PETE NEWELL: KEY ELEMENTS OF SUCCESSFUL OFFENSE

1. Conditioning

You should never be beaten because your team was not in better condition than your opponent.

2. Drills

They should be fundamental, repetitive, and progressive

3. Balance

This refers to shooting balance, team balance (all five players included in system), floor balance, defensive balance and rebound balance.

4. Elements of offense

Simplicity (execution over surprise)

Flexibility (must have ability to adjust during the game)

Continuity (important when play does not lead to a shot)

Tempo (the team that controls the tempo of a game will most likely emerge as the victor)

Correlation to Defense (certain defenses lead into certain offenses better)

OFFENSIVE CONCEPTS VIA MARK FEW

1. Attack: Whether it’s coming off the rim or out of the net, they are attacking and getting the ball down the floor as quickly as they can to put pressure on the defense. They want GREAT shots early in the clock. Few firmly believes that an open three early is often as good of a look as you’ll get all possession.

2. Get to the Free Throw Line: The most underrated aspect of offensive basketball as roughly 25% points scored in division 1 basketball are from the free throw stripe. They have 2 goals surrounding this: make more free throws than the other team attempts and to be in the bonus by the 2nd media timeout (8 minutes in)

3. Limit Turnovers: Worst thing you can do offensively is turn it over because it allows you no chance for an offensive rebound or a chance to go to the FT line.

THE SPURS 8 KEYS TO BALL MOVEMENT

Outstanding list compiled by BasketballHQ.com (outstanding website).  Click here to read the entire post which also includes video.

1. Ball Reversals

• Make the Defense Move
  • The more times the ball goes from side to side, the more the defense must rotate and closeout.
  • Be down ready on the back side as the ball is swung to you.
  • Attack closeouts that are too close, and shoot the ball when the defense closes out short with hands down.
• Don't Catch and Hold the Ball
  • Be thinking one play ahead and be decisive with your moves.
  • Don't waste your dribbles. Either drive the closeout, shoot, or move the ball.

 
2. Player Movement

• Don't Stand
  • Players that stand are easy to guard and force one on one offense.
  • Sometimes you may need to space, but most of the time you should always be moving.
• Hard Cuts
  • Read your defender and make the appropriate cut.
    • Back cut
    • Face cut
  • Make decisive cuts.
  • Set up your defender before cutting.
  • Slow to fast.
  • Look to score on every cut.
  • Your cut may open up a scoring chance for a teammate.

3. Screens

• Set GREAT Legal Screens
  • Use screens to help get other teammates open.
  • Must head hunt on screens.
  • Never screen and stand.
  • Read the defense and offensive player using the screen to determine whether you should roll or space after you set the screen.
  • Slip the screen if you are being overplayed.
• Use Screens to Get Open
  • Set up your defender before using a screen. EVERY TIME.
  • Read your defender when using the screen and then make the appropriate cut.
    • Curl cut
    • Straight cut
    • Fade cut
    • Pro cut
• On the Same Page
  • The player using the screen and the player(s) setting the screen must work together.
  • Must have great timing and spacing when executing a screen.
• Hand Offs
  • Use hand offs similar to ball screens to help teammates get open.
  • If your defender is cheating the hand off, fake it and then make a move.

4. Penetration

• Drive and Kick
  • Great penetration forces the defense to suck in and help, which opens up the kick out pass.
  • Get your shoulders to the basket before making the kick out pass.
    • This sells that you are attacking the basket and makes the defense sink in.
  • Receiver needs to be down ready to either shoot, drive, or swing the ball. Don't catch and hold!
    • If you catch and hold, the defense can recover and the ball movement is dead.
• Stay Under Control
  • Don't leave your feet and open yourself up to charges and wild passes.
  • Don't over penetrate into trouble.
    • If you get too deep into the defense, there are too many hands to deflect your pass.

5. Passing Angles

• Receiver Needs to Create Passing Lanes
  • Don't stand and watch on penetration.
  • Either slide up or down to create a great passing lane.
  • A great time to move is once your defender turns their head to watch the ball.
  • Find the passers eyes, especially when the ball goes into the post.
• Down Ready
  • Don't catch the ball standing straight up and down.
  • Anticipate what you are going to do with the ball by how the defender is guarding you; shoot, drive, or swing pass.

6. Inside Out

• Post Play
  • Get the ball into the post and then look for kick outs when the defense helps.
  • Find the post players eyes and create passing lanes by moving up or down.
  • Hard cuts on the weak side will be open with a great post passer.
• Pass Fakes
  • Being unselfish opens up opportunities for pass fakes and keeps.
  • Works great for hand offs in the high post area.
  • Must sell the pass.
  • Use your body to shield the ball from the view of the defender.

7. Designed Plays

• Executing Offense
  • Use set plays to help establish ball movement and player movement.
  • It can be a set play or a motion offense.
• Read the Defense
  • Don't be a robot to the play.
  • If the defense is cheating the play than make them pay.

 
8. Unselfish Plays

• Extra Pass
  • Turn down an okay shot for a great shot.
  • This type of play will be contagious and lead to better shots for everyone.
• Set Up Teammates
  • Make a move with the specific desire to set up another teammate for an easy shot.
  • Not just the point guards responsibility.
• Celebrate Winning Plays
  • Get excited when a teammate makes an unselfish play.
  • It must be all about the team.

IT'S WHAT YOU DO BEFORE YOU CATCH THE BALL

As a coach, there are so many things that you deem important -- things you want your players to know and understand -- things that are high on the priority list in terms of what you want to teach players.

Certainly there are numerous things that players need to learn and improve on.  Some they are willing participants in the education and development process.  Work with a player on improving his or her shot and chances are you will have a focused pupil.  The same can be said in dribbling and ball handling.  All players, regardless of position, want to be able to put the ball on the floor.  And while this at times least to the overuse of the dribble, players certainly will list and work if you want to help them improve this area of their game.

But it is important for them to understand that the large majority of the game, on the offensive end, they will be playing WITHOUT the ball.  Their ability to properly execute the fundamentals of footwork while learning to move without the basketball is far more important than many of them understand.

And nobody has phrased it better for them to understand it than Coach John Wooden:

"What you do before you get the ball, 

determines what you can do after you get it."

That is a very profound statement yet not enough coaches spend the time to develop this area and of course very few players give thought to it.

Are you teaching the proper footwork for moving without the basketball?  The most foundational cut in basketball is the v-cut...do your players master it?  The v-cut allows them to get open on the perimeter or to set up the defender for a back cut.  The v-cut allows them be better screeners or to utilize screens better.  The v-cut allows a post player to move better in the post.  Are you working to improve your v-cuts daily?

The ability to read the defender makes a difference in if, when and where you catch the basketball.

We mentioned screening.  I'm not sure there is a better way to get open than by being an excellent screener.  The key is being "excellent."  Are you teaching a correct screening stance couple with the proper screening angle?  Are they sprinting to screen?  And, the biggest key, are the screening with the screener is the 2nd cutter mentality?

Do you show video of your team or other teams and have your players focus on what's going on away from the ball?

Because the best offensive players in the game truly understand Coach Wooden:

"What you do before you get the ball, 

determines what you can do after you get it."

DETROIT PISTONS PRACTICE NOTES (PART II)

One of the great things about social media is not only the information that becomes available but new relationships developed.  One of those for me is with Coach Steve Finamore (a great follow on twitter) who has an amazing passion for the game -- he, like all good coaches, is a continual learner.  Steve recently visited the Detroit Pistons for a practice session and Steve was great enough to share those notes and we want to pass them on as well.  This is part of II of Coach Finamore's notes:

Detroit Pistons

Practice #1

Tuesday September 29, 2015

10:00 A.M. – 12:30 P.M.

“Be active off the ball. You can’t relax.” –SVG

- SVG with lots of emphasizes on the importance of having hands up on defense.

- Lots of work on technique.

“You got to want to get a stop!” –SVG

- Ersan Ilyasova draws two charges in scrimmage.  Knocks down jump shots and plays hard.

- Assistant coach Brendan Malone stopped the action and shouted, “When you catch the ball, look at the rim.”

- SVG then said, “Catch the ball, look at the rim and look in the post.”

- Pistons coaching Andre Drummond up to run the floor hard and get to the rim.

Detroit Pistons Offensive Musts:

1-Take care of the ball

2-Push the pace

3-Attack from inside-out

4-Play unselfishly

5-Make quick decisions

6-Take good shots

- The “3” man takes it out on made free throws.

- Tons of teaching during scrimmage.

“Don’t be in such a hurry. Mistakes being made are because you go too fast.” -SVG

“Run hard, but don’t be in such a hurry.”

-SVG

“Game tempo.” –SVG

- A joy to watch seven year vet Cartier Martin teaching and helping rookie Eric Griffin a few things on the defensive end of the floor.

- D-League coaches of the Grand Rapids Drive, Otis Smith and Dion Glover involved in practice learning Pistons philosophy.

Pistons Support Staff 

Doug Ash, Tom Barasi, Robert Werdan, Al Walker, Jeff Nix, Art Luptowski.

- Pistons shooting coach Dave Hopla on sidelines throughout practice taking notes in a composition notebook.  He stands by Andre Drummond during free throws.

- Interesting observation at end of practice.  Three teams during scrimmage. Blue team wins, two other teams had to run sprints for losing.  Marcus Morris, Reggie Jackson and Stanley Johnson, all on the winning team decide to run with the losers. (Extra work).

- SVG admitted to the team that they were putting a lot of stuff in:

“I know that was a lot…”

 

AN ANALYTIC APPROACH

I want to thank Lipscomb head coach Greg Brown for passing on this article to me on Penn's Steve Donahue and how he uses analytics to shape his offensive and defensive philosophy.  You can (and should) read the entire article here.  Below are some of the fascinating take aways I grabbed Coach Donahue:

"We basically had three rules on offense and three rules on defense, and they are both basically an analytic approach," Donahue said. "I want to get a layup or a dunk. When I'm attacking the basket, I ask my guys, 'Are you 95 percent certain that you're going to make this or get fouled?' If you're not, there are mechanisms in place to find my second thing, a standstill, in-rhythm three. The third thing is post up with two feet in the lane, one on one. If you get that, great; if not, it should be kicked. So everything we do evolves from that."

Offensive rebounds, Donahue said, fall into the layup/dunk category. If you have a 95 percent chance, go for it. If not, kick it out for a three, often the most-open shot in the game when defenses are scrambling after a missed shot. In the 2010 second-round NCAA win over Wisconsin, Cornell made four threes off offensive rebounds, half of the eight they made in the game. One season, Cornell made an incredible 35 percent of its threes after scrambles - a loose ball or mostly offensive rebounds. And that three is the most psychologically deflating in basketball.

During practices, they chart all those kind of situations and assign values.

"We try to give it a numerical value for each guy," Donahue said. "He got there and he made the right play or he made a bad decision - minus-2 for a bad decision, plus-2 for a good decision. We kind of do that as a motivating factor to our guys, so when we watch film, they know why you were minus-8 that day."

The Penn coach leaves very little to chance.

"We want to see a good dribbles-to-pass ratio," Donahue said. "Two passes to one dribble in a possession is great. If we start getting seven to one, now we know we're really playing well."

Think Spurs against Heat in the 2014 NBA Finals.

The defensive tenets mirror the three offensive goals.

"We don't want to give up a layup or dunk and we don't want to foul doing it," Donahue said. "We don't want to give up a standstill, in-rhythm three and no second shots."

Nothing is certain in basketball, but Donahue said his teams almost never lost when they got 10 made threes, 10 or fewer turnovers and 10 or fewer offensive rebounds for their opponent.

THOUGHTS ON HALF-COURT OFFENSE

As we approach the beginning of another school year, many of us are taking looks at what we do and how we do it in terms of our basketball philosophy.  Four years ago, I posted a three-part series titled "Thoughts on Half Court Offense."  It received many compliments at the time and thought it might be worth repeating. Simply click on the link to go back and read that particular one.

Thoughts on Half Court Offense (Part 1)
In the first part of our series we talked about why it is important to execute in your half-court offense.

Thoughts on Half Court Offense (Part II)
In the second part of our series we talked about the key components that go in to the making of a good half-court offense.

Thoughts on Half Court Offense (Part III)
In the third and final part of our series, we want to talk about how to teach good half-court offense

EFFECTIVE PASSING CONCEPTS

The following guidelines for effective passing comes "Coaching Basketball's Blocker-Mover Motion Offense," written by Coach Kevin Sivils.  I've known Kevin for many years.  He is a student of the game and in fact, the teachings of Coach Don Meyer and Dick Bennett are major part of his inspiration for penning this book.

Use Hand Targets to Communicate With the Passer

Passing requires communication between the player in possession of the ball and the player who desires to receive the ball.  Verbal communication can be misunderstood or not heard during the chaos of game.  Visual signals with hands cannot be misunderstood and for this reason is a more effective method of communicating a cutter's intent to the passer.

Three basic hand signals must be learned buy all players, allowing the cutter/shooter to communicate intent and the passer to anticipate where to pass the ball way from the defense.  The first is an extended open hand, indicating the direction away from the goal the cutter/shooters intends to cut towards.

The second hand signal is the clinched fist, indication the shooter/cutter intends to cut "backdoor," in the direction of the goal.  This cut is used when the defense is applying intense overplay denial defense, a common tactic used against excellent 3-point shooters in the desire to prevent the shooter from receiving the ball beyond the 3-point arc.

The third and final hand signal is used to indicate the shooter is open and ready to shoot upon receiving the ball.  This signal is indicated by the shooter having hands in the shooting pocket, knees bent ready to shoot and being squared up to the goal.  The shooter needs only to catch the pass in order to shoot if the passer makes and accurate pass directly into the shooting pocket.

Pass Away From the Defense

Turnovers due to intercepted passes are usually a result of passing the ball to a teammate.  Sounds silly, but it is true.  Unless the teammate is wide open for a shot, the ball should never be passed directly to the teammate.  Instead, the ball must be passed away from the defense.

Shorten the Pass

Not only must the passer pass the ball away from the defense using a frozen rope, the cutter/shooter must "shorten the pass" by stepping the direction of the oncoming pass to meet the ball.  This decreases the chances of the defense intercepting the pass and increases the likelihood of a foul on an aggressive defender.

Pass the Ball Where it Can Be Caught

It is not enough to pass the ball away from the defense.  The ball has to be passed to the receiver in a location the receiver can safely catch the ball.  Passing the ball where it can be caught entails two different concepts.  The first concerns the receiver physically being able to catch the ball.  The second involves court and defender location.

WHAT'S YOUR PAINT GAME

For the large majority of us, we are well into the beginning of the off-season.  A major part of the off-season for the best of coaches is a thorough review of their system of play.  As I view the NBA plays-offs, my question to us is this: WHAT'S YOUR PAINT GAME?

I'm a strong believer that championships are won in the paint.  This speaks to both offensive and defensive philosophies.

In 2011, the Miami Heat lost in six games to the Dallas Mavericks.  The Mavs dominated the paint and the Heat settled for jump shots far too many times.  In that off-season, LeBron James called up Hakeem Olaguwon and asked him if he would work with him that summer on his paint game.  You have to give great credit to LJ for first recognizing what he need to work on to improve his game and then for not hesitating to ask for help -- those are the two marks of a great player.

Too many coaches think that a "Paint Game" means isolating a  big post on the block and working the ball inside.  And if you have a big that certainly is a good thing to do.  But just because you don't have a big doesn't mean you don't have a paint game.  Here are some  ways to get the ball to the paint:

1. Low Post Play: develop your post players -- regardless of size -- to post, seal, move without the ball and to finish.

2. Transition Offense: beat the defense to the paint before they get there.

3. Dribble Penetration: being able to put the ball on the floor and drive it to the paint has become increasingly popular with so many teams utilizing the Dribble Drive Offense.

4. Flash Game: flash players into the paint for a touch...this can be post players or perimeter players.

5. Post Up Guards: you may not have a big but if your posts can step away and shoot you can post up your guards inside.

6. Offensive Rebounding: working and emphasizing offensive rebounding above and beyond what other teams might do is another way to create a paint game.

We are not suggesting that you abandon your offensive system but having a paint game allows you a chance to score and draw fouls on the opposition when the mid-range or 3-point shooting has gone cold.  Some people point to the fact that Duke and Mike Kryzewski has become great proponents of the 3-point shot.  Watch how many of them come off of a paint touch -- either dribble penetration or post feed to a fan pass.  The "Paint Touch 3" is a great way of setting up a good three point shooter while still pressuring the defense to play interior defense. 

Part of having a solid paint game on offense is understanding defenses and how they are played today.  We all know the Chuck Daly mantra of "Spacing if offense and offense is spacing."  Well, the same can be true of defense.  While offense is looking to spread the defense, defenses are now looking to shrink the floor -- getting and sitting in gaps.

Even the best low post players have a difficult time of getting a good look off of the same side entry pass in offensive play.  Two keys that will be beneficial include:

1. Reversing the basketball.  While at LSU, with Sylvia Fowles dominating the inside, we would tell her to start opposite the ball in our motion offense and reverse the ball to her side forcing the defense to go from help to ball and ball to help.

2. Occupy the helpside.  Movement away from where you want to enter the paint with the ball is critical.  Making defenders guard two things at once will help you to get the ball to the paint more efficiently.  Another one of our basic concepts is for players to "cut to create help."  If we are cutting hard and correctly, we have a chance to draw a helpside defender which creates more space for drives or post feeds.



 

A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING

Here's some really great stuff from Mitch Cole of the Texas A&M men's basketball staff.  Mitch puts out an outstanding email newsletter and if you haven't signed up for it your missing out.  Email Mitch and request to be on the list and you will regularly get stuff that will help your program.  Here is some of what's in this week's edition:

As I gathered some notes from various clinics, conversations and roundtable discussions this off-season, I wanted to pass on a few random phrases and thoughts that I jotted down as I heard them from different coaches, leaders, and basketball people during the past few months. I thought you might find some of them interesting:


ON LEADING A PROGRAM:

-Fight for your culture everyday.

-Be "relentlessly self critical" as a leader.

-in the off-season, teach the players: 1. How to work 2. How to love one another.

-Most leaders vastly UNDER-communicate their vision.
 

ADVICE FOR COACHES:

-Establish key roles for players that don’t revolve around scoring.

-Coaching is taking a player where he can’t take himself.

-Embrace the other coaches in your department.

-The best coaches continue to learn.

 

ON DEFENSE:

-“I’ve never heard a coach say “hey, you need to dribble more”. Therefore, we want to deny all passes to make the other team dribble more!”

-If you are a help team, the HELP cannot get beat.

-Have your "nose on his top hip" when guarding the wing.

-Always convert on any steal in practice.

-Pressing coaches need to have “amnesia.” You might give up a layup, but forget about it.

-Always Chart contested shots and deflections.

-Use more film, less drills.

 

ON OFFENSE:

-Shot selection is a HUGE factor in offensive rebounding.
 

-Goal is to get 45% of misses back vs Zone Defense.

-2 things that will not be tolerated: 1. Lazy cuts 2. No effort on offensive glass.

-Work on pivoting to finish, and pivoting to pass.

 

ON EVALUATING PLAYERS:

-Need on court and off court selflessness.

-Need players I don’t have to rev up every day. Motor!

-Can he guard his position? More than one position?

-Does he have a realistic view of himself?

-How does he handle adversity?

 

ON DEALING WITH SOCIAL MEDIA:

-Players are now concerned with THEIR BRAND more than their game.

-Confront the disillusionment of a player’s ego.

-Social Media is a privilege. Your BRAND is not bigger than OUR BRAND.

-Most players are not equipped to handle it. If you like taking compliments, you better be ok with taking criticism.

BOB STOOPS PHILOSOPHY PART III: OFFENSIVE THOUGHTS

This is part 3 or 3 parts of notes I took listening to Bob Stoops, the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma at a clinic following his 2001 National Championship team.

We want to take away offensive strengths by player percentages. I heard Bobby Bowden talking several years ago when I was coaching at Kansas State. Coach Bowden said, "if you try to take away everything the offense does, you end up taking away nothing." If you try to stop everything, you end up stopping nothing.

Everyone has some true offensive players that they love to run. You have to take away what they like to do. Take away their best plays, and then re-act to the trick plays as best as you can prepare with good fundamentals. The players need to know that they have to stop. You cannot give them 15 plays to stop. Give them the most important.
Be great in critical situations. This includes third down, the red zone, and goal line (basketball special situations).

Our offense seems to be extremely complicated, but it isn’t. It is fairly simple what we do. We are going to force the opponent to defend the entire field (spacing).

We want to force the defense to defend the entire field. We have had as many as 12 to 14 players catch passes in a game...We do not want the defense to be able to zero in on us and say that this is the one guy we have to stop. We want to get the ball in the hands of several players, and we want to give them a chance to make a play when they get the ball.

We take advantage of what the defense gives us.

We want to be able to audible to any play in our system. We want to use the run game to complement the pass. A big part of our success this year was the consistency of our running game.

We want to keep the defensive front seven on the run. We want to keep them out of their comfort zone.

PLAYING AS A TEAM -- THE SPURS WAY

WHAT QUESTIONS ARE YOU ASKING OF YOURSELF AND YOUR PROGRAM FOR GROWTH (PART II)

Yesterday we shared portions of an article from Inc. on questions to be asked of an organization in regard to self-evaluation.  It made be ponder what would be good questions for us as coaches to ask of ourselves and our program.  At Texas A&M, we've been involved in this process along side of our administration for the past two months, meeting each two weeks to have discussions.  It is going to be an important part of our growth.  Here is the list I came up with that I think are worth asking (in random order):

1. How can we increase our relevance within our department, university and community?

2. What are we doing in the off-season to support and grow our fan base?

3. What is one strength for each player that they can develop for them to continue to grow?  Do you have a plan to assist them?

4. What is one weakness for each player that you need for them to improve upon?  Do you have a plan to assist them?

5. What one thing can you do for each player this off-season away from the game to help them grow as people and show them how much you care?

6. When people hear the name of your program, what is the one word that comes to their mind?  What one work do want them to hear?

7. Can your players write down on a piece of paper what they believe their program stands for?  What is your culture and do your players recognize it?

8. Do you have at least two events planned this summer for your team together away from basketball to develop and grow your team’s chemistry?

9. What one thing can you do for each staff member to help them grow professionally and or personally?

10. What one phase of the game are you going to pick to study on this summer?  How will you go about doing that?

11. Do you have a summer book reading list?

12. How many former players can you reach out to this summer with a phone call or note?

13. Is there a retired coach in your area that you can take to lunch and talk some basketball?

14. Are you going to a clinic or visiting with a coach or staff to grow your knowledge?

15. Have you made plans to spend time with your family to sharpen the saw?

16. Does our system of play afford us the opportunity to compete with the best in our league?

 

17. What is your social media strategy?  I think you need one and we will post why later.

 

18. What are you doing this off-season to promote your program?  With your fan base? With the media?  With the community?

 

19. What is one area of our offensive system that we need to improve upon?  What is our plan for improving it?

 

20. What is one area of our defensive system that we need to improve upon? What is our plan for improving it?

 

21. What is one area of our transition game that we need to improve upon? What is our plan for improving it?

 

22. If you are a head coach, what are you going to do this off-season to invest in your staff?  What can you do to help them  grow professionally?  What can you do to help with your staff chemistry?

 

23. What needs to be done to improve our facilities and equipment?  Do we have a plan to make that happen?

 

24. If fundraising is a component to our program's success, what can we do this summer to raise money or set up fundraising strategies for this upcoming season?

 

25. How can we improve you Team Notebook?

 

DO YOU HAVE A COMEBACK PLAN?

Some philosophical things to consider in the off-season is how you want your team to play in certain situations.  Here's a great list from Fran Fraschilla on how you play from a deficit.

 

Players need to know how to effectively comeback late in the game:
 

1) Stop clock as much as possible
 

2) Must offensive rebound - send 4 and sometimes 5 to the offensive glass because normally other team is not pushing hard when they are up late

 

3) Who do you foul and HOW do you foul?

 

4) What is your foul signal from the sideline?

 

5) What is your goal in fouling – steals, jumpballs, foul

 

6) Time Out organization (where to sit and make sure subs are sitting/standing next to who they might replace so they know what they are doing when someone fouls out

 

7) Do you have a comeback “platoon”

 

8) Do you have a hurry up offense or quick hitter set for threes/layups

 

9) Teach team how to do a “running timout” – For example when there is a dead ball foul have team sprint to coach for quick 15 second “timeout” on the floor

 

10) “We didn’t lose – we just ran out of time

 

Teach, demonstrate and tell your players that they have 1 dribble per second in late game scenarios. That way if there is 4 seconds on the clock a player doesn’t have to look up – they know they have time for 4 forward dribbles before the buzzer