Issue 1: Transition Defense, Intro, Scouting Hoops, & Memphis Dribble Drive
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Transition Defense – Are You Tom Izzo or Dick Bennett?
If you ask most coaches to describe what the game of
basketball is when you simplify it to its basic principles they
will give you offense and defense. While this is true, Bobby
Knight believes that transition is a critical component of
sound basketball. In a worse cast scenario, if your players
aren’t crashing the glass for the offensive rebound and they
aren’t back in transition, then where the heck are they? We
are going to examine where they should be in regards to
two different philosophies on what a team should do after
a missed shot.
Offensive Rebounding or Limiting Transition Opportunities
As a coach you basically have to choose between two
options in regards to basketball transition defense.
Remember that you can’t be good at everything or you are
going to be good at nothing. For example, if you try to crash
the offensive glass, but you expect the other team not to
score any lay-ups in transition then you are setting your
basketball team up for failure. CHOOSE and EMPHASIZE
your basketball philosophy based on the talent of your
team. Also remember that the philosophy a coach chooses
should mirror their offensive basketball philosophy. I would
like to present the two basic philosophies that most
coaches adopt in regards to basketball transition defense.
"Most of my learning
and philosophy
regarding coaching
basketball was
developed after great
frustration." -- Coach
Dick Bennett
"As coaches we talk
about two things: offense
and defense. There is a
third phase we neglect,
which is more important.
It's conversion from
offense to defense and
defense to offense." -Coach Bobby Knight
The Philosophy to Offensive Rebound
Tom Izzo, the great coach at Michigan State, has built his program on the belief that most
teams aren’t good at the defensive box out. His teams are among the nation’s leaders in
rebounding margin (+11.7) since he took over the Spartan program. He spends at least 15
minutes each practice on teaching his players the habits to crash the offensive boards. They
fight and compete to tip the ball, keep it alive, and own the offensive glass. A byproduct of
this hard work is that his teams are fantastic at defensive box outs because they are used to
going to “war” a rebounding drill he uses each day in practice. For more information, take a
look at his DVD: Tom Izzo-Dominating Rebounding & Man to Man Defensive Drills.
Basic Offensive Rebounding Principles
•Choose if you are more athletic than the best teams in your conference
•Point guard to half court line and everyone else to the paint to rebound
•Stress that 70% of all rebounds come opposite – overload that side on shots
•Practice and chart – do your players get 4 to the paint and the PG to half court in your
drills? Offense? Defense?
•Teach them to tap the ball against the backboard if they can’t come down with it
•Keep the ball alive – TIP it!
•Celebrate offensive rebounding
•Never accept it, but be prepared to see teams fast break more often
The Philosophy of Limiting Fast Break Opportunities
On the other hand, another great coach that believes coaches have control over transition,
Dick Bennett formerly of Washington State, would send two and sometimes three players
back depending on the opponent in an effort to neutralize fast break opportunities. His
teams traditionally held opponents under 60 points per game. Coach Bennett’s philosophy
was that his team was better than your team at half court execution on offense and
defense. His teams only pressed if behind in games late and they played strictly man to man
defense. In other words, his teams were simple to prepare for, but difficult to beat because
of their execution.
Visit www.basketballcoachesclub.blogspot.com for more topics!
Scouting Hoops is a webpage designed by Jamie Angeli and it offers all
the best programs in America broken down into sets, press breaks, zone
offenses, under outs, side outs, etc. Test Drive it today!
Basic Principles of Limiting Transition Opportunities
•Choose if you are less athletic than the best teams in your conference
•Send the PG to the opposite FT line and the Off Guard to the half court line
•Another option is to also send the shooter back immediately against superior teams
along with the two guards
•Stress that we are not giving up ANY transition lay-ups
•Work on defending scramble situations in the full court every day
•Teach how you want to match-up and remember that open shots NOT match-ups beat
you
•Practice and chart – do your players have defensive balance in your drills? Offense?
Defense?
•Choose offensive sets that allow for defensive balance; For example: stay away from
1-4 low sets or the Flex. Instead use 2-3 high sets or 4 out 1 in motion offense
Prepare them the best you can so that your team can achieve to the best of their
potential because you put them in the best situation to succeed. Transition defense is
often overlooked and the main thing a coach needs to do is decide from Day 1 what
their team is going to do in regards to defensive transition. Teach that all year long and
emphasize it in practices and games. I hope this article has helped you to better
understand the two basic philosophies of transition defense.
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this newsletter is to introduce some popular
topics in basketball today and to provide something of interest
for coaches at every level. If you have any ideas about how to
improve this newsletter, please email me at
coachdeforest@gmail. I hope you find this of use and we cover
the topics that interest you the most. We are going to discuss
the current offensive trends such as the Memphis Dribble
Motion and its hybrids as well as other trends in basketball.
Please forward this to anyone that you think may want to
subscribe to future newsletters. Thank you again.
Visit www.basketballcoachesclub.blogspot.com for info.
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Offense
Memphis
The 4-1 drive and kick offense is something that we picked up from The
University of Memphis, and have absolutly fallen in love with. It fits in to what
we want to do, and the personel that we have. Make sure to read the literature
page for more info on what we have found through research.
Here is our alignment out of our primary transition. This is the only time that
the 5 will be on the ballside block, as once penetration starts, 5 will bail
backside to create a lane for the ball.
Players
1) Pt guard: Attacks off the dribble well, good playmaking ability, and able to
get to the rim out of transition.
2) Shooting guard: Decent shooter, but real good about getting to the rim off of
penetration. Almost a slasher type of player, but can hit an occasional 3 on a
kick out.
3) Off guard: Terminology is probably backwards but this needs to be your best shooter, as they get a lot of skips on
penetration over the top.
4) Trail: Usually a decent post player who can handle the ball. Bigger person, but one you feel confident can take a
defender off of the dribble.
5) Post: Doesnt have to be a great back to the basket player, just someone who is big, physical, and has a soft touch
around the basket. Needs to be your best rebounder
In this sequence you can see that once the ball has started penetration inside
the perimeter, the 5 will bail to the backside block.
This will do two things.
A) open a lane of penetration to the rim. Let the ball have a clear path
B) Put the 5 defender in a bind help wise.
Notice the spacing. Athletes need to be about 15-18 feet apart at all times
1
Offense
Rules for this offense:
Guards:
Penetration:
1) Any penetration to the basket, needs to be just that, penetration with the
mindset that you are going to get to the rim. Players will want to try to go side
to side with the dribble at first. The key to this is to get the guard in the mindset
that they are getting to point A from B in a straight line. It is the person with the
ball responsible for getting their teammate open. This is different from
traditional methods when it is the cutters responsibility to get open. Here we
want enough penetration to where we create a help situation
Guards Rules Ctd:
Penetration Ctd.
On penetration, penetrate until you are cut off by a help defender. The help
defender needs to CUT you off, almost to where they are going to take a
charge if you keep going. Reason being is that we are trying to put pressure
on the defense by attacking the rim. The results should be the following, either
a lay up, or get fouled shooting the layup.
Notice how in this we show how much help is needed before a guard stops
their dribble.
Guards Rules CTD:
Penetration:
On penetration, as soon as the help goes, the nearest guard will rotate over the
top of the ball. We make sure to tell them to stay outside of the perimeter on
this to create spacing, and a longer recovery on help.
On the kick out we tell the 2 one of two things. If they are a shooter, who you
feel confident shooting the ball, tell them to fire away. If they arent a great
shooter, as soon as they catch the ball, tell them to rip, and drive right back
over the top looking to get to the rim.
The two players who are backside (4 and 3) are just to stand there to help tie
down helpside
2
Offense
Guard Rules CTD
Penetration:
As soon as the 1 kicks the ball out, their job is to head to one of the corners.
They can either head to the playside corner, (as shown here), or the weakside
corner shown in the next sequence.
Make sure they are sprinting out to the corner to help clear a lane, and that
they are getting width on this. We are seeing a lot that the 2 on penetration
has been able to kick back out to the 1. We dont mind this our 1 can shoot
pretty well, and gives us another look.
Notice here that the guard rules stay the same on penetration. 2 is attacking
the rim, the 4 will rotate over the top of the 2, (a little exxageratted here) to
make a longer recovery for the defender. What we are telling our 2 to do here,
is mainly keep your head up and your goal is to get to the rim, draw help from 5, and third option is kick back out to the
4.
Guard Rules CTD:
Penetration:
Here you see what happens if the 1 had cycled out to the weakside. In this
case to keep spacing integrity, the 4, and 3 would replace each other, and the
1 would sprint to replace the 3. We dont get this a lot due to the fact that it isnt
real natural for a kid
Guard Rules CTD:
Reversals:
BLUR SCREEN
We get this a lot during our secondary where we have a slot to slot pass. We
will also do this most times in our offense once we get into it. This screen is
very effective just becuase of the misdirection that it causes.
3
Offense
Guard Rules CTD:
Reversals:
BLUR SCREEN
After the ball has been reversed to the 4, the 1 will dive to the middle of the free
throw line. Timing is the key element to this, as the 4 must time this out to
where they are rubbing off of the 1's butt as they attack the rim off of the
dribble. As soon as the 4 clears the 1 with the dribble, the 1 will flare out to the
backside slot. The 4 is rounding the corner heading downhill trying to get to the
rim or draw help.
Notice we are still following our rules here as the 2 is coming over the top of the
4, because they are the nearest guard
FOR MORE GUARD INFO SEE BREAKDOWN DRILLS, AND INFO SHEET. THESE ARE OUR BASIC RULES
THOUGH
POST RULES:
What to do on penetration.
1) Penetration over the top:
It is very important for your 5 to understand two things. First where the
penetration is coming from, is it over the top, or is it baseline penetration. And
second would I be better to stay put, or should I follow circle shooting rules that
you will see in the next few sequences.
POST RULES CTD:
PENETRATION OVER THE TOP
On penetration over the top, the rule of the 5 is simple, circle under the basket
to the opposite block. We are still following our basic concepts of make the
defense have a longer recovery, and also give the ball a lane to the rim.
Where the 5 has to read this is that if their defender leaves early, they may be
better suited to just sit and stay, and recieve the dump off from the 1.
4
Offense
POST RULES CTD
PENETRATION
In this sequence you can see that we are having a baseline penetration.
Normally I hate this move offensively, we either get trapped or kick the ball out
of bounds. However, with this offense I am starting to allow my guards to do
this because of the rules of the 5.
In the case of baseline penetration, the rule of the 5 is to circle over the top,
and get to the bottom of the dots, hands ready for any quick pass. We try to
make this pass quick, and high so the post can go get it and score. I know
Calipari said a lot of times that was a lob for a dunk. Well I coach girls so we
just tell them catch it high and keep it high.
In the case of the guards here, the 1 would be the nearest guard so they would
rotate over the top of the 2, and the two would get out to the perimeter on any
pass. It could be either playside or weakside, but more than likely weakside.
POST RULES CTD:
WHEN TO POST UP.
There are two times that the 5 should post up on the ball side block. The first
as we stated early is in primary transition, only to bail as soon as we start
penetration. This is simply to clear a lane for the ball to get to the rim.
The second time is on any quick skip from side to side when the post was
already backside as you see in this sequence.
We will tell the 5 on a skip duck in and pin. We will try to get you the ball, but if
we don't, as soon as penetration inside the perimeter happens get to the
backside block quickly.
Those are the basic rules to the offense. We try to make sure of the following
things.
1) Get to the rim, either get the lay up or get fouled. This will put pressure on
the defense constantly
2) If you are a shooter on the kickout, then shoot. We dont mind it, we have
plenty of people for backside rebounding purposes.
3) If you are not shooting attack on the kickout, dont hesitate, drive the helper
over the top
Created with Basketball Playbook from www.jes-soft.com
5
Offense
Memphis trouble shooting
Many times we will run into problems as we did last spring, and here are
somethings we have done to correct those problems. IF you have any
questions feel free to pm call or email me at any time.
Too much pressure and we can't get
around them!
•
•
•
This came up a few times last spring and we would work a few things.
Either allow the ball screen, or dribble hand off.
In the dribble handoff, let the reciever catch the pass off of the bounce.
Dont jump stop to hand off. Try not to work on this early, as your kids will
want to do this all of the time.
If the defenders jump the handoff, we will back cut to the rim. We have
an open lane to the basket, so we will be ok.
My kids are too quick to pitch out!
•
•
•
Drill, Drill, Drill them on attacking the rim on 1 on 1 work. We
emphasize this so much, my kids probably think these are the only words
that I can speak.
Work a lot of 1-0 situations to where they are attacking the rim, and
you are watching their footwork.
Have a pad during 1-0 work where you bump them when they get into
the lane. Make them take the layup while getting fouled.
1
Offense
We seem to be in too big of a rush.
•
•
•
Work with them during 2 on 2 to work out timing and spacing issues.
Make them understand that they have to keep spacing to make this effectice.
Dont worry too much, being in a big rush is better than being too slow.
Make them keep their heads up to see the help and where it is coming
from
Created with Basketball Playbook from www.jes-soft.com
2