Unlocking the Power of Conceptual Offense: Why "Opposites" Lead to Success
In recent years conceptual offenses have exploded! If you search for ‘basketball conceptual offense,’ you’ll get thousands of results.
Rather than having players follow set patterns, conceptual offenses focus on teaching principles of play that lead to advantages and high percentage scoring opportunities.
While this results in you giving up some control, it also makes your offense harder to guard (and harder to scout).
There are no patterns to conceptual offenses and this causes headaches for most defenses..
In conceptual offenses you’ll be teaching sound offensive tactics and reads, your players will constantly be adapting to the game in unique ways.
If you’re looking for a place to start teaching basketball conceptual offense, consider the 3 ideas below.
The Principle of Opposition for Better Spacing & Movement
The principle of opposition says that opposites create balance and freedom of movement, which generates an upward flow of energy.
While that principle was not designed with basketball offense in mind, it applies amazingly well!
We are going to look at 3 places where doing the opposite of what the previous player did leads to good offense.
In each case, opposition leads to better spacing and better ball movement, which will result in better shots!
3X Opposites Attract To Produce Better Offense & Scoring Opportunities
- When the prior player cuts - the next player should not cut
- When the player before drives - the next player should not drive
- If the previous player passes it right away, catch and look (and vice versa)
Here, the ball is reversed quickly from 1 to 2 to 3. Many offenses require players to pass and cut.
While this can be a good strategy, it does present a problem.
In this example, 1 & 2 both cut.
When this happens, you end up with 2 cutters on top of each other. This presents 2 issues.
First, even if one of the cutters is open, 3 won’t be able to pass to them. There is too much traffic.
Second, even though 3 has a big gap to their left, it’s hard to drive. There’s simply too many people in the paint.
A good principle of play is to only have one player cut at a time. In the example above, 2 would be wise to do something other than cut (hold space, fan out, or screen for someone).
Here, 2 widens out. This gives 1 space to their cut. It also gives 3 space to drive.
In this example, 1 drives and kicks the ball out to 5.
1’s drive was effective in that it collapsed the defense and created an advantage for the offense.
On 5’s catch, they have space. They should do one of two things.
If they are a good shooter, they should shoot the ball.
If they aren’t a good shooter, they should immediately make the extra pass (probably to 3).
Unfortunately, many players want to “drive a drive.” Consecutive drives very rarely work.
1’s drive compacted the defense. If 5 drives again, they are driving into a defense that is already compressed.
If 5 were to pass to 3, by that time the defense would be expanding again, presenting a viable driving opportunity.
Consider making ‘no consecutive drives’ a rule in practice (one exception might be after a pump fake, if that fake expands the defense again).
There is a lot of talk about making immediate decisions on the catch. Some call it .5 second basketball. The idea is that players should make an instant decision on the catch - shoot, drive or pass.
This is good advice (generally). If you have a bunch of players who hold the ball, your offense bogs down and the defense is always able to reset and reposition.
However, if players constantly pass the ball right away, they miss chances to let actions develop.
Whether it’s screens or cuts, those actions take some time. If a player catches a quick pass from a teammate, they should take a second to see what’s developing.
The quick pass to them should have shifted the defense, potentially creating an opening. Make it okay for them to pause and look for one.
Likewise, if the previous player held the ball, the next player should make a quick decision. When consecutive players hold the ball, offense becomes a slog. The defense doesn’t have to move. As a result, openings are hard to come by.
What A WW2 Physicist Can Teach Us About Offense
Niels Bohr was a World War 2 Physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project. He once said, “opposites are not contradictory but complementary.”
That is true of basketball as well as science.
By implementing the 3 concepts above into your offense, you’ll be well on your way to creating players who can function and thrive in any game situation!
Unlock the Full Potential of Conceptual Offense With These Proven Systems
- The Zoom Offense With Nate Steege - Zoom action (a down screen followed by a dribble hand off) has taken basketball by storm, and with good reason. In this video, you’ll see Coach Steege cover the offense that helped his team win 2 State Titles. He talks about the flexibility of the offense, which allows you to adapt it based on your personnel. He also shows you how to simplify it for middle school teams. That way you can run it throughout your entire program.
- The Screening Game With Bob Martin - Coach Bob Martin demonstrates the offense that helped him win a Georgia state championship. The Screening Game Offense gives players assigned roles (screener, cutter, or screener/cutter). Within each role, players are allowed to make decisions and apply concepts to create an advantage. This offense allows you to play at any speed you like and generates great looks outside and inside for all players on the team.
- The Flow Motion Offense With Matt Lewis - in this product, Coach Lewis covers the offense that helped him win the Division III National Championship. Flow Motion is unique in the way it combines 2 man actions (based around ball screens) with 3 man actions (off ball screens). He also covers his motion menus method, which tailors each players’ actions to their strengths.
|
|||||
Facebook (127k Followers)
YouTube (141k Subscribers)
Twitter (31.8k Followers)
Q&A Forum
Podcasts