I love playing in transition. Every year, transition offense is the first thing that I teach.

For almost 20 years, I've always started with made shot transition. Why? Two reasons. First, it sets a tone that we want to play fast. Second, because it's easy to teach and learn.

Misses... not so much.

Missed shot transition is harder to teach and harder to learn. How come? Because it's random. You don't know where your players will be when you gain possession - nor do your players.

Thus, it's difficult to have hard and fast rules for missed shot transition.

At the same time, you don't want it to be a free for all. When that happens, you often end up with bad spacing and unforced turnovers.

So, what's the right approach? Have principles for missed shot transition. Those guidelines give players clarity off misses, allowing your team to attack with purpose.

This is critical seeing as misses are the best time to attack. Why? Because just as your team may not be purposely organized, neither is the opponent.

For those reasons, it's vital to coach and practice missed shot transition regularly. In Early Attack Offense With Ryan Schultz, Coach Schultz shares his missed shot transition offense philosophy, as well as a way to practice it.

Use his ideas to simplify this situation for your players, allowing them to attack with intent on every possession.

6 Principles For Missed Shot Transition Offense

1. Anyone with a competitive advantage can sprint to the rim - as a general rule, players will transition to their 4 out spacing spots. However, you never want to turn down an early layup.

Thus, any player who is ahead of their defender should run to the rim and look to catch an outlet pass for a layup.

2. Your 4 & 5 players work in tandem - your 4 & 5 players work together. If no one is able to beat their defender deep for a layup (principle 1), the 4 or 5 will rim run. If one of them gets the rebound, the other one rim runs. If neither get the rebound, the first one down the floor rim runs.

The player who does not rim run will fill a perimeter spot, leading to the desired 4 out, 1 in spacing.

3. Do not cross the midline - you want to keep the middle of the floor open. If there's no quick shot available, you will then flow into one of the Early Attack actions, which generally brings the ball back towards the center of the floor. Thus, it's important to get the ball to a side early.

Additionally, most defenders run back through the middle of the floor. This means your ball handler will have better vision by staying wide.

4. Wings get wide and sprint the court - I've heard coaches say, “width, then depth.” The first thing your wings must do is get to the sideline. If they run too narrow, you won't be able to throw them the ball (see the previous principle).

By staying wide, they do two things. First, they are available for a kickup pass. Second, they keep the floor spread.

5. If a non ball handler gets the rebound, outlet it to the nearest ball handler - you need to designate who your ball handlers are. If a ball handler gets a rebound, they can use a bust out dribble to start transition, all the while keeping their head up for open teammates ahead.

If a non ball handler gets the rebound, they should immediately find a ball handler and fill a perimeter spot.

6. Do not pass the ball backwards - this should go without saying. Transition is a mentality. You want your team to always be attacking. You can't do that by going backwards. Players must look to throw the ball ahead. If they can't, they need to aggressively utilize the dribble.

Keep the defense on their heels by playing downhill.

An Easy Fix To A Common Transition Spacing Problem

One issue that comes up with missed transition is an unbalanced floor and poor spacing. Sometimes, you end up with 3 players on 1 side and 1 player on the other.

Coach Schultz offers a simple fix for this:

The lowest player on the stacked side (3 below) sprints through to the opposite corner, and the second player on the stacked side (2) bumps down to the unoccupied corner.

A Drill To Practice Getting Organized Amongst Transition Chaos

Missed transition can be chaotic. Use the missed shot transition drill to ensure that it's only chaotic for your opponent.

Here's how to do it:

• Players circle in the paint as you hold the ball.
• The drill starts when you toss the ball off the rim, simulating a missed shot.
• Whoever gets the rebound dictates what the other players do according to the 6 missed transition guidelines above.
• Players transition down the floor quickly and attack.

Once players master that, consider playing some of your scrimmages with this rule:

• Every shot is a miss: In other words, players do not have to inbounds after a make. Whoever gets the ball out of the net goes the other way, utilizing the 6 principles.

It's a great drill for your transition offense and your transition defense!

Exploit Your Opponent At Their Weakest

Missed shot transition offense can be challenging. Guess what? So is missed shot transition defense.

By teaching and practicing Coach Schultz's principles, your team will be ready to attack and score when you get a rebound.

The clarity of an organized missed shot transition system will lead to more confidence, more points, and more wins!

Check out Early Attack Offense With Ryan Schultz to learn more ways to take your transition attack to the next level.

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