How To Build Your Offense Using Competitive Games

"Mistakes most players make in a game have to do
with the defense."

I came across this quote while listening to an interview with Brian McCormick, author of The 21st Century Basketball Practice.

His observation, though seemingly obvious, makes a lot of sense. I would bet that the defense played a part in almost every one of our turnovers last season. In fact, it's one of the main reasons we decided to get our defense more involved in our practices. Let me explain.

For much of my 14-year career, I relied on a staple diet of breakdown drills without defense to teach various components of our offense. Whether that was playing 5 on 0, 3 on 0, or skill development work (1v0) - we often drilled individual technique and offensive movement without defense. And you know what? We were pretty good at taking care of the ball playing 5v0.

Eventually, we would compete in "live" situations in practice but the majority of our learning, or what we thought was learning, was done without defense on the court. Over the years, our frustrations mounted as our offensive excellence in walk-through (5v0) did not seem to transfer to the games. We practiced great spacing, and went through all of our offensive options. We told our players the types of passes they should make, the driving angles that would be open, and the shots we were likely to get. Yet, we still turned the ball over 20 times per game almost every year.

Then we tried something different.

Two years ago we restructured our offensive practice into a series of small-sided, competitive games. We started doing less 5v0 and a lot more 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4 within the context of our offense.

For example, we like to initiate our offense with a 2-man game at the top of the key between our point guard and our high post player. In the past, we would drill this in 2v0 to practice the options (pick and roll or give and go). Then we would play 5v0 and look for opportunities to play 2-man at the top. That would culminate in 5v5 at the end of practice where we would "see what it looks like." Funny thing was, it always looked better without the defense on the court.

Now we teach this progression much differently:

  1. We still begin with 2v0 to explore the options - and we encourage our players try something different every time. We use all six baskets in the gym to maximize our repetitions. We do this only as long as it takes for the players to understand the possibilities.

  2. When introducing our offense, we play 2v1 with the defender guarding the ball. The dribbler still plays 2-man with the high post, but she must take the first shot before the high post player is allowed to score (usually on an offensive rebound). This helps our high post player screen a live body in pick and roll, and pass to a defended player in give and go.

  3. Once the offensive players are successful about 50-60% of the time in 2v1, we will immediately move to 2v2. Initially, we allow them to play without keeping score so that they are free to experiment with the 2-man options. We want them to try different variations and scoring moves without fear of making mistakes that would cost their team points.

  4. Finally, we play live 2v2 with the winner of the possession earning a point.

We have created dozens of competitive games to drill our individual fundamentals and offensive movement with the goal of getting as many repetitions against live defense as possible.

Amazingly, since making this shift in practice two years ago, our average number of turnovers per game has dropped to less than 15 each of the past two seasons. How can this be?

Brian McCormick and Mark Upton have been studying the usefulness of small-sided games for a number of years.

Here are some of the hidden benefits of playing competitive games in practice:

  1. Playing against defense randomizes the drill. Spacing becomes skewed, driving angles change, and shot selection will vary much more when playing against live defense just as it would in a real game.

  2. Executing fundamentals in an actual game involves three parts. Consider the process a player experiences when attempting a run-out layup:
    1. Perception - How many defenders are back? Who are they? Can they stop me? Who's behind me? The brain must quickly gather information so that it can quickly...
    2. Make a Decision - Can I beat the defense to the rim and shoot off one foot? Should I jump stop and finish off two feet for more balance and control?
    3. Contested Execution - Performing the technical skill against a live defender (a one foot layup or two foot jump stop).
    All three parts are essential in a game situation, yet traditional 1v0 or 5v0 drills do not develop the player's perception or decision-making, nor do they simulate contested attempts.

  3. More effective and efficient repetitions. Small-sided games increase the number of game-like repetitions. McCormick sites a Manchester Metropolitan University report comparing 4v4 soccer matches to 8v8 games. The 4v4 players averaged:
    1. 135% more passes
    2. 260% more scoring attempts
    3. 500% more goals
    4. 225% more 1v1 encounters

    If skill development is the product of game-like repetition, small-sided games offer more opportunities for individual players to get more game-like repetitions than traditional 5v5 scrimmages.

  4. Greater levels of engagement. Competitive games tend to increase intensity while holding an athlete’s attention longer than 1v0 or 5v0 breakdown drills. Games are fun. Competing is fun. Players are likely to give a greater effort doing something they enjoy.

Small-sided, competitive games are a great way to teach skills that transfer from practices to games. They allow individual athletes to get more game-like, contested touches than traditional breakdown drills, and they are more enjoyable for the players... And did I mention that the more we practice against defense, the fewer mistakes defenses cause us to make?

Food for thought.


FOOTNOTES

It is difficult to prove that small-sided, competitive games alone could cause our turnovers to drop so dramatically from one season to the next. Certainly other factors are at play including new personnel, a changing schedule, etc. That being said, the correlation between the two variables (small-sided games and turnover reduction) appears to be strong.

Recommended Reading:

An interview with Brian McCormick on Game-Based Practices

Practice Design - Give Something to Get Something by Mark Upton

The 21st Century Basketball Practice by Brian McCormick

Please leave your comments, suggestions, and questions below...




Comments

Most Likes First   Oldest First   Newest First

Dan says:
10/7/2019 at 4:17:07 AM

I like 3-on-3 Blitz. It''s 3-4 teams of 3 playing in one game. The first two teams set up and play 3-on-3, with a new team of 3 waiting at half-court, and then coming on to be the next defense .

A team of 3 stays and plays offense if they score. Or, if they were the defensive team, if they get a stop (turnover or defensive rebound).
The next team of 3 is always playing defense, and they come on to the court from the half-court circle, trying to set up in time.
The offensive team must outlet the ball to the outlet spots before they can attack.

So in a given possession, team B stops team A, and as team A steps off the court, team C races from half-court to protect the basket. As soon as they get the stop, team B passes the ball to the outlet spot and then looks to score.

I like this drill because it is utter chaos, and requires a lot of loud communication. It also encourages them to outlet the ball ASAP after a rebound, and to look to score immediately after a change of possession.

Like
   

ted says:
11/13/2015 at 9:07:17 PM

Try Two on Two with the Coach-- half way between skulling and live-----
Play two on two possession by possession with a Coach as a stationary third offensive player who is always open as a receiver-----let the 3 offensive players play a passing game where dribbling is only allowed to finish a shot----the ball is not allowed to stagnate--if a player does not have an immediate read or advantage to exploit he passes the ball back to the open coach-----when the coach has the ball you have choices of different cuts, screening for each other, exchanging, playing different sides of the court etc etc.At the end of each possession the coach should critique what screens, cuts, reads were made and why. Excellent way to improve reading screens.
Makes the offensive players understand using each other and how to receive the ball.

Like
   

Levi says:
11/12/2015 at 4:20:04 PM

We are starting to use this method regularly and is prove to help every level team we have even as low as 5th and 6th graders. Great system great advice. Thank you one to follow.

Like
   

Dave says:
11/12/2015 at 11:07:03 AM

When I coached my son's team for several years, we did pretty much everything Brian McCormick advised in terms of how to develop young basketball players. With small-sided games, the rate of improvement was mind-boggling. As the poster above notes, 3 v 3 no-dribble is a great way to learn spacing, cutting, passing angles, teamwork, etc. etc. Now my son has reached a level where he's being coached exclusively by former Div. 1 college players (in AAU) or former varsity high school coaches (during the winter). And it's just the usual block practices with 5 v 0 walkthroughs of the offense. A variation on the weave or the shell drill is considered innovative!!! As McCormick (but not just him) likes to say: SMH.

Like
   

Brian says:
11/12/2015 at 10:21:19 AM

As a long-time youth coach, my success in terms of both player improvement and winning/losing (a side effect and not our primary objective) has always depended on two things: strong defense of my own and defensive lapses by the opposition. Small-sided games make every player better at man-to-man defense AND teaches players how to play offense against them. Due to extreme mismatches, I am not able to play man defense in every game but they get taught man principles in every practice. While we do operate on a zone defense in many games, it is not passive at all. A typical game might see us run a 1-3-1, a 2-3, a 2-1-2, a 3-2, and man and it could change on 5 consecutive possessions. If we are close to evenly matched, we will play man D throughout most of the game. We run the zone with man principles applied especially relating to help on the weak side. And this is with 4th and 5th grade boys. We also change defenses no matter what after every timeout.

Note: to defeat a zone defense at any level, my experience has been to focus on three things:

1) player movement away from the ball, especially a weak side O cutting to the short corner on the ball side

2.) attack the zone from behind it. By nature, zone defenses are designed to keep the ball on the perimeter. It's easier to get the ball into the paint from the short corner than from the point because many defenders will have their back to the play

3.) Teach the triangle principle: you don't need a set offense. Each O player simply needs to position themselves to form a triangle between themselves and two defenders with 8-12 feet between them and when they cut, get to a position of a triangle between themselves and two defenders on another part of the floor. If O players do this, they are guaranteed to be in the holes of the zone.

Some small-sided games we run include:
3 on 3, no dribble in a small court (forces teammates away from the ball to work together to get open - screens away from the ball when executed properly are magic at this level)

Ultimate - full court 5 on 5 man-to-man. No dribble. No shots. You score a point by advancing the ball past the base line. This is AWESOME for teaching a press-break and the kids love it.

2-on1 ball screen and cut: biggest challenge I have right now is getting kids to cut in a direct line at a sprint towards the basket. Early in the season, they are moving but they are moving with no purpose - instead of a sharp cut and sprint to the basket, they tend to run in wide arcs trying to get open but they improve with every repetition. This will get improved with the 3 on 3 game mentioned above by giving them specific cones or dots on the floor where they can only run in straight lines from one dot to another.

Like
  1 reply  

Aaron says:
11/16/2015 at 10:11:28 PM

Brian, please tell me more about the triangle principle you use for offense. Do the kids start at a set spot? What rules do you give the kids? I like the idea of players thinking and reading the defense rather than doing the same thing each time down the court. I have 3rd/4th grade girls this year and have been looking for a new offense to run. Most of the defenses we see are 2-3 zones with an occasional man-to-man. Trying to find an offense appropriate for this age group. Thanks again for the ideas.

Like
   


Fredrick says:
11/12/2015 at 9:43:26 AM

This certainly makes sense. You can teach an old dog new tricks!

Like
  1 reply  

Coach Jeff says:
11/13/2015 at 10:54:07 AM

I like the work u put in with the kids,Im striving to do the same,middle schools are not coached properly

Like
   


Leave a Comment
Name
:
Email (not published)
:
One times one is equal to?  (Prevents Spam)
Answer
:
 Load New Question
Comments
:
Leave this Blank
: