Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Basketball: Expose Young Players to Advanced Concepts, Zipper Actions

The basketball universe spans the globe. Bogdan Karaicic shares ideas about Zipper Actions in a CoachesClinic presentation. I want our middle schoolers exposed to a variety of actions that they will run and defend at higher levels. 


Decide which side to attack for right or left-handed players. (Karaicic screen capture)



Zipper actions into ball screen. Aggressive defense sets up the short roll and extreme pressure on the middle of the defense. 

Coach suggests exploiting several types of mismatches - on ball, closeout, rebounding



The point guard (right) has come off a dribble handoff and starts to penetrate. He passes to the wing to initiate post entry. 


Get the ball back to the PG with a pass and handback into a high PnR. With aggressive defense, the back cut becomes available by design. 


Zipper into PnR with goal of ball reversal. This could lead to a corner 3, a dive for 5 with a delay, or 4 could set a flare screen for 1. A lot of versatility in addition to classic middle PnR. 


Against teams that front the post, zipper with swing and seal gets a possible layup.


Empty a side for a PnR.

Lagniappe: Horns sets from Chris Oliver 

 Lagniappe 2: Lessons from Vogue editor Anna Wintour's MasterClass


Don't fear to put ourselves out there.


We are editors. Decide when to be conventional and when to be disruptive. No matter what we do, everyone won't be on board.