Teaching Ball Screen Reads, Changing Speeds, Finishing Off of Two Feet, Shooting Drills & More!

with Marqus McGlothan, Eastern Illinois University Associate Head Women's Coach;
Assistant Women's Basketball Coach at St. Cloud State from 2019 to 2020;
2020 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament Championship;
Co-Founder of DTA (Development Through Athletics) Academy;
Head Basketball Coach at North Tartan Nike EYBL;
2019 PrepHoops.com AAU Coach of the Year

Building up your players’ skills and improving their ability to score creates dynamic players. Having a coaching staff that is determined and focused on building players will give your program an edge. Marqus McGlothan is that coach - he is the Associate Head Coach at Eastern Illinois with a seasoned, successful pedigree and focus specializing in basketball skill development and improvement. 

In this instructional basketball coaching video, you will see how Coach McGlothan trains players to finish strong around the rim, become a dynamic shooter and work on ball-screen reads as they attack the rim. 

Finishing, Shooting Series

Players need to learn how to finish within the framework of whatever offense you normally utilize. To reinforce, Coach McGlothan uses a ‘Flare-Screen Drill’ that teaches players how to catch while staying square to the rim to be ready for a shot or take his or her defender off the dribble.

Continuing with a focus on finishing, McGlothan demonstrates a number of skill development drills that show players how to finish through contact – while using two feet and by using a Euro-Step move to finish strong around the rim.

These excellent series of finishing drills are perfect for skill-development sessions and help build players confidence with the basketball.

Getting an ample amount of shooting reps can be a tough thing to work into your practice schedule. To accommodate the need, many coaches will have players stay after or come before practice to get the necessary reps. Coach McGlothan demonstrates several helpful shooting drills you can use within your practice sessions to get players plenty of reps – plus, also include offensive actions.  

In the ‘Crackback Shooting Drill,’ players are working on moving and relocating as teammates drive to the rim and are stopped just before taking a shot, which forces them to execute a kick-out pass to an open teammate. The actions in this drill create confidence in knowing where your teammates will be and removes the panic from their game as they try to find an open teammate after a drive to the rim is thwarted.

In ‘Nugget Shooting,’ McGlothan shows how players are challenged to make three shots in a row from five different spots within a certain amount of time. This drill places an emphasis on getting into shot rhythm and flow, as players work on the move to get shots up.

A drill called ‘Streak Shooting’ takes the same drill concepts and gets players reps up all while being stationary with their feet set – which helps players create a shooting streak.

All of the shooting drills that Coach McGlothan showcases in this section can be used within your daily practice routine and don’t take away time from your strategy-focused segments.

Ball-Screen Series

With the ball screen becoming such an important aspect in today’s game, players become experts at knowing reads and controlling their speeds coming off the screen.

To help develop this skill, Coach McGlothan shows off a favorite drill of his called ‘2-on-2, Ball-Screen-Reads Drill,’ in which players learn the pace at which they have to come off a screen and create a scoring opportunity. By changing speeds,McGlothan explains that you can get your post player open at the rim or create an open lane to get to the rim and finish through contact.

McGlothan takes this drill to the next level by adding another element to it called the ‘Rescreen Action’ where players are denied a paint touch at first, but can use another screen to come back and create a better scoring opportunity. 

Skill development is one of the single-most overlooked aspects of raising the success level of a basketball program. Improving your players collectively, as a group, shows them that you are committed to developing their skill and helping them to become a critically important part of your team.The drills Coach McGlothan shares in this excellent video help you refine your players’ skills and your players will love the competition and reps you are providing them! 

Customer Review: 5 Out of 5 Stars. ‘Excellent skill development sessions! The shooting drills that Coach McGlothan shows are great ways to get players shots up during your practice.’

44 minutes. 2023.