Practice Drills to Improve Skills that Complement a Motion Offense

with Kelly Graves,
University of Oregon Women's Head Coach;
3x Pac-12 Regular Season Champions;
2019 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Final Four;
2x Pac-12 Tournament Champions;
2017 & 2018 NCAA Women's Basketball Elite Eight;
2x Pac-12 Coach of the Year;
Gonzaga University Women's Head Coach from 2000 to 2014;
8x West Coast Conference Coach of the Year;
10x WCC Regular Season Champions;
7x WCC Tournament Champions;
USA Women's Basketball U19 Team - Assistant Coach;
2013 FIBA World Champions (Gold medal)

Kelly Graves is no stranger to success. With coaching stints at St. Mary's, Gonzaga and Oregon, he has amassed over 640 wins. He has done this through old school habits and focusing on fundamentals.

Through simple drills, Graves is able to prove the saying: "It's not what you teach, but what you emphasize." His teams at Oregon have developed numerous WNBA draft picks, including three top 10 picks (and the #1 overall pick) in the 2020 draft. In this video, Coach Graves describes his core offensive philosophy and demonstrates some of the drills that have helped Oregon develop into an offensive juggernaut.

Daily Habits/Vitamins

Developing good habits leads to success. Coach Graves outlines the daily vitamins, as he calls them, that have led to the success of his program. Beginning each practice with stationary and on the move ball handling puts all of his players - guards, forwards, and centers - above the competition. In the Sue Bird drill, players work on attacking the basket and retreating from pressure. This has helped his teams develop their composure and ability to handle pressure.

In Graves' Peer Pressure drills, players focus on passing and catching. Using the 5 man weave drill, players work on their communication, catching and passing at a high rate of speed. Every player must touch the ball before they can come back. Making a mistake can lead to doing it over or extra conditioning, which causes teammates to put pressure on each other and hold each other accountable for their mistakes. These types of drills have helped Oregon have a 1.91 assist/TO ratio (first in the nation in 2020) and average 21.1 assists per game (2nd in the nation in 2020).

Developing consistent, great shooters has helped Oregon's field goal percentage considerably. By shooting a lot in practice, Coach Graves' players have gotten plenty of reps and developed good shooting habits. They also know who should be shooting the basketball and where they should be shooting on the floor. In Green Light Shooting, athletes work on making shots around the perimeter. Players have to average 25 or more makes in order to get the green light during games. This gives players a chance to prove they can knock down shots and provides evidence that they can shoot. Coach Graves also puts players in situations where they come off of actions - down screens, flare screens, curls, etc. - in order to work on getting shots up from game spots using game speed.

Question & Answer

Rounding out this webinar, Graves takes questions about his offensive philosophy. From how he structures his practices to get up shots, to how he incorporates analytics into his game preparation, you'll hear answers for some of the most pressing questions you want to know. His insights provide a great perspective on how to mesh old school principles with new school analytics.

Coach Graves' offense continues to be one of the best in the country. In this video, he provides excellent clips and details on how to use simple drills to build fundamentals and find success on offense. You are sure to take a few drills and concepts with you to emphasize in your practices!

62 minutes. 2021.