Friday 1-3-1 presents a drill, three concepts, and a play.
Drill/Concept. Finishing off two-feet. I've "undertaught" this skill. My bad. Two-footed finishes allow for better power and balance.
Jay Wright's Wildcats have excelled at getting into the paint to finish or kick out passes.
Coach Nick shares a drill from BBallBreakdown working on finishing tough off two feet.
Concepts. Spacing 1. Everyone knows Chuck Daly's quote, "offense is spacing and spacing is offense."
Explain to players how spacing opens driving and passing lanes and makes double teams difficult to execute. Help comes at the cost of long closeouts. All coaches know that. Many young players do not.
Spacing 2. We call the three-point line the 'spacing line.' We sometimes warmup with dribbling drills around the three-point line for added emphasis. By the time a player enters high school, she should be capable of scoring on one dribble from the spacing line.
This ancient (2006) video shows WNBA guard Shey Peddy in high school. Peddy is the backup point guard for the Washington Mystics. Yes, my identical twin daughters were her high school teammates.
Spacing 3. Excellent players win in space not in traffic. Spacing is like magnetism, repelling offense while the ball attracts defenders. "Never cut to an occupied post" warns players to maintain spacing.
In a "spread" offense, use the spacing line as a trigger for backdoor cuts when the defender crosses outside the line.
The "downside" of the screen game is compromised spacing.
Play: "Great offense is multiple actions."
Floppy morphs into a staggered screen. That may open a "three" or encourage a switch leading to a post mismatch.
Lagniappe: Extensive tips for improving basketball IQ from Basketball For Coaches. Among other truths, basketball is a game of separation - getting and preventing it. Are we watching or studying a game?
Kidd stuff.
Lagniappe 2: Summer physiology tip. SAVE A LIFE, MAYBE YOUR OWN.The physiology of breath-holding is complicated. But hyperventilating PRIOR to underwater swimming can cause underwater blackout and death from low oxygen. Navy divers are trained NOT to do this. Don't you or your children do this either. Don't turn summer fun into tragedy.