Fast Break Basketball Offense - Carolina Secondary Break

Jason,

I'll just be blunt and say that you should not run any part of this offense with third graders.

I believe the most important things for a youth coach to do are:
1) Make a positive impact by teaching character, integrity, confidence, positive thinking, teamwork, and helping them learn to love sports and basketball.
2) Develop players so they can reach their maximize their potential

If those are your goals and you truly want to help your young players, then teaching this offense will be MANY years from now.

Don't run set plays or try to get kids to memorize plays. You will spend HOURS and HOURS of time trying to get them to memorize and then they will still screw it up in games. Your time is SO much better spent on development things like -- teaching kids how to move properly, dribbling, passing, footwork, and fundamentals.

I would run a very simple motion offense that allows players some freedom, a very simple man to man defense, and spend 90% of your time in practice working on fundamental skills, athletic development, and having fun (fostering a love for the game).

Check out this link for youth coaching:
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/coaching/youthbasketball.html

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Do the wings 2/3 stay down toward corner or up on the wings freethrow line extended. The diagrams looks as if they are in the corners and not on the wings. This is much like the one Roy runs at Carolina now.

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Hi Greg,

They run to the corners, they don't stay in the corners. First, they stretch the court. The strongside wing eventually sets the backscreen for the high post. The weakside wing goes to the corner and then goes where necessary to effect the ball reversal. Then they go into the motion offense.

It should be like the break that Roy runs now. Roy Williams is a Carolina guy, he coaches at Carolina and was with Dean Smith when he developed it.

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very nice transition drill

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What should you do if the 1 has the ball on the left side of the floor?

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If your point guard likes to bring the ball up the left side of the court, you could set your fast break with the opposite formation.

If not, just continue to play and let him read the defense.

If the defense is forcing him left, open up the middle of the court and let him dribble penetrate or just reverse the play to the opposite side.

IF the point guard beats the defense to the left a few times, the defense will bite on any moves to the left and then he can do a pull-back move and cross back over to the right to run the break on the right side.

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Oh yeah. If nothing is there, you can have the point guard set up your half-court offense.

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seems to be a good play. i like the 1st wrinkle but what would you suggest doin if you have two bad shooters on the floor and you have a person who can shoot the three like crazy and be very accuratebut he can also dominate the paint what do you suggest i do with him??

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I have been looking for this on paper. I ran it in my college days and it was successfull. Hope to implement it with my jv girls program.

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If the D gets back quickly in transition and sets up in a zone, is this fastbreak offense still as effective?

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Is there an option where the point guard dribble enters to the wing? If so where does the wing go?

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I don't see why not. You could have the wing replace the position where the point guard was and go from there.

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Is it pre-determined that player 2 always goes right and player 3 always goes left? What happens if 2 and 3 are on the same side of the floor when the rebound is controlled?

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HI KJ,
We have run this for years...our wings know that when we get the ball and they happen to be on the same side they have two choices...(1) they need to talk and call out the side of the floor they are going to run to...first call gets his choice. (2) they can run the same side and first one down continues and cuts under the basket and comes out the other side to fill that position. Both have worked very well but it al depends on communication between the players

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joe, if the ball is passed to 3 at the corner and 4 is coming around to the left of the lane, how long does 5 hold his first block so to give 3 enough time to hit 4 on the pass underneith? matt

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Matt

I am not sure what you mean by "4 coming around to the left of the lane." What part of the break are you in?

However, a lot of things are done by feel and communication. Players have to be aware of what the other players are doing. If 4 has a scoring opportunity in the lane, 5 should vacate immediately and vice versa.

If you are talking about ball reversal or entry to the 3, 5 should move with the ball.

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First, I broke down film by roy williams since 1993 to learn and understand the secondary break and variations. The 2 and 3 lanes is not predetermine. First player who gets there has the lane and the other wing opposite. Second, the trailer in the diagram is incorrect. The four and five fight for the rebound and the first post down court runs to the front of the rim and the trailer to the top the key. Third, The ball is not thrown into the corner unless passed ahead or dribble there to flatten out the defense. The point simply swings the ball to the trailer if no advantage is in front of him. Fourth, if the point is ahead of the pack he simply pushes the ball to the corner and the other guards fills behind. The opposite wing comes to the foul line ready to v-cut and get open for ball reversal , only ball side flattens to baseline. I ran these secondary break as high school coach and enjoyed scoring plenty of easy baskets.

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Hey Brockton,

Thanks for the input. Does Roy Williams run the same break as Dean Smith?

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I'm number 3 what do I do when I get the ball what are my options.

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Will, the players are numbered above. Check out the 3-man.

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I'm also wondering about any wrinkles necessary when using this secondary against a 2-3 zone. I love this break and have had great success with it with my high school girls, but always against M2M.

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Can you run the Carolina break with a two guard front or do you know of any good secondary breaks which uses a two guard front.

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I'm coaching third graders, what part of this offense could I simplify over the course of a few weeks?
Reduce the number of options maybe?

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Great description of both the Dean Smith and Roy Williams Carolina break. I'm a Carolina fan so I'm doubly excited I'm a former high school coach and currently coach 5th graders. Like the earlier comments I try to spend the majority of time working on fundamentals and less time on running plays. Keep it skill driven, competitive(a lot of one on one, etc) and fun. Chris K

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Coming a little late to this party. Read the article, loved it. Read the comments, and there is some awesome insight there too.

A few things.

1) Roy Williams brought most of the Dean Smith system with him to Kansas and has kept it largely intact.

2) Saw a clinic video of Williams discussing his secondary break. After the corner comes up and sets the backscreen for the post trailer, they hit that screener with the pass.

4 then cross screens for 5 and ducks in. The 2 (or 3) hits either one off that movement.

3) Before 8th Grade, do not run anything that involves throwing a skip pass. The upper body of young people is not developed enough to throw this type of pass well. It will result in a wounded duck of a throw that is easy to at most intercept and at least recover and close out to.

Just my thoughts.

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Jil says: 4/28/2019 at 9:23:19 AM A few plays that open up opportunities for kids to get the ball and shoot is important. I’ve watched many games lost on teams with no strategy. All the individual skill in the world won’t make up without some planned and coordinated movement on the court. The level of play has advanced at the youth level and we have to provide some strategy as well as skill if we want kids to be successful. Like     login   register

That's really good and like creative!

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