The Easy Way to Teach Basketball Offense
By Don Kelbick
Coaches constantly complain that they can’t get their players to remember their plays. They want an easy basketball offense.
Over and over again I hear, “My guys are thick. I can’t get them to remember anything.” Once in a while I might hear, “How can I teach my offense better?”, but I don’t hear it often enough.
I don’t have all the answers, but I do have an opinion. Since this is my space, here is my opinion.
Lack of Background
First and foremost, if you continuously have trouble getting your team to remember their offense, the first thing you should think is that it is too complex or you have TOO MANY PLAYS. I know that it is difficult for a coach to look at himself that way, but he has to.
You have to remember two things…
First, your players don’t have the background that you do. Your past experience will allow you to be much more adaptable than your players.
The second thing is that you came up with the basketball plays. They have to be second nature to you before you bring it to the court. You will know all the positions and all the adjustments long before your players are comfortable with even one aspect.
To draw an analogy, I teach players that a “good pass” is a pass that your teammate can catch. It doesn’t matter where or how you throw a pass if your teammate can’t catch it. Passes that one player can catch, another one can’t. You have to make allowances for that when you pass the ball. When you teach a basketball offense, it doesn’t matter how simple you think it is. If your players don’t get it, it is too complex. It is not important what you think, it is important if they get it.
Drills, Progressions, Dummy
These are the three magic words of teaching offenses…
Drills
When you decide on the drill you are going to use in practice, what criteria do you use? Do you run drills that you think are expected of you (such as three-man weave) that really have no purpose — or do you select drills that have relevance to your team?
TIP: I believe that the best way to construct basketball drills for your team is to take pieces of your offense and turn those one or two passes and one or two cuts and make them drills. If you are running the “Flex,” the back screen is one drill, the lane duck-in is another drill, and the weakside down screen is another drill. You can work these every day. It will not only make your players’ skills better but it will help them recognize situations.
Progressions
Before you run, you have to know how to walk. Before you walk, you have to know how to crawl. Those are progressions. As you construct your drills as pieces of your offense you drill first cut, second cut, third cut. Once you are comfortable with how your team runs the drills, start putting the drills together. Your first drill is now first cut, second cut. The next drill is third cut, fourth cut. When you are comfortable with that. Your first drill becomes first cut, second cut, and third cut. Before you know it, you’ve practiced your offense.
That doesn’t mean you can’t run single cut drills as well, but players learn better in pieces.
Dummy
No, I don’t mean your players. Dummy refers to running your offense without defense. Again I ask you, “what do you do to get your players warmed up?” Do you just run up and down in a useless drill or do you do something relevant?
TIP: Might I suggest that you run “dummy offense” as a warm-up drill instead of 3-man weave and lay-up drills? And I don’t mean just the half court stuff either. Dummy your fastbreak and your press breakers as well. You will work up a sweat, get in some relevant shooting, some ball handling, conditioning and most importantly, you will be running your offense and reinforcing its principles and philosophy over and over again.
I am a firm believer that you have to remove competition from teaching. When in competition, players’ thoughts are to perform and survive, not learn. Remove the competition, people learn better. Once you are comfortable that your players know what is expected of them, you can introduce competition. They can then go back to their drills, progressions and dummy for reinforcement.
13 Comments
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Brandon — June 13, 2008 @ 9:20 am
Excellent article. I often see coaches intro an offense with all it’s options in a 10 minute window then put defense on the floor and expect kids to run it. It takes them many practices just to get to the level of knowing where to go, but they still don’t know why or how. This is a good outline of how offense should be taught.
Thanks
Mauro Panaggio — June 13, 2008 @ 10:22 am
Excellent advise for all coaches, using the simple to complex progession method to teach offensive basketball. Of course the same method can be used to teach the defensive system.
Kevin Benn — June 13, 2008 @ 9:17 pm
Thanks a lot for this information. I will make great use of this.
Gerry — June 13, 2008 @ 10:40 pm
GREAT!! Tip. We teach fundamental skills through progression , why not offense and defense? I will use this immediately.
coach john s. — June 14, 2008 @ 8:37 am
Dear coach , very good article and tips. however, you seem to criticize 3 man weave which itself a progression. you have passing running, shooting and conditioning and teamwork all in one drill. I agree that breaking down and building the offense block by block is the only way to coach. also most of the coaches who read your material have limited gym time. the block by block works fine when you can practice 5 days a week. the best is to select the offense with most options and practice . we all have too many plays. KISS
Thanks for your insight.
Coach John S
Bernad Nkejabega — June 16, 2008 @ 9:39 am
Thanks a lot for the article. Je suis totalement d’accord avec votre manière de mettre en place un système offensif ou defensif d’ailleur. Je suis parfois pressé d’arriver là où je veux être que j’en oublie de poser un pied après l’autre…
Coach D — June 17, 2008 @ 11:58 am
I think he’s suggesting using a transition offense drill rather than the 3 man weave at certain levels. The 3 man weave is a simple, effective drill at teaching passing and catching, while working on conditioning. However, if you could get the same work in, and practice your transition offense, why wouldn’t you. Good article.
ariel rabe — July 2, 2008 @ 11:11 pm
I am in thick of things forming an advocacy (no to smoking) youth basketball team. Your article reminds me to go slow and be more understanding in teaching the candidate-players. Indeed, coaches should value the different levels of the learning processes involved in teaching skills, etc. Thanks a lot.
julio manowar — August 6, 2008 @ 4:43 am
awesome, but could you show more illustration supporting the tips and guidlines of the drills like programe schedule what to do first training next,next and next….i believed in this kind of programe you can evaluate if youre really following the simple to complex training…. if any one has a schedule or program of training ill appriciate it uch.
james thomas — September 25, 2008 @ 7:49 am
good morning coach i have a 12 year old daughter who is 5′1 and has all the tools she plays a32 guard position and 1 position . my issue is that she is having problems in the half court set. when i asked her coach on theissue he just says it will come in time but when she does not move in the half court set he yells at her. What can i do as aparent to help in the half court set.
Joe Haefner — September 25, 2008 @ 3:21 pm
Hi James,
I guess it depends on what type of offense the coach is running. If he is running a basic motion where players read the defense and make decisions on their own. My advice would be to make rules. For example, 1. Do not stand for more than 2 seconds. Either cut or set a screen.
2. If the player drives baseline and you are on the side of the ball in the low post, cut to the high post.
Through proper teaching and game experience, she and her teammates will learn what to do in certain situations.
If the coach is running patterns, she just needs practice & game experience to learn the offense. After tons of research and personal experience, I’m not a big fan of patterned offenses for youth players.
As for the coach yelling, I hope is just yelling so she can hear him. Otherwise, that will stress out youth players and inhibit their learning. He probably thinks he is doing the right thing. I’ve done it before coaching at that age level when I didn’t know any better.
Randxell — November 23, 2008 @ 6:03 am
thank you very useful as a captain to run my team practice
Dave — December 2, 2008 @ 11:31 am
Very, very helpful. I’m teaching 3rd graders and this is invaluable. Thanks for sharing!!!