National Championship Runner-Up;
2025 CBS Sports National Coach of the Year
2025 Sporting News National Coach of the Year
2025 NABC Division I Gulf Region Coach of the Year
2025 Big XII Coach of the Year
2025 Big XII Regular Season Champions
2025 Big XII Tournament Champions
2024 NABC Division I Coach of the Year;
2024 Henry Iba Award;
2024 Big XII Regular Season Champions;
2024 Big XII Coach of the Year;
4x American Athletic Conference (AAC) Coach of the Year (2018, 2019, 2022, 2023);
2022 Ben Jobe Award;
2022 CBS Sports National Coach of the Year;
2021 Coach John McLendon Award;
2021 NCAA Final Four;
2021 & 2022 AAC Tournament Champions;
4x AAC Conference Regular Season Champions;
Houston Rockets (NBA) Assistant Coach from 2011 to 2014;
Milwaukee Bucks (NBA) Assistant Coach from 2008 to 2011;
Indiana Head Coach from 2006 to 2008;
Oklahoma Head Coach from 1994 to 2006;
2x Big XII Regular Season Champions;
3x Big XII Tournament Champions;
2002 NABC Division I Coach of the Year;
2002 NCAA Final Four;
1995 AP Coach of the Year;
1995 Henry Iba Award;
1995 Big Eight Coach of the Year;
Washington State Head Coach from 1987 to 1994;
1991 Pac-10 Coach of the Year;
Montana Tech Head Coach from 1981 to 1985;
2x Frontier Regular Season Champions;
3x Frontier Tournament Champions;
2x Frontier Coach of the Year;
Michigan State Graduate Assistant Coach from 1979 to 1980 (under Jud Heathcote);
played college basketball for UNC Pembroke

Longtime head coach Kelvin Sampson has coached at every level. From guiding Oklahoma to the 2002 Final Four to several years as a coach in the NBA, he has coached some of the best in the game and gotten the most out of them.  Sampson has guided the Houston Cougars back to greatness over the past few seasons taking them to two Sweet 16's, 1 Elite Eight, and 1 Final Four. All of this has been done through reinforcement of simple principles and teachings every day in practice.  

In this terrific Open Practice video session, Coach Sampson takes you through a deep dive into how they have used Shell Drill to build their defense into a powerful, recurring nightmare for opposing teams plus an excellent 'game shots at game speed' session that will invigorate your ideas for your own team's shooting practice!!

Game Shots at Game Speed

Coach Sampson demonstrates a variety of warm up shooting drills and breakdown shooting drills to teach actions within their offense.  

In 3 Man Weave Shooting, all three players will get a shot up within their range and move quickly.  This allows players to flow into transition offense and look for shots they will get up in game play.  

Once loose, you will see a variety of actions Houston uses within their half court offense. From Shake Shots for a throw back 3 off of a pick and roll to Pop Shots looking for the post player rolling off of the pick and roll you will learn the terminology used in today's game to go along with dynamic actions to add to your offense.

Shell Drill

A staple in everyone's practice, Shell Drill is where defensive principles are taught!

Players learn the basic movements of helpside defense. Defenses learn to become a team and play together as one.  As Coach Sampson refers to it, "Shell Drill is the Genesis of defense!"

In this practice session, you will see players actively learning how to do their job.  Beginning with simple positioning Sampson shows you how to build up to 5v5 live play all while stopping and instructing players on where they need to be.  That emphasis will help players stop Baseline drives, slot drives, and wing drives.  If your teammate gets beat, learn when and where to rotate and stunt over preventing easy paint touches. 

As Sampson puts it, post players get in foul trouble when we don't rotate.  This is no ordinary Shell Drill - this Shell Drill demonstrates the complete build of Sampson's vaunted defense!

Being one of the top teams in the country year after year requires a certain level of defense and this video is where you will see how Sampson and staff emphasize rotations and helpside defense.

It's no secret why Kelvin Sampson-coached teams become among the top teams in the country year after year - it's the lock down defense -  practiced relentlessly - that makes them tough to score on!  From a simple closeout that sticks the high hand to learning how to move as a team in shell drill, Sampson's defense is superior!  In this information-packed Open Practice video, Sampson lays out the steps needed to build a top level defense.  You won't want to miss out on this detailed breakdown of how to play team defense!

Customer Review: 5 out of 5 stars - 

"It is a treat to watch Coach Sampson and his attention to detail on defense using shell drill.  A must-have for any coach looking to gain an edge on defense! This is my new go-to video for improving our defensive practices!" 

149 minutes. 2024.