I will never forget when I learned the power of scoring constraints.

It was my first year teaching the Man Left Defense. I’d told our player they absolutely could not give up right hand drives - about 100 times.

And yet, they just weren’t comfortable forcing the ball left. They’d always been taught to square up the ball. Now, they were being coached to align in such a way that made them feel they were going to get beat (they weren’t, but they didn’t yet know that).

As a result, we kept giving up right hand drives, which was undermining our whole defensive system.

Finally, out of frustration, I said, “In every scrimmage segment, losers run. Normal scoring, but if you give up a right hand drive, that segment is over and your team automatically loses.”

It was amazing how fast we started locking the ball left. It wasn’t attributable to better coaching. I simply added a constraint to the defense that incentivized them to do what I wanted them to do.

Ever since then, I’ve regularly used scoring constraints within my practices. In 20 years of coaching, it’s one of the best additions I’ve made.

While the example above focuses on defense, you can also use scoring constraints to create a more effective and efficient offense.

Here are some ways to do so:

3 Scoring System Constraints For Better Offense

• Dribble inverse scoring - most of us would like to get our teams to reverse the ball more and pass more. Too many teams overuse the dribble, resulting in drives into the help or difficult shots.

  One common drill to counter that tendency is by playing “No Dribble.” The offense must score without dribbling.

  It’s a great drill. It’s featured in The Youth Coaching System With Jim Huberas well as Jim Huber Beginner Basketball Ages 5-9.

  While this is a tremendous way to work on passing and cutting, it can make it really hard for teams to score. I’ve done the drill for 10 minutes and seen a total of 1-2 baskets scored.

  One way to disincentivize the dribble without completely removing it is dribble inverse scoring.

  • If you score off 0 dribbles, your team gets 3 points (regardless of whether the shot is a 2 or 3). This could be a drive and kick, a hi-lo pass, or a backdoor cut, for example.

  • If you score off 1 dribble, your team gets 2 points. Example of this would be a rip and go or a quick post move.

  • If you score off 2 or more dribbles, your team gets 1 point.

  In this example, every basket is worth points. However, baskets generated by ball movement and efficient dribbling are worth more. This is a great way to get the ball poppin’ and your players looking for the extra pass.

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• Shot selection scoring - you must first define shot selection for your team. Once you’ve done so, you have to continually reinforce it. One way to do that is through giving points based on the quality and/or type of shots your players take. For example:

  • 9-7-5-3 scoring - some coaches rate shots on a 9 (open layup), 7 (advantage finish or open 3), 5 (contested shot), 3 (low percentage shot) scale.

    Within your scrimmage, score each shot based on its quality plus its result. In other words, if a player misses an open 3, their team gets 7 points. If they make an open 3, they get 10 (the 7 for the quality plus the 3 for the make).

    This rewards your players for seeking the types of shots you want.

  • Another way to do this is to only count baskets that come from your preferred shot types. For example, every team will take an open layup. So if a player makes an open layup, their team receives 2 points.

    Most teams don’t want stepbacks. So even if a player shot and made a stepback 3, that would be worth 0 points.

  Both these systems will do way more for your shot selection than your words ever could!

• Bonus Action Based Points - there are probably actions you want to see more of in your offense. It could be paint touch, kick out 3’s. It could be ball screens. It could be dribble-at backdoors. It could even be something like offensive rebounding.

  You know what your team needs to do more of. You are probably drilling it. But getting it to carry over to live play can be challenging.

  Try this. Award double points (or triple) for baskets scored off whatever action you want to see. If it’s offensive rebounding, any basket scored off an offensive rebound (even :20 later) would be worth double/triple points.

  By doing so, your players will look for more opportunities to do the exact thing you are trying to get them to do.

Wins Motivate Better Than Words

Why do scoring system constraints work so well? Because players like winning.

When you just talk to them, they might listen and agree. They might even try to do that.

But they aren’t committed to the same degree as they are when winning and losing rides on their execution.

Make your life easier and your players better by linking what you want to see with how you score your drills. You’ll be happy you did!

To get more from your practices, check out How To Run Championship Practices With Nate Steege.

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