I love playing fast. I would consider it one of the pillars of my teams over the past 15 seasons. We've been in the top 10 in the state of Ohio multiple seasons in points per game. It's a fun way to play and a fun style to coach.

I also consider myself pretty decisive in my coaching. I like to make a decision and go with it. If it proves to be a mistake, I'll adjust. But I don't like waffling.

And yet, one area where I've flip flopped more than most politicians is when it comes to who should inbound in transition:

• Should it be the closest player to the ball or should we have a designated inbounder?

I know I'm not alone. I've discussed it with multiple coaches and I know it's something a lot of coaches struggle with.

I am happy to say that the struggle is over! Coach Rob Brost addresses this exact issue in Playing At An Uncomfortable Pace.

WATCH the clip here and see how Coach Brost has turned his team into one of the highest scoring squads in Illinois!

The KISS Rule: Why The Closest Player Inbound Wins Every Time

As I saw it, here was the advantage to each method:

• Having a designated inbounder creates clarity. Players know their job and don't have to make a decision after a make. They simply fulfill their role. It's clean.
• Having the closest player inbound gets the ball out of the net and inbounded quicker.

As I went back and forth on those concepts, I ultimately used the KISS method to solve the problem. For those unfamiliar, KISS means "keep it simple, stupid."

In my effort to simplify, I asked myself, what is the #1 priority. Whatever that is, that's what I should do.

The answer I arrived at was this - getting the ball out of the net as fast as possible.

Ultimately, to be a great transition team, you have to make an immediate transition from defense to offense. The best way to do that after a make is to have the closest player to the ball inbound.

Yes, there might be occasional confusion on this. You might sometimes have 2 players trying to inbound. That's the cost of doing business. In fact, it might be a positive that multiple players are competing to get the ball out quickly.

With reps, your team will get better at this. Players on the perimeter will realize they generally won't inbound. They can start to fill other spots in transition.

Players close to the rim will start to communicate about who is inbounding.

The ability of your players to make those reads and communicate with each other are positives.

Want Faster Inbounds? Try This Quick Transition Practice Drill

As with anything, training this habit takes time. Try this to ingrain the habit.

Play a lot of defense to offense transition. Those reps get your players used to converting to offense after both makes and misses.

Sometimes, your top players don't give up many baskets to your bench players in practice. As a result, you don't get a lot of reps at made shot transition.

If you need extra work on your made shot transition, here's one way to get it:

• Play every shot by the original offensive team as a make.

In other words, when the defensive team gains the ball - whether after a make, a miss, or a turnover, the closest player has to immediately inbound.

This ensures that your players get practice at the closest player inbounding.

Quicker Decisions Create Quicker Players

Decent transition teams run hard off misses. Great transition teams run hard off makes.

Since committing to having the closest player inbound, our transition points per game have increased by almost 20%.

If you really emphasize this for the first couple weeks of practice and do daily transition offense drills, you'll be amazed how quickly your players pick it up.

When they do, your team will have the ability to immediately attack back at the defense. Easy points are sure to follow!

Want To Play At Lightning Speed This Year?

Having the closest player inbound is 1 of Coach Brost's 5 rules for transition offense.

If you want to learn and incorporate the other 4 and run teams off the court, click here!

What do you think? Let us know by leaving your comments, suggestions, and questions...

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