Courtesy Coach Michael Wells
Dribblers should keep their hands below the waist and shooters should keep their hands above the waist.
Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson likes the fact that his 1-4 offensive alignment does not require big scorers on the block. He also likes that the basket is not guarded in this alignment.
Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson teaches that when attacking a zone, all screeners should post up after setting a screen.
Jerry Wainwright will use six offensive players when working on a half-court trap. Seven players against a three-quarters court trap. Eight players against a full-court trap.
St. Louis coach Charlie Spoonhour teaches his guards in transition defense to slow the ball and push it wide.
Iowa State coach Tim Floyd breaks his defense down into three parts: (1) Stop the transition, (2) Take away the designed offense, and (3) Limit opponent to just one shot.
William Fleming High School coach Burrall Paye believes that a low post player must learn to pivot and use both feet with his offensive moves. Using the same foot with each pivot and move gives the defender an advantage.
Clemson coach Rick Barnes feels that a key to running successful traps is teaching the habit of sprinting out of traps when they are not successful.
No foot fakes when you shot fake.
When on the free-throw lane, teach your players to step into their opponent and not into the lane (unless their opponent moves there).
To beat a double-team, bring three players into prime receiving position, six to ten feet from the ball, spread out. With two men on the ball, the defense cannot bring three men up to guard all three receivers, or they will be leaving a player wide open under the basket. - Dick DeVenzio
"Play against the game, not your opponent."
- Bud Wilkinson
Teach your guards how to defend the post. Teach your post players how to defend the perimeter.
Stress to your team to extend the outlet pass as far as the defense will allow.
The easiest way to begin an offensive set is with the dribble entry.
Indiana assistant coach Norm Ellenberger teaches his offense that when confronted with a switching defense, you should always cut low off the screen.
Teach your players to have their palms perpendicular to the floor when preparing to rebound.
The most important pass in a fast break is the initial outlet pass.
Teach players to put the ball on the floor where they are headed, not where they are.
In a zone offense, you get the opportunity to decide who to dribble penetrate against.
Norm Ellenberger teaches in his zone offense to occupy a spot for no longer than two counts and then move. Cut and read.
Teach high hands and low knees on defense.
Teach your players to put a forearm on their man's chest, then box out.
Do not let your team focus on how good their opponent is. Get them to focus on how good you can be.
Take away what a team does best.
Dave Odom teaches his defenders to bump below cutters and force them high.
If you do not pay attention to the details of the game, you can beleive your players never will.
"The first thing you have to teach your players is a work ethic." - Rick Barnes
Army coach Dino Gaudio believes there is nothing more important in a motion offense than spacing.
Drexel coach Bill Herrion teaches his defenders to turn the ball as many times as possible in the backcourt. Once the ball crosses the half-court line, he wants the ball pushed to the weak hand.
John Calipari teaches his players to jab with their strong foot. Cuts down on turnovers.
If the short corner is defended when running your zone offense, look into the middle.
Bill Herrion subscribes to the philosophy that you do a drill right -- even if it takes twenty-five minutes.
Do not allow your man to go where he wants to go uninterrupted.
Ball fake no higher than your forehead.
Teach your ballhandlers to change speeds with the ball.
Many coaches have a predetermined defense after a made free-throw and another defense after a missed free-throw.
Ideally, you want to be turning the corner on your second dribble when running a pick-and-roll.
One of the biggest errors in coaching is allowing poor execution of what you stress.
If you are unsure about what to emphasize to your team, emphasize the fundamentals.
Fordham head coach Nick Macarchuk wants all of his time outs for the last three minutes of the game. If he has them when the game is over, he is fine with that. Kevin O'Neil has the exact opposite philosophy about time outs. He thinks they should be used as opportunities to teach, even in blowouts.
One of the rewards of good spacing is better offensive rebounding opportunities.
Nick Macarchuk believes that the most important part of a game is the beginning of each half and the end of each half.
Pound the ball inside even if you do not have an inside game. Make the defense move and kick it back out.
Pete Carril emphasizes that the offensive player breaking to the foul line against a zone is in prime passing position.
Come down hard on a player when he commits a frustration foul. Discipline. Discipline.
How is this for halftime adjustments: Abe Lemons, while coaching Texas, kept his team on the floor at half time in front of a packed house at Madison Square Garden. They scrimmaged with shirts and skins.
Part of your job description as a coach is to reduce errors. Your players must understand this.
Constantly insist that your players verbalize why they are doing what they do.
Bounce passes take longer to reach their target than air passes. Do not throw a bounce pass unless there is a reason to do so.
Strive for excellence, not perfection.
Denying a flash into the post by help side defenders must be treated as a fundamental defensive necessity.
When the time comes to commit a deliberate foul, try using hand-checking as a strategy.
Teach your ball-handlers that when they are in a five second count situation to dribble back to break the count.
When reversing the ball against a zone, it is important to keep the middle men in the zone occupied. Post movements and cuts will accomplish this.
Have a signal for your team when you want them to settle for nothing less than a pass into the post.
Be patient with your team's development. Not with bad shot selection.
Bob Ligouri believes that jumping to the ball is probably the most under-taught defensive skill, yet one of the most fundmental for success on defense.
Stacks are one method of helping to distort zone defenses.
Teach your players the importance of dribble containment.
Billy Lee feels that conversion to defense is more important that the set defense.
When you are scored against, teach your team to respond by getting the ball out and up very quickly. Teach the mind-set for this reaction.
Demand punctuality.
Charlie Spoonhour believes that if your defender's nose is past his knees, he is not balanced enough to play defense.
Use substitutes on your free-throw attempts to set up your pressure defense.
Bobby Knight wants to correct mistakes in practice as quickly as possible. He believes that coaches talk too much and do not work hard enough in practice. He believes that the "structure of your practice" is the most determining factor to your success.
Teach defenders to leave their feet only when the shooter does.
You can do more about mental quickness, as a coach, than you can do about physical quickness.
Clemson head coach Rick Barnes believes that the biggest key to a good zone offense is spacing.
When receiving a pass into the post area, be willing to give up position for possession.
University of Cincinnati head coach Bob Huggins believes that it is very basic basketball to move the ball to one side with your weak players and to swing it back around to your strong players.
Temple University head coach John Chaney puts a very high emphasis on measuring what you do. He feels the only way to gauge your accomplishment with young players is to have some form of measurement.
University of Wisconsin-Plateville head coach Bo Ryan teaches his defense that a pass to the wing means jump to the ball and bump the cutter. Automatic.
St. John's University head coach Fran Fraschilla believes that you should have a signal to call for an intentional foul. He feels that referees may hurt you if you let everyone know what your strategy is.
Good shot selection can make a good shooter a great shooter.
In Stuff! Good Players Should Know, author and basketball expert Dick DeVenzio creates the term SOFO to emphasize the importance of offensive rebounding. SOFO stands for Spin Off the First Obstacle. SOFO requires going after the ball and avoiding a blockout to get it. Mr. DeVenzio believes that constantly spinning off of the first obstacle will bring you many more offensive rebounds.
Most coaches want their team to look at an opponent's full court pressure as an opportunity to shoot lay-ups.
Basketball analyst Hubie Brown believes that if you do not have a good shot-blocker on your team, then you must emphasize taking charges and making good defensive rotations.
Simple and constant repetition in practice will develop the good habits you want.
Dick DeVenzio uses this rule when instructing players about their defensive stance: "Make sure your head is always lower than the head of the guy you are guarding".
Kentucky coach Rick Pitino wants his players to understand that fouling can negate a lot of hard work and progress on defense. Fouling can be a killer.
Bad shots lose ball games.
Play three-on-three full court with no dribbling allowed.
Dick DeVenzio and St. Louis coach Charlie Spoonhour stress to defensive players to have their weight back and to anticipate taking their first step back.
Lipscomb coach Don Meyer teaches his players a receiving technique that they can use when catching a pass. The receiver makes a jump stop when moving toward the passer. When the ball is in the air, the feet should be in the air.
Be obsessive about fundamentals.
Intensity is a learned habit.
Pass fakes and shot fakes are very good zone offense moves no matter what set you are running.
Good defense will make your team consistent.
Flare screens are most effective against teams that are good at jumping to the ball and giving good help side defense.
Good pressure on the ball can cover up a lot of defensive mistakes away from the ball.
Any defender that gets beat by the dribbler must realize that the help he receives is temporary. How quickly he recovers is vital to his team's overall defense.
Lute Olson emphasizes to his defenders the importance of not allowing the offensive opponent to get his feet at your feet.
Reverse the ball. If nothing is there, reverse it again.
Bobby Knight suggests that you play your weak scorers where they have to be guarded.
Position and quickness to the ball are what Jack Ramsey believes makes a great rebounder.
South Carolina head coach Eddie Fogler believes you must stop ball reversal at all costs.
St. Augustine High School (New Orleans) head coach Bernard Griffith wants to make the last twenty minutes of practice the hardest. He believes that adrenaline will get you through the first part of practice and that courage and heart gets you through at the end.
Fran Fraschilla likes each of his plays to have a verbal and a visual call.
Former NBA coach Hubie Brown thinks the best place to post up is at the dotted line in the lane because most teams play behind in this situation.
Auburn head coach Cliff Ellis teaches to go hard to set a screen and to go slow to receive a screen.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski believes coaches cannot just assume players can get open. Coaches must teach players how to get open by themselves.
Bob Johnson gives the following keys to defending the fast break: (1)Sprint back; (2) Against a 3-on-1 or 2-on-1, keep your head under the basket; (3) Never give up a lay up; (4) Do not commit but do fake; (5) The two best outcomes are a charge or a jumpshot.
I think every mistake should be noticed and corrected on the spot. - Don Shula
Coaching is just one thing -- it is creating in practice the situation the player will face in the game, and then repeating it until he can react by rote memory. - Joe Paterno
If you are down five at the end of a game, Hubie Brown believes you should get the two point basket first.
Jack Ramsey's ten principles of winning defense are as follows: (1) protect the basket; (2) force the ball to the baseline; (3) blockout and rebound; (4) deny weakside and strongside cuts; (5) deny post ups; (6) weakside help; (7) challenge jump shots without fouling; (8) handle screens; (9) trap and rotate; (10) zone defense.
Cliff Ellis likes to use a high cut off a cross screen when playing a team that switches. He does this because the screener will more likely be open on a switch and he wants to get the lower man open off the screen.
Cliff Ellis teaches his post players to blind the defender, that is to force them to face man or ball, but not both.
Iowa State head coach Tim Floyd will "shade" a great player. The player doing the shading is told to play his man one-on-one and has no help responsibility. However, if more than four touches are allowed, the defender is subbed out.
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo head coach Jeff Schneider has the following objectives for his man-to-man defense: distort the offense, contest every shot, be at the ball line, only allow non-penetrating passes, always see man and ball, attempt to intercept all lobs, jump to the ball on every pass, guard 1/8 of the court, trap the low post, maximum ball pressure, and do not foul.
Indiana head coach Bobby Knight wants his practices to promote anticipation and reaction.
Jeff Schneider believes in doubling all ball screens.
For Cliff Ellis the most important statistics for his post players are field goal percentage, rebounds, and turnovers.
Drexel head coach Bill Herrion does not worry about how long a drill lasts; he will work on a skill until the players get it right.
Texas El Paso head coach Don Haskins says that if you want to win, you will have to do some things that are boring.
If your opponent will have the ball coming out of a timeout, Bob McKillop suggests putting in a sub. You may end up with an unguarded player when you get the ball.
Do you practice intentionally fouling at the end of the game?
Bob Johnson believes slow players should stretch twice a day, because there is correlation between quickness and flexibility.
Randolph-Macon head coach Hal Nunnaly wants his players to take threes from one foot behind the line.
Show me a guy who is afraid to look bad and I will show you guy you can beat every time. - Lou Brock
You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them. - Michael Jordan
Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. - John Wooden.
Marquette head coach Mike Deane does not worry about the ball going to the high post because very few post players can create scoring opportunities from there.
Seton Hall head coach Tommy Amaker starts his post drills from transition to teach his players the importance of establishing early position, whether on offense or defense.
When attacking a zone, Indiana head coach Bob Knight likes to have two players initiate action on one side so that he can reverse the ball to three players.
During practice each day, Nebraska head coach Danny Nee has his team execute a play successfully three times in a row.
Long time coach Herb Brown gives the following suggestions for getting open: Close the distance between you and the defender and then break quickly to the ball.
Providence head coach Pete Gillen believes that 80 percent of the game is mental.
Michael Wells head coach at Admiral Farragut Academy only allows players to sit down during practice if they see the coach sit down. Wells has never had a player sit during practice.
Richmond head coach Jim Bielien teaches his players to not show their belly button or their back to the defender, except for glimpses, when they have the ball.
Bob Knight likes to use disadvantage drills in practice because it forces players to play through adversity.
Chuck Carringer teaches his players to switch on all screens in last second situations.
Mike Deane says the best ways to attack a match-up defense is the following: use more than two cutters, have post players step out, and penetrate.
Tommy Amaker believes players who think quicker will be physically quicker on the court.
Former North Carolina head coach Dean Smith believed in using sprints to build mental toughness, but not for conditioning.
Danny Nee wants to shout praise and whisper criticism.
Steve Lavin warns coaches not to overlook developing the following skills during practice: listening, enthusiasm, stance, and work ethic.
On defense, Mike Krzyzewski wants his players to think about being wider.
Tommy Amaker thinks it is critical that you train your players not to drop their front foot when the offensive player jabs.
On receiving a pass out of a trap, Jim Larranaga teaches his players to run to where the help came from.
David Lipscomb High School (TN) head coach Mike Roller teaches his players to drop their butt to the ground when making a jump-stop. This technique will keep players from traveling.
Against a press, Evansville head coach Jim Crews teaches his players to dribble hard, stop, back-up, and drive the middle at the biggest player.
Jeff Schneider teaches his perimeter players five dribble moves: hesitation, stutter-step, stutter-crossover, inside-out, and speed.
Herb Brown suggests placing high post receivers at or above the elbows. The elbows are places for creating high percentage shots and creating excellent angles to feed the low post.
In a congested area, screen the man guarding the screener when trying to free a teammate. This action eliminates the switch and forces the man guarding the cutter to go over two players.
Phil Martelli is another coach who believes in pressing on break away lay-ups.
For Pete Gillen, the game of basketball is like chess. If you can get your opponents' big pieces off the board, you will win the game. If you get the ball inside a great deal, the opposing teams' big players will be in foul trouble and have to sit.
Mike Krzyzewski believes that to play pressure basketball you have to see the ball. To see the ball, you have to talk to the ball.
Southwest Missouri State head coach Steve Alford wants his players to aim two inches above the front of the rim when shooting.
Richmond head coach Jim Bielien teaches his team how to play "prevent defense." This defense would be used, for instance, if you were up three with six seconds to go.
Former St. John's head coach Fran Fraschilla wants his offense to be good at three things: secondary break, quick hitters, and man-to-man offense.
Bowling Green head coach Dan Dakich teaches his players to get a hand in the passing lane when contesting the pass.
Bill Gutheridge believes timing is everything on offense.
South Carolina head coach Eddie Fogler will often trap the other team's best player when he catches the ball.
Socastee High School (SC) head coach Dan D'Antoni believes there are four parts to setting up a program: getting players to play year round, raising money, establishing traditions, and developing a feeder program.
Michael Wells head coach Admiral Farragut Academy never allows players to laugh at mistakes. Laughing at failure is the first sign of accepting failure.
Grinnell College head coach David Arseneault teaches his team to get outside position when going for an offensive rebound and to pin their defender in the lane. This tactic allows them to be in a better position to rebound threes, which they shoot frequently.
Lennie Acuff wants his players to use sweeps and jabs to create space between them and the defender.
Former Virginia head coach Jeff Jones had these concepts for building his defense: no penetration, proper positioning, no backdoors, hand in the passing lane, and defensive patience.
Portland assistant Bill Musselman believes that defense starts with footwork.
In running his fast break, Dan D'Antoni will put his best shooter on the left to allow for a reversal to a shot.
Rhode Island head coach Jim Harrick gives the following eight keys to defense: stance, deny the pass, jump to the ball, talk, help and recover, hand up on the shot, block off, and rebound.
Bill Foster lets his players go as high as necessary to reverse the ball.
Rick Majerus wants his players to throw a skip pass whenever possible.
Minnesota head coach Clem Haskins wants to have his players form a triangle around the basket on every shot his team takes.
For Bill Musselman, the first sign a player is not focused is if he gets upright on defense.
Jim Bielien suggests that if you can't scout, play zone early so that you can evaluate your opponents personnel.
Chuck Carringer teaches his men to yell "dead" when their man picks up his dribble.
If the ball is below the foul line, Dan Dakich wants all five of his defenders on the ballside of the floor.
When contesting the pass, Craig Hartman believes it is vital not to lunge.
Jerry Green believes you should design pressure release plays.
Rick Pitino tells his players to play the ball and see your man.
Coach Charles Wimphrie from Southern Wesleyan University in South Carolina believes that good shot selection helps keep you ahead, while bad shot selection forces you to play from behind.
