Is Your Offense Broke???
Don't Throw It Out Just Yet
With 2 Drills To Help Give It A Tune Up

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When teams start to struggle offensively, often it is easy for coaches to second guess their offense. Maybe parents and fans are clamoring about needing a new offense as well.

Experienced coaches usually realize that their offense either looks good or bad based on one thing and one thing only - SHOTS DROPPING!

When Shots Drop....You're GREAT

Ask experienced coaches and they will tell you the same thing. When shots go in, your offense looks great and as a coach people think you are doing an excellent job.

When shots don't drop people wonder who came up with the awful offense and why on earth are you running it.

Sorry - this is a simple fact in the life of a basketball coach.

Is it fair??
No.

Is it reality??
Yes.

Don't Throw Out the Baby with the Bathwater

Don't be too hasty and just start implementing a new offense immediately. It is easy to lose focus as a coach and start listening to those around us; parents, fans, and sometimes other coaches.

Your offense very well may not be the problem.

The Tape Won't Lie

Start by breaking down film if you have that available. (If you don't have film available you'll have to reflect on what you've seen from your team in the past and ask your other coaches).

Maybe teams close out hard and your players can't take 1 or 2 dribbles and hurt them with a pull up jump shot.
Maybe teams DON'T close out hard and your players can't hurt them by burying a 3.
Maybe your players can't finish in the paint or don't have confidence in their finishing moves.

Trust what you see on film. Do your players have scoring opportunities if they could score at multiple levels?

You'll likely be shocked at how many scoring opportunities you see available if your players had another scoring dimension to their game.

As a coach, if you start listening too much to others, you'll likely end up going through a different offense every season.

Changing offenses and trying new offenses isn't a bad thing. Changing offenses every year or a couple times every year will leave your program with a lack of continuity. And you'll likely continue the search for the perfect offense.

Your offense may not be the problem. The problem might be that you have players who are one dimensional.

One dimensional players are limited in their effectiveness of scoring the basketball. They can either:

Catch and shoot from the perimeter

Drive and finish at the rim

Shoot mid-range pull up jump shots

If they are only capable of doing one of these, they are EASY to guard.

It doesn't matter what offense you run. To have an effective offense, you need players who can score at a minimum of 2 of these levels and hopefully all 3.

Want To Win? Develop 3 Dimensional Scorers

Every coach dreams of having players who can score at all 3 levels.

From experience, I can tell you that having players who are 3 dimensional scorers is EXTREMELY rare. Most players who can score can only do so consistently at one of these 3 levels.

3 Tips To Create 3 Dimensional Scorers NOW

Devote practice time to developing 3 Dimensional Scorers

Make sure the majority of your shooting drills including scoring the ball from multiple levels: perimeter, mid-range pull ups, and finishing moves.
Shoot Guarded and Unguarded

Your shots and moves should be both unguarded to work on form, technique, footwork, and confidence.

You should also then make sure all of these same shots are repped live in practice, over and over with a defense.

Players are going to gain the confidence to shoot these in games when they prove they can do them in practice against a defender.
Show and Tell

Make sure you take as many opportunities as possible during 5 v 5 play to tell kids where they could have used a pull up or when they could have used a specific finishing move. Provide this feedback IMMEDIATELY for it to be most effective.

Then make sure you also take the opportunity of using film to show players the different scoring opportunities they had. Maybe it is as simple as showing them times on the perimeter they didn't have their hands and feet ready, therefore didn't have time to get a shot off.

Defenses CAN'T Take Away Everything

It is important for players to understand that defenses can't take away everything. Something is available to them. The key for players is being able to take advantage and score off of what is made available.

I'm not saying that there aren't areas of your offense that need improvement. Proper spacing, ball movement, ball reversals are constant items coaches are working to improve in ANY offense and at all times.

How To Develop A 3 Dimensional Scorer

Ok, this is where I tell you, if it were easy, everyone would be a great scorer from all 3 levels. Ideally, this is part of all of your summer workouts and player's individual workouts.

Without a focused plan to become a 3 dimensional scorer, players typically will focus on one area of improvement, and they never do develop into a serious threat from 3 levels.

So What Can You Do Right Now As A Coach?

Start by looking at your practices. Are my practices designed to improve scoring at all 3 levels?

At this point in the season, take a look at your last week's practice plans. Spend a few minutes estimating how many shots players took from the perimeter, how many pull up jump shots, and how many finishing moves.

You can't spend your entire practice with player development. But maybe as you analyze your practices you realize that you are not helping players develop their scoring game from multiple levels.

Maybe you realize that many of your perimeter players are only shooting catch and shoot 3's the entire practice. Start using drills that require shooting on the perimeter, off the dribble, and finishing moves.

Now you might say, "Hey, I have 3 perimeter players who light it up from 3 when they catch and shoot".

I'm not going to disagree, they should continue to practice game shots from game spots. But as the season progresses, teams will take the number one scoring option away from players.

I know this because this is EXACTLY how teams I coached had success come tournament time. We took away 3 pointers and we clogged the lane.

And guess what, there were almost no players who could consistently hit pull up jump shots.

The further you go in the tournament the more teams will exploit these weaknesses, which is why it is crucial for players to be developing into 3 dimensional scorers NOW.

Below are a couple of great drills to make sure you are working on 3 dimensional scoring in practice.

Drill #1 - 9 Point Scoring Dual

I love this drill. It is fun, fast paced, and provides a player with:

Game shots at game speed
Variety of shots from 3 levels (Perimeter, Mid-range, Finishing)
Competition against a teammate
Opportunity to step to the FT line when tired
Conditioning

To start the drill, have your players partner up.

If I am doing this drill during the offseason it doesn't matter who partners up with each other, the drill will look identical for everyone.

If I am doing this drill during the season, there will be one slight variation. I am going to partner players up separately from the others if they are a post and will not step out or shoot from the 3. I want to be repping game shots as much as possible.

Step 1: The first player is going to take the ball and drive in and use a finishing move.

As a coach, I can give as much freedom here as I want. Maybe they must drive and finish with their weak hand. Maybe it must be a floater. Maybe it must be a power move off of a two foot jump stop. Or simply let players choose, but it must be a finishing move in the lane.

Many coaches start drills similar to this with a perimeter jump shot. It is better to get them attacking and moving first and then step out to the perimeter for a shot.

Scoring: +1 for a make

Step 2: The partner rebounds as the shooter sprints out to the 3 point line for a catch and shoots a 3 point shot.

Scoring: +3 for a make

Step 3: The partner rebounds and passes out to the 3 point line again. This time the shot is a 1 dribble pull up jump shot.

Scoring: +2 for a make

Tip: Make sure players go both right and left. You can also have players work on 2 dribble pull ups as well.

Step 4: After the pull up jump shot, the player shooting sprints to touch 1/2 court and then comes back to finish with a strong or weak hand lay up going full speed and receiving a pass from their partner.

Scoring: +1 for a make

Step 5: The final shot consists of stepping to the FT line and taking 1 free throw while tired.

Scoring: +2 nothing but net
+1 for a make that hits rim/backboard

Then switch and have the other player take the 5 shots.

This should go VERY fast and you should be able to get through several rounds of this drill in a few minutes with all players active throughout the entire drill either shooting or rebounding.

Tips:

Have the players switch partners after round once they have a winner and a loser (a tie can be broken very quickly with a game of rock/paper/scissors....why?? It's fun and fast).
Have the winners partner up with a teammate who also won and have the loser partner up with a player who lost in another group.

Then go ahead and play another round.
If you have players who don't shoot 3's, partner them together.

The only thing that changes is their first jump shot should be in their range. Maybe it is from the elbow.

Then for their one dribble pull up, they can still start at the 3 point line and then take the pull up shot at the elbow area again.

That way these reps are game shots for all players.

Drill #2 - Closeout To Curry - 3 Person Drill

This a great drill for developing 3 dimensional scorers while working on closeouts and while going against a live defense.

Players start in groups of 3. The idea behind this drill is that we are working on closeouts to a great 3 point shooter (such as Steph Curry).

The offense is then working on scoring off either a contested 3, a pull up jump shot or finishing in the lane against help defense with a finishing move.

This is a fast paced drill that works on offense and defense. Coaches can put players in groups, or let players decide.

Step 1: Player #2 starts with the ball in the lane.

They pass out to player #1 and SPRINT to the closeout making sure #1 does not have a 3 point attempt (remember #1 is a shooter like Steph Curry!)

If #1 does have a 3 point attempt, they can take it and #2 MUST CLOSE OUT FASTER next time.

Step 2: Player #1 now attacks and tries to score off a pull up jump shot or by attacking the paint where player #3 will help defend the drive.

Note: Player #2 tries to recover and defend player #1 after they forced them off of the 3 point line.

Step 3: This drill continues as players rotate positions. #3 passes out to #2 and closes out HARD to take away the 3 point shot.

Step 4: #2 catches on the perimeter and either takes a 3 point attempt if the close out by #3 is slow.

Otherwise, #2 takes a pull up jump shot or finishes in the paint against the help defender.

Continue on with this rotation for a set amount of time such as 2 or 3 minutes.

Tips:

The 3rd player is standing in the paint ready to play defense, but they are not allowed to come out of the paint to defend.
This is a LIVE DRILL - the defense's goal is to not let the offense score and definitely not let them get off an open 3!
The player that closed out should try to contest the pull up jump shot after they forced the perimeter player to put the ball on the floor.
The drill can remain exactly the same for post players who don't shoot 3's. If the player closing out does their job, the post player should be forced to put the ball on the floor and can shoot a short pull up jump shot or attack the defender in the paint with a finishing move.

Video to Develop 3-Dimensional Scorers

These two drills will help your players develop into 3 dimensional scorers in the upcoming season. If you want an in depth plan and drills for developing 3 dimensional scorers, be sure to check out Becoming A 3 Dimensional Scorer with Tim Schuring.