Basketball New Year's Day Edition: 9 Team Actions/Drills That Help

Happy New Year. 

"Who died and made you king?" was a maternal favorite. These are some of my favorite team practice activities, mostly purloined from great coaches but a few original.

Warmup 

Speed layups for warm-up via the Lithuania team at the #JonesCup. I like it because most of warm-up IMO is about getting shots as we shoot more than we get layups in games...the other part is a short burst of energy & enthusiasm so this would take care of that. pic.twitter.com/UQXy7w1Ozg

— Chris Oliver (@BBallImmersion) July 29, 2018

"Rollouts" before games are another way to get into 3 on 3 action. It prioritizes closeouts, defensive communication, player and ball movement. Add constraints like time, number of dribbles, and defenders not allowed to cover the player in front of them.

Villanova "Get 50" shooting warmup. The "Wright" stuff...

Defense

Shell drill with live action progressions. 

1. Perimeter passing (position check)

2. Pass and cut through (looking for give and go offense and defense)

3. Pass and screen away

4. Pass corner with drive and defensive rotation

Dog Drill (Kevin Eastman) Everyone has to guard the ball, contain the ball. 

Pressure. 

Advantage disadvantage (Variation off Knight concepts). My top drill for handling pressure. Full court 5 versus 7 (or 8) with no dribbling. It forces passing, cutting, and encourages excellence in player and ball movement. 5-on-5 looks different during games if your baseline is playing 5 v. 7. 

Manmaker (Shaka Smart).

Another drill that forces urgent cutting, good pivoting, and protecting the ball.

Offense. 

Specials. Three-possession games, usually 4 on 4 but can be 5 on 5. The initiating action can be a free throw, BOB, SLOB, or ATO play. We generally spend 15 minutes at the end of each practice on specials, as a scrimmage alternative. It also allows 

practice of special situations that we excelled at. 

Small sided game...3 on 3 inside the split. 

Have a coach at each end (if possible) and vary the "spacing" to give players different looks to initiate attack from. 

These nine actions help players "see the game" and learn the value of the big four of spacing, cutting, screening, and passing. They are necessary but not sufficient because everyone needs high volume shooting practice. I believe that each should have at least 150 shots per practice. We ordinarily spend about a third of practice on shooting. 

Lagniappe (something extra). Everyone wants more range.