Motion Offense and "Learning to Play"

Sticking point 1. "Basketball is a game of cutting and passing." 

Sticking point 2. "Movement kills defense."

Sticking point 3. "You define how hard you are to play against." As a young player, we had a scrimmage against a team known for having an excellent point guard. At one point during the scrimmage, he threw a punch at me because he didn't like being guarded tightly. Or maybe he just didn't like me...

FastModel shares a great introduction to motion offense. Here are some excerpts but the article is worth reading. 

Chuck Daly's core: "Spacing is offense and offense is spacing."

Moving without the ball (cutting) adds value for both yourself and your teammate. It implies purpose, reading defense and individual defenders, setting up your cut, and understanding change of pace and direction. The article makes a great point, cutting changes the spacing and players need to react. 

This is from another FastModel post...but illustrates 'zones' which have to be filled or vacated with passing and cutting. 

But another part of cutting is the time and space element. You have to time your cut to the awareness and vision of the ballhandler. If she can't see you, your cut won't create opportunity. Cutting to an occupied post is counter-productive. 

Coach Randy Sherman continues the discussion of motion offense here. 

A big part of 'motion' is players' understanding of creating personal separation by different types of cutting or a teammate's separation by screening. I don't know whether defenses' response to motion (an abundance of zone defenses) is acknowledgement of its effectiveness. 

Teaching players to play with time and space limits is a priority. We learned that on the playground but that's not an option. 

Practically, we 'play' 3 on 3 with the CONSTRAINT of staying on one side of the split. I want 5s to line up one step outside the lane to give them initial cutting options in both directions. If 1 has a drive, 5 has to "empty" / relocate to where she can catch and score. Initially entry to 5 from the top to low is discouraged as one of the "most stolen" passes. 

5 can cut to the high post setting up 1-5-3 "blind pig" action. If wing entry occurs with 5 cutting to the high post, 1 has to read "drive" for 3 or has "UCLA" cut options following which she would have to 'bury' to the corner. Alternatively, with 5 at the high post, she can ball screen 3 or slip the ball screen depending on the defensive read. 

If she goes to the corner, then the following arises: 

3 can drive or 3/5 have the "two-man game" options. We don't have dominant post players, so sliding to the block for a postup isn't realistically a great option for us. 5 can ball screen for 3 (we have 3 left-handed 3's) or a pass to 5 for a give-and-go is a good option. If that happens (without the pass), 1 has to replace 3 and 3 goes to the corner. 5 can then drive or pass back out and reset the action. I haven't taught "Triangle" offense as a system, but those options evolve. 

We're still at the stage where the longer we play without generating an open shot, drive, or basket cut...a turnover is more likely than a score.