I want to share something that I “rediscovered” this season.
After every game or scrimmage, ask yourself the following 8 questions about your half court offense…
- Do we have good spacing?
- Do we have good ball movement/reversals?
- Do we have good player movement (cuts, screens, fades, etc)?
- Are we getting the ball inside (via dribble and/or pass)?
- Are we taking care of the ball?
- Are we taking good shots?
- Are we getting offensive rebounds and weakside position?
- Are we executing offensive fundamentals (setting screens, protecting the ball, driving to the basket, cutting, reading the defense, posting up, etc, etc)?
When you think about it, that’s all there is to offense. Regardless of what motion offense you run, that’s all you can do on offense.
In the past I have used these questions as reminders to keep our offense SHARP. However with some luck and success over the last couple years I have slipped…
I stopped asking those 8 questions last season. Frankly, in the last couple years we had enough talent and skill that I didn’t need to ask those questions to win games. I became complacent. And it hurt us this season!
Over half way through this season I realized that we severely lacked ball movement and ball reversals.
We did everything else. And we were getting the ball inside constantly (35+ shots in the paint per game).
It’s a subtle thing. But we were taking tough shots and shooting a low percentage. We can get better shots and do a better job of loosening up the defense.
Once I realized that the ball was sticking way too much. And we needed a lot more ball movement and ball reversals… we made the adjustments and our offensive efficiency improved significantly.
Looking back, I wonder…. why didn’t I not see this sooner??!!
I still can’t believe I let it go for that long.
Lesson learned. From now on, I will ask those 8 questions and reflect at least once every week.
Motion Offense Resources
If you want to learn more about motion offense, I highly recommend the Don Kelbick Motion Offense DVDs.
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