I have a question, when my team is shooting free throws why should I put players up to rebound? I think all evidence points to it being more negative. How many rebounds to fouls or transition baskets for the other team. I also think it eliminates a number of sprints for the team by forcing them to run back on defense. I feel it is more beneficial for them to take the time to communicate and prepare for defense. I am wanting some stats to
Prove me right or wrong.. Thanks

I'm not sure what you mean by put your players up.

If you mean having the two back players outside the three point line crash the boards, no I would not be in favor of that strategy.

But there are several advantages towards putting players on the line. There are also several reasons.

1.) Nothing easy. You don't want to concede an opportunity. You want to put mental pressure on your opponent to execute every single detail. Which leads to ....

2.) You gain a tremendous advantage from offensive rebounds. You get put-backs, draw fouls, and get more free throws. If you have taught your players well regarding technique, they should know not to get called for over the back. But they should always put the onus on the opponent to execute a block-out on every free-throw.

There are strategies that can be used at the free throw line when you are shooting.

1.) Stunting. It was not prevalent when the rule was you had to wait until the ball hit the rim to step in the lane. But with the rule changing to step-in on the release, there are opportunities to free your rebounders on free-throw attempts. Try a cross screen on the low man to free your most effective rebounder!

2.) Put your smaller guards there (especially if it is a good free throw shooter) and go into a 2-2-1 press or 2-1-2 press on a make or a miss. You'll be aligned right off the bat.

I hope I'm understanding what you are asking. I would always have the back two on your free-throw attempts functioning as safeties to stop the fast break. The only time I wouldn't challenge is if I'm up two and shooting a free throw while my team is in the penalty. I don't want to put them on the line stupidly going after a rebound, and I certainly don't want to give the refs an opportunity to call a foul.

Just some thoughts and opinions. Doesn't make me right.

Brian Sass

Ok, I'm not sure if you are talking about crashing the players above the three-point line in on the basket when you are shooting or if you are just talking about placing players at the secondary spots on your free throw attempts.

I don't like players using the "runway" on free throw attempts (unless, of course, you have Michael Jordan, in which case, rock on! :P ).

But if you are just talking about consistently pulling the middle rebounders from your free-throw attempts I am against it, and here are the two reasons why:

1.) You need to make your opponent execute every opportunity you get. That can mean half-court offense or defense, but it can also mean very simple things like fundamentals such as box-outs. If they don't execute it every time, it leads to.....

2.) Offensive Rebounds are tremendously advantageous. Off missed free throws they can be very demoralizing. Getting an offensive rebound off of a missed free throw can lead to put-backs, fouls, and-ones, and more free throws. The advantage is too good to concede.

There are legitimate concerns about fouls. Players have to be smart enough not to come over the back if they are boxed out. There is always the back tap! If you are crashing the back two safeties (not a fan) then you have to have someone designated to get back. If you don't you will give up transition baskets.

But there are other strategies that can be considered with players at the line.

1.) Stunting. You really couldn't do it effectively when you had to wait for the ball to hit the rim. But now that the rule is on the release, you can do several different stunts. Try cross-screening on the release to free up your best rebounder!

2.) Invert your guards and forwards. Set-up to go into a 2-2-1 or 2-1-2 press make or miss. Teams have done this effectively off of free-throw attempts and it can confuse an opponent by giving them a different look.

The only time I wouldn't fill those spots for a rebound is if I'm up two late and am in the penalty. I don't want to give a ref a chance to make a bad call and put the other team on the line, so I would pull my players back.

Otherwise, there is too much good stuff that can happen.

JMO (for you, Coach Sar {skypoint} )

Brian Sass

My computer lost connectivity and I didn't realize both posts went through. My apologies for double posting a single answer (I thought I had to retype, which is why there are discrepancies).

For the record I found my second draft much better. Oops! My bad.

Thanks Brian, I am speaking of having any players at all up. I wonder what the percentages of good to bad are. I am aware of everything you mentioned I am just wondering percentage wise how often in a game would gain more by having back focusing in defense for the extra 20sec. Instead of attempting a low percentage rebound. The press is not a constant in my style but an opportunistic defense for us so we really use it as a quick hit. If someone has the math of how many times you get something positive over negative results and I consider sprinting into transition matchup to be negative in this case because they can be resting, communicating and waiting to protect the goal. I would be curious to the numbers. I am going to start tracking it this week both ways using stunts etc. and see what I find out. Thanks

That's fine.

What I would do is weight the results, though. Obviously you don't want to foul. But a foul going after an offensive rebound would get a relatively low weight from me vs. getting beat down court in transition, which would get a higher weight.

Also weighted differently would be getting an offensive rebound, getting a put-back, just getting an extra possession, and drawing a foul and getting more free-throws. These positives should also be weighted differently.

I would say that getting beat in transition off of a free throw has very little to do with having your two men in the lane go after the offensive rebound. If the opponent is getting run-outs, then there is a problem with the back end and with hustle, not in the initial positioning.

Just some additional thoughts.

Brian Sass

I think the pros vastly outweigh the cons when it comes to leaving 2 players in the rebound on a free throw. Just my opinion based off my own experiences with my own teams. Even on a missed free throw and the other team rebounding, we now have somebody there to immediately pressure the ball. We want to put stress on the other team all game and we can do that much easier by having rebounders in on a free throw. We are putting pressure on the other team to box-out, secure the rebound, then if they do that, they have to deal with immediate pressure. Even if we don't get a clean offensive rebound, maybe we get a finger tip on the ball and deflect it and now it's a true 50-50 ball and we're getting after it.

Even with the lead late, I'm going to leave my rebounders in, but we'll probably tell them to go easy and only go after a clear, clean rebound, otherwise just get into our defense. But even in that situation, if we get a strange bounce off the rim or the other team mishandles it, we gain possession and can run more clock with the lead, or they put us right back on the line.

All great stuff coaches! I to exercise all those things and agree, but basketball is a game of percentages and everything gets tracked positive versus negative I don't know if this has ever been tracked. I am just wondering what the percentage is of negative results to positive, does taking your players off the line do something mentally to the other team? Give confidence to your shooter? Eliminate more fouls? Give you a huge advantage in communication time with your team? I don't know the facts, I know why we THINK a certain way but The study is still at question.

I don't think your question is relative to stats or percentages, it's more about the skill of a team and the mechanics of the concept. You could pose this type of a question for almost anything in basketball from full court presses to M2M defense.

If my guys are constantly fouling when going for offensive rebounds or they're slow getting back, that's on me to correct as a coach. The same would hold true for any concept in basketball. If the mechanics are off, I need to tweak those inside the concept. On the other hand, if the other team is insanely fast and has an amazing transition game, then I might make adjustments and pull a few guys back on FT's against that team or not try a full court press.

Trying to come up with a global basketball study/stat that proves pulling your guys back on offensive FT's is the best thing to do probably isn't going to happen. Simply because there are too many variables in the equation since basketball is such a dynamic game with varied degrees of athleticism involved.

Great points Rob! I agree completely but I watched a coach with D-1 players never put a kid on the line for 3 years 2 state championships and only 1 loss later I am wondering if the coach knew something I didn't. I just was fishing to see if anyone out there has seen it or done it like he did every time every game.