At the other extreme of maturity and skill, UCONN's Geno Auriemma-led Huskies project scoring a third in transition, a third off threes, and a third off set plays.
We don't practice threes at this age; we need another way forward.
Special situations (inbounds plays) - 15%
Offensive rebounds (put backs) - 20%
Transition - 30%
Learning to play (pass and cut) - 35%
I'm including defense to offense (pressure/turnovers) in the transition domain.
Offensive practice doesn't always reflect those goals. Practice prioritizes fundamentals, transition (conditioning, decision-making, passing) and developmental basketball (small-sided games, e.g. 3-on-3, 2-on-2, and 4-on-4 no dribble). It demands more "north-south" play versus perimeter east-west dribbling. It requires constant reminders about ball and player movement.
Special situations. Within our two, two-hour practices, we always work special situations (e.g. BOB, SLOB, free throws) into offense-defense-offense play. We focus on BOBs against 2-3 zones and man-to-man, looking to convert 3-4 times per game into scores.
Offensive rebounds. Working on "Bradleys," jumping with high release to score (or be fouled) inside, we're gradually getting more putbacks.
Transition. Converting defense into offense is critical, especially against better teams, who surrender fewer points in transition. That demands a "sprinting" mindset, willing passing, spacing (running wide), and finishers.
We struggle with this as our players don't all have the strength to pass well. This three pass transition drill has each player touching the ball in transition, getting a layup for '4' and everyone shoots. 4 then returns in the middle and again, everyone gets a shot. Last night both tempo and execution were mediocre not average.
We also worked on 2 on 1 from half-court, with an emphasis on scoring a layup EVERY 2 on 1 possession. What we lack in size, we have in speed and we should parlay that 'cavalry' attitude into points.
Small-sided games (SSG). The four pillars of offense I want players to appreciate are spacing, cutting, passing, and screening. Finding the "right" amount of screening is non-intuitive, because it initially compromises spacing. With ten players available for most of practice, that allowed us to rotate between 3-on-3 and 2-on-2 play.
Within the 3-on-3 SSG, I want better pick-and-roll action as well as decision-making from 3 depending on x3 defensive coverage.
It's far from perfect. Sometimes it's not even acceptable. But practice should awaken players' creativity and mastery. I watched an excellent (yet still young) high school team control a game from opening tap to buzzer. That's worth working toward. Where are your points arising?
