The halfway point of the season hits and every coach has a highlight reel they never asked for—the same phrases, the same reminders, the same cues echoed in gyms night after night.
“Get back.” “Hands up.” “Next play.”
It’s the economy of language – being efficiently clear in an instruction. Not getting too much into the weeds of it, but The Coach’s Guide To Teaching does kind of sit in the brain after reading it. Being fluent in the language of any program can be the difference between execution and breakdowns.
Heading into the new year for the final stretch of conference season, here’s a list of what I keep saying, why I say it, and what it suggests about our program’s priorities.
- (Who’s) Ball
- Load . . . Gap
- Eyes Down
- See Both
- Low / Tag
- Keep It Hot
- Cut (45)
- Hold (Seal)
- 1 More
- Go Get It
“(WHO’S) BALL”
Let’s start on the defensive end of the floor where we are immediately reminding the team in transition to prioritize early pick-up points. Ideally the ballhandler has been marked right at halfcourt already starting to steer the ballhandler off to the outer thirds or off their dominant hand to slow down any immediate drives. Simply establish lines of communication starting with the ball.
“LOAD (TO THE BALL) – GET IN THE GAP”
After leveling the ballhandler off to a point where the rest of the team is getting matched up, our guys are responsible for transitioning into halfcourt principles building a wall and getting in the gap. There is a significant distinction between teams that rack up points off primary break and forcing secondary actions based on the defensive ability to minimize the gaps early in offense. Youth levels to college have the same breakdowns when it comes to transition defense: tunnel vision coverage hugging up to matchups or failing to communicate.
EYES DOWN
Now hopefully it is a 5-on-5 possession where ball-pressure is non-negotiable. The objective is to take away any comfortable vantage point for the player with the ball – hand in face first, ready to mirror the ball. Our coaching cue is to get an offensive player’s eyes down disruptively applying ball pressure limiting passing windows or forcing head down drives preferably from an outstretched starting point.
SEE BOTH
When the ball moves players move and vulnerabilities increase due to ball-watching or hugging up to a matchup. Doing one or the other can lead to scoring opportunities. So the reminder to see both – as elementary as it sounds – requires defenders to multi-task. After any basket cut snap your head or play dead because it might be your weak-side responsibility. Or despite being in the right gap, if you ball-watch long enough and turn to relocate your matchup they might already have backdoor to a layup. This is more about developing instincts than it is physically being able to see two at a time.
(YOUR) LOW – READY TO TAG
Part of seeing both is anticipating offensive opportunities within the scope of a defensive coverage or protection. Different programs utilize different ways to help during ball-screen situations; for us, more often than not we are expecting our weak side low man to be positioned on the midline to discourage or tag any rollers to the rim. The term used above, “play dead” is an instruction for any defender guarding an offensive player cutting to the opposite corner of the ball to stop on the midline and protect against a possible roll. The expectation is to talk who is low and ready to tag the ballscreen, while also reading the possible re-location of their matcup.
KEEP IT HOT
If all goes well defensively finishing with a rebound then we are looking to advance it up the floor offensively. Depending on how well the opposing team guards our primary break we’d like to keep the ball hot and avoid letting the defense get set. With an attack mode approach advantages can start in the first few seconds of a possession with ball movement, stampede drives, and seeing cutters or player movement spacing around the perimeter.
CUT (45)
One particular cut that we’ve look to emphasize is the 45 cut from the wings. Penetration leads to a gravitational pull of defenders, subsequently leading to opportunities for backdoor cuts. Some of the best times for 45 cuts is off of baseline drives or post entries. The cut might not always lead to an immediate basket, but a teammate might fill open space that leads to a high percentage shot.
HOLD
Since we are looking to cut up the defense following paint touches, our offense will integrate different ways to operate out of the post. One way is to hold any of our cuts and flip our hips to a ballhandler for a possible post-entry. Some holds are scripted while others considered reads based on matchups. This is a positionless offensive tactic; some of the best playmakers on the team can be overlooked post threats.
1 MORE
Any good defense has the ability to stifle an offense following the 1st pass out of a scramble; it takes a better offense to either sustain the advantage or punish with numbers by reading 1-more opportunities. Don’t allow a good penetrate and kick flounder because of sticky hands. Now, that being said, 1-more are not a required response. Since this is a common offensive concept for teams, what are defenders instinctually doing more and more of? Taking away the next pass and jumping the extra. So the 1-more cue reminds our players to hunt good-to-great as opposed mandating an automated action.
GO GET IT (SAFETY)
After getting a great look, the next best offensive play is getting another until it counts for points on the scoreboard. More and more teams are emphasizing 2nd chance points and our program finds itself valuing offensive rebounds all the same. The number of players being sent to the glass can change game-to-game with the others acting as a safety prepared for an immediate inside-out shot attempt or mitigating any fast-break going the other way.
Coach's Climb 