Preston Spradlin: My Favorite Drills for Basketball Practice (Team Identity & Defensive Breakdown Drills)

Fresh off of winning the 2021 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament and being named OVC Coach of the Year, Preston Spradlin takes you inside how he coaches basketball at Morehead State. Using a combination of whiteboard presentation and practice video, Coach Spradlin gives you a look into his program's culture and drills that will help you take your team to the next level.

Building an Identity and Culture

In building his basketball program, Spradlin places an emphasis on "effort over our details". Effort has to be part of the program, and a lack of it will lead to the drill starting over from the beginning. It's not just about getting the job done - it's important to get the job done and do it with great effort.

To coach a great defensive team, Coach Spradlin emphasizes effort as well as drills that teach technique and effort. He discusses his non-negotiables that are critical for his team's success. Defensively, communication, stopping straight-line drives, contesting every shot, and being an elite rebounding team are points of emphasis. Meanwhile, offensive non-negotiables are sprinting the floor, execution, avoiding "hunt" shots, and getting three-and-a-half to the glass on all shots.

Drills for Defense and Rebounding

Spradlin begins practice with 5 Spot Closeouts. On the whistle, five players close out to the perimeter with high hands while keeping square to the ball. During this drill, athletes also work on defending against jab steps and dribble drives.

Drills to build the defense are also explained as Coach Spradlin uses a series of 2-on-2 drills. One of these drills is 2-on-2 On/Off Gaps, which teaches defensive positioning in the gaps to guard against middle drives. Along with passes, players work on defending 2-on-2 by jumping to the ball and improving their positioning.

A series of Shell drills are also covered. These drills include 3-on-3 Shell and 4-on-4 Shell, which work on defending against 4-out and 3-out/1-in alignments. The goals of these drills are closing out to the ball, sprinting to the mid-line to help, and having proper position on interchanges. Finally, to teach rebounding and to keep energy and effort levels high, Spradlin uses 4-on-4 Rebounding in a competitive format.

Ball Screen Defense

With the increased use of ball screens in basketball, Coach Spradlin details his principles on how to defend them. The isolation of defending ball screens comes through the Arizona Drill. The emphasis is to get hip-to-hip when guarding the ball and getting foot-to-foot with the ball screener to blow up the screen.

To deal with the increase in open pick & roll actions, a Tag and Scrape drill is used to teach how to communicate "three, loud, and early" and to use the ball-side defender one pass away to tag the roll man. Help-side defenders are also involved to protect against passes to help-side players.

This video from Coach Spradlin succinctly explains how to run a basketball program by creating energy and intensity on both ends of the floor. It's a great video to add to your collection!

90 minutes. 2021.