What happens if we aren't a great shooting team?

This one has come up often with coaches saying that they didn't want to run motion because they just weren't a great shooting team.  That is quite all right, as you can emphasize anything that you would like within the offense.  For example if you want to work on post play and emphasize that, then make them screeners, and work a ton of pin screen stuff.  If you want to work midrange, you can widen your screening angle out, etc.  This can all change to adapt to your personnel.

For instance at Nolan Catholic we put a strong emphasis on: Post Play, Mid Range, then Perimeter Play in that order.  We also made sure that we put a very big spotlight on dribble penetration to add to post play.  By allowing guards to get to the rim, we felt that we could use our speed to round the corner.  This all had to be set up by great screening, and reading to make sure that help side defenders were occupied with action.

Game Plan Within Motion

One of the greatest things that I like about motion, is that it has an adaptability to anything that a defense is going to do.  Our mindset has always been that we wanted to find their weakest defender, their weakest interchange defense, etc, and try to exploit it.  Looking at many pattern offenses over my first couple of years, I hated how teams could adjust their defense to take something away, and then I was stuck having to do something that my kids weren't used to doing (if that makes sense).
With motion we were able to take any changes that the defense was throwing at us, and adjust on the fly without missing a beat.  You want to switch, fine our second cutters know to seal/slip/rescreen etc.  You want to hard hedge to take away the inside cut, second cutters are trained to adjust to that as well.  With that in mind, one of the first game plan strategies that we picked up from Coach Knight was back screen shooting.

**Imagine playing a team that has a big dominant post player who they need to stay around the rim.  With that in mind, we have noticed many times that this big, will not venture out of the lane too much.  One game plan thing that we will hit in practice that week, is we will drill our post players hard on making them back screen shooters.  During our guard post breakdown we emphasize 12-15 foot shooting, after setting back screens in our 2x2 relationship.  During drill work we will have the post start on the block, screen towards the wing by hitting a pad after a jump stop, and second cutting back to the ball, squaring in the air to shoot.  We tell them to create separation at about the 12-15 mark range from the screen and back to the ball.

If teams are switching this and allowing the guard to take the big, and the post defender stays inside we will give a hook call on the back screen. We will drill this in workouts by having the post (instead of being flat to the defenders back on the back screen) actually hook back up the floor to get on the baseline shoulder of the guard defender to give a flare screen type action.  At this point we will fade the guard to the corner and basically put them at a disadvantage. This is very good action if the guard is  a good perimeter shooter, and your post player can hit from 12-15.  In this scenario it makes the defense have to decide if they are going to send the big out (which is what we want if we are looking to get to the rim), or they have to give up a shooter to one of the two kids.


Figure 1: Simple backscreen shooting vs a pad.  Screener backscreens, and second cuts into an open area.

Hook screen vs switch and big stays inside. Hook baseline side flare to corner and get defense at disadv.

Teaching Points in the Offense

TEACHING POINTS WITHIN THE OFFENSE

1. KEEP DRIBBLE ALIVE.
1. TO DRIVE
2. TO MAKE BETTER PASSING ANGLES
3. TO CENTER THE BALL
4. TO DRIBBLE AT A TEAM MATE TO RELIEVE PRESSURE.

2. BASKETCUT IS THE KEY TO MOTION:
1. TO SCORE
2. TO SET UP SCREENING ANGLE
3. TO SET UP CUTTING ANGLE. (FLARE SCREEN)
4. TO RELIEVE PRESSURE.
5. TO EMPTY AN AREA.
6. PERIMETER:  PASS 1^ST STEP IS ALWAYS TO BASKETCUT.

3. NCHS MOTION:  THE ORDER CAN CHANGE AT ANY TIME
1. POST GAME
2. MID RANGE
3. PERIMETER

4. NCHS MOTION GOALS:
1. GET MORE LAY UPS, AND FREE THROWS THAN OUR OPPONENT.
2. GET UNCONTESTED SHOTS CUTTING, AND SECOND CUTTING.

5. SHOT DISCIPLINE:  WE WANT 3’S, AND 2’S
1. 3= LAYUP
2. 2 = WIDE OPEN SHOT
3. 1 = POOR SHOT (CONTESTED OR OUT OF RANGE
4. 0 = TURNOVER

6. COMMUNICATION:
1. SCREENERS ALWAYS CALL CUTTERS NAME.
2. IN PRACTICE DRILLS, SCREENER AND CUTTER MUST CALL OUT WHAT THEY ARE DOING.

7. BALANCE:  TERM USED WHEN WE ARE OUT OF CONTROL
8. USE MOVEMENT WISELY:
1. DON’T WEAR YOURSELF OUT FREEING YOURSELF UP ON A V CUT.
2. WALK THE ARC:  SET MAN UP SLOW, COME OFF OF SCREEN HARD AND LATE.
3. TAKE LANES TO SCREEN AND FLASH, DON’T FIGHT THE DEFENSE.

9. SCREENERS ARE ALWAYS SECOND CUTTERS: 
1. EVERYTIME THAT WE EXECUTE A SCREEN THERE ARE TWO CUTS.
2. BETTER THE CUTTER, MORE OPEN THE SECOND CUTTER.
3. CUTTER READS DEFENSE, 2^ND CUTTER GOES OPPOSITE FIRST CUTTER.

10. REVERSE THE BALL
1. MAKE DEFENSE GO FROM ONE SIDE OF THE FLOOR TO THE OTHER.
2. MAKE POST DEFENDER(S) CHANGE POSITION, SET UP IS DIRECT.

11. CENTER THE BALL:
1. BEST SPOT TO SEE THE BACKSIDE ACTION.
2. BEST SPOT TO DRIVE THE BALL.
3. BEST SPOT TO MAKE THE EASY PASS.
4. BEST SPOT TO FEED THE CUTTER.

12. IF SOMEONE DRIBBLES AT YOU, EMPTY AND BASKETCUT.

14.  COUNTERS TO SWITCHING SCREENS:

      A.  SLIP SCREENS: WE HAVE TO DRIVE THIS HOME MORE THIS YEAR TO COUNTER SWITCHES, AND EMPTY OUT SPOTS AT POINT OF SCREEN

      B.  BACK CUTS: SCREENER FLASH HIGH

      C.  BUMPS.

      D. HIT SCREENERS

13. MOTION MIGHT STINK FOR A WHILE:  DON’T BLAME THE OFFENSE, LOOK AT THE QUALITY OF SHOTS.

14. RESCREEN:  IF MISS ON 1^ST SCREEN, GET THEM ON RESCREEN.

15. CATCH THE BALL READY TO SHOOT:  CHUCK DAILY STATED IT BEST BY SAYING THAT YOU ARE THE MOST OPEN YOU WILL EVER BE WHEN YOU FIRST CATCH THE BALL.

FIND A PHILOSOPHY THAT YOU WANT TO STICK WITH.  EITHER HAVE KIDS SQUARE IN THE AIR, PERMANENT PIVOT, INSIDE PIVOT ETC.  WE ARE DRILLING THIS VERY HEAVILY ON WITH OUR BREAKDOWN DRILLS ON THE GUN. 

Teaching Progression in the Offense

TEACHING PROGRESSION:  SEE DIAGRAMS

1. 1-0 CUTS WITH A COACH. (DOWNSCREEN, BACKSCREEN, FLARE SCREEN)
2. 2-0 CUTS WITH A COACH (DIFFERENT SIDES OF THE FLOOR)

1. TRY TO GET BOTH A SHOT SO THAT THEY CAN GET USED TO SQUARING, AND CREATING SEPERATION
2. SECOND CUTTER ALWAYS GO OPPOSITE OF THE FIRST CUTTER
3. ALSO WORK THE SHALLOW CUT, AND SHALLOW/BACK

3. 2-2 ON A SIDE WITH COACH AS A PASSER
4. 2-2 DIFFERENT AREAS.  (TOP OF FLOOR, GUARD/POST, SIDE, ETC)
1. IN THIS THE COACH CAN MOVE WITH A DRIBBLE SO THAT THE SPACING CAN STAY THE SAME, AND ALLOW KIDS TO READ THEIR DEFENDERS, AND CLEAR A SIDE OF THE FLOOR IF NEEDED
2. MAKE THE KIDS RESCREEN IN THIS IF THE FIRST SCREEN DIDN’T GET THE FIRST CUTTER OPEN.
3. EMPHASIZE THE BACK CUT ON OVER  PLAYS BY THE DEFENSE

5. 3-3 DIFFERENT AREAS ON THE FLOOR
1. CAN GO WITH OR WITHOUT A COACH
2. USE DIFFERENT SCREENER/CUTTER COMBO’S.  2 SCREENERS 1 CUTTER, 2 CUTTERS 1 SCREENER ETC.
3. MAKE THEM USE THE WHOLE FLOOR, AND MAKE SURE THAT THEY DON’T KILL SPACING BY SITTING IN THE POST THE ENTIRE TIME

6. 4-2 DESIGNATED SCREENING AREAS. 
1. HAVE THE DEFENDERS COVER THE CUTTERS
2. WORK ON THE RESCREEN HERE, AND SEPERATION TO CLEAR SPACE.

7. 4-4 PUT HEAVY RESTRICTIONS ON THIS, TEACHING TIME
1. SET GOOD SCREENS, AND GET GOOD SEPERATION
2. TRY TO GET AS MANY 2 ON 2 SITUATIONS ON A SIDE AS POSSIBLE
3. TIE DOWN HELP
4. CAN EVEN DO THINGS SUCH AS ONLY SCORE ON AN INSIDE CUT, SCREENER HAS TO SCORE ON A SLIP, BE CREATIVE.

8. 4 ON 4 ON 4
1. THIS IS WHERE THEY REALLY GET TO GET SOME QUALITY WORK IN CAN WORK MANY DEFENSIVE, AND OFFENSIVE THINGS IN DURING HERE
2. MAKE THEM CALL SHOT SELECTION OUT

9. 5 ON 5 SEQUENCE
1. WE WILL GO FULL/AND HALF/AND 5 ON 5 ON 5
2. WORK ON TRANSITION AND SECONDARY INTO OFFENSE
3. KEEP SCORE DIFFERENT WAYS
4. ONE COACH WATCH DEFENSE, ONE GET OFFENSE
5. MAKE THEM DO THINGS RIGHT, BUT DON’T OVERCOACH. (TOUGH BALANCE)

Breakdown Drills in Motion

1 on 1 With a trash can: O1 is working agains D1 using a trashcan as a simulated screener. 

2-0 Shallow Cut. Dribble hard at the 2 and let them fill. This is a reversal option in motion

2-0 Shallow Back: If the 2 is denied hard on the fill they can back cut

2-0 with a passer: Screen and Cut Run this with all screens. Pass to both cutters

4-0 Pass Cut and Fill

2-0 Cross Screen/Curl Cut: Head Downhill Hard on the Curl   

2-0 Down Screen/Back Cut                                                 

2-0 Down Screen/Curl                                                            

2-0 Down Screen Out Cut                                                     

2-0 Down Screen Straight Cut                                                   

2-0 Flare Screen Fade Cut                                                   

2-0 Flare Screen Pop Cut                                                         

2-0 Pin Screen Curl                                                                  

2-0 Pin Screen fade                                                                  

Free Coaches Clinic October 1st

Just wanted to announce that we will be hosting the First Annual Fall Maypearl Ball Talk!! This will be a free event, and will take place Saturday October 1st, at Maypearl High School Gymnasium at 11:00am.  This event will be a "Pass the Chalk" type of event, in which coaches will just pass the ball/chalk, around the bleachers to hear from as many people as possible.
This event will start at 11 am, and go as long as people want to stay.  Bring a notebook, a pen, and any drills/sets/ideas, that you would like to share with the group at this round table type of event.  All ideas are welcome, and the more the better.
Those interested RSVP to jwallen@maypearlisd.org

Thanks and see you there!!

Shot Selection Within Motion Offense

One of the biggest things that I have heard with motion offense is the old "I can't get the shot that I want in motion".  While you can't dictate the exact time you are going to get the shot, you can dictate who, what, where, and why of the shot selection process, but it must be something that is constantly harped on in games, and in practices.

We follow a simple few rules in shot selection.  1) We will let kids know where their range is, and tell them they aren't to shoot outside of this.  2) We have a plus minus system that we employ to make sure we don't become a jump shooting team 3) We make sure that we make kids in practice call out their shot, so that they can get an idea of what they are doing in the shot selection process.

Here are some things that we look at.

* Things to do to address shot selection:

                1.  During our half court breakdown we will have kids yell out shot selection number as soon as we attempt the shot. If we disagree with their shot selection number we explain why it should be something different.  You can make this as detailed as you want, or as basic as you want.  We also will show kids during film of where we think that they are doing well, or not doing  a very good job.  In a game we will have a coach that will keep up with a +/- chart to help relay to guards.  We also implement this within our half court break down drills, and our live drills like "50 Perfect Passes", or our "Implemented Rules" time.

.

                                3= Open Lay-up

                                2 = Open Jump Shot

                                1 = Bad Shot (contested, or out of range)

                                0 = Turnover

2.       We will also go with a plus/minus system in practice breakdown as well. During practice we run for 0's or 1's.

·         Every possession merits a +/- response.  A make is a + and a miss or turnover is a -.

·         We make sure that when we get to a -3 we are making every attempt to get to the rim.  Game situation we leave this up to our point guard to make the call.

3.       It is ok to tell a kid that you are not a shooter.  Same concept that football coaches have used for years in telling kids that they are a lineman, or something other than a skill position.  Everyone has a role, and they must accept it.  No one role is more or less important that the other.

Cuts in Motion Offense

Today we will look at cuts in the offense.  Now with the diagram listed below, you will just see the cuts off of the down screen, and the flare screen.  Remember though that the rules that are mentioned in the cuts, can be followed in any area of the floor.

Remember that everyone of these cuts the screener will be the screener, and second cutter.  After screening they will go opposite of the first.

If you will click on the diagram below it will sequence the cuts for you, but it will just have first cutter action. The cuts are listed in order: Down Screen/Curl, Down Screen/Straight, Down Screen/Back, Down Screen/Out, Flare Screen/Pop, Flare Screen/Fade.

All of these are difficult to get, and players must be willing to read the defense, instead of guessing a cut.  If the offense is to be effective, players must read and react, instead of just predetermining their movements.

At the bottom of the page I have also listed some problems with motion that come from mainly Coach Meyer, and what we have seen as well.  Hope it helps

TYPES OF CUTS OFF OF SCREENS:

1. CURL:  DEFENSE GETS ON CUTTERS HIP, TRAILS SCREEN

2. STRAIGHT:  DEFENSE PLAYS IN DENIAL, TRIES TO FIGHT THROUGH SCREEN.

3. OUT:  DEFENSE GOES TO THE MIDLINE, OR BALLSIDE OF THE SCREEN.  SCREENER MUST CHANGE ANGLE OF THE SCREEN, CUTTER GO SQUARE TO SCREENERS SHOULDERS.

4. BACK CUT:  IF YOU CAN’T SEE THE SCREENERS EYEBALLS, DEFENSE IS IN YOUR FACE, WALK UP, AND EXPLODE BACK.

5. FLARE CUT:  CUT FROM SLOT TO SEAM.  THIS IS EITHER BACK SCREEN, OR FLARE SCREEN WHEN SCREENER IS BELOW THE CUTTER.

6. POP CUT:  OFF OF A FLARE SCREEN, BASICALLY A CURL OFF OF THE SCREEN WHEN THE DEFENDER IS TRAILING THE CUTTER.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS WITH MOTION:

                As with any offense, there are potential problems that might arise.  We must see these as they happen, and adjust to them ASAP.  I have listed below the potential problems that we could encounter.

1. Sometimes motion gets stale:  This is usually from a lack of movement.  We can adjust the cutters/screeners, or run a set to get the kids back into movement.

2. There is no joystick option:  There is not a majority of control sitting in the coaches hands.  The players have the majority of control of the offense.  We must trust their judgment, and our teaching methods.

3. Can lead to bad shot selection:  We have to address this in practice so that they understand the difference between good and bad shots

Screening within the offense

Today we are going to look at our screening rules within the offense.  Now a couple of things that I have noticed with us in regards to screening:  1) Kids want to go way to fast when implementing this.  Make them slow down, they have to change pace, we try to teach them to walk into the defender that is guarding them and make the initial contact.  Only time this changes is when teams are playing heavy mid-line, in which we automatically ou-tcut.
2) Kids want to predetermine cuts in the offense.  Usually this results in every cut being a straight cut, and makes this more or less pattern, and easy to defend.  In the coming days I will have some trash can drills that we use to help break this habit.
3) Kids don't get to the screen, they want to drift around the perimeter.  Once again this is a speed problem, make them follow the elements of the screen to get there.
4) Screeners go screen when the ball is out of position.  This is not too bad of a problem, but if the ball is on the right wing, and a screen is being set on the backside of the floor, it usually results in an ineffective screen and cut.  This is where patience has to set it, and they have to realize to wait for the ball to be somewhat centered so that it can see action on both sides of the floor, and they have to re-screen once the ball is being centered.
5) Kids away from the ball want to watch the ball.  This makes it tough to read defenders at an early stage.  Try to teach see the ball, watch your defender, the ball will find you once you contact the screen and get open.  Before then, see what your defender is doing.  This will also help in the pre-determine problem that we have had.

Here are our screening concepts:

ELEMENTS OF THE SCREEN:

1. Basket cut:  In order to set up a good screening angle, we must basket cut to make all defenders react.  Screens should be set 1-2 feet outside the lane.

2. Walk the arc:  Get nose to nose with the screener, change of pace, slow then explode.

3. Nose to Nose:  Maker sure that the cutter, and screener are nose to nose in relation before reading the screen.

4. Screener head for defenders shoulder based upon where you are at on the floor.  As they move (defender) your aiming point moves.

5. Hip To Hip:  Close the space between screener and cutter. Make sure that there is no room for the defender to get through.

6. Finish the cut:  Once you decide what you are going to do, don’t second guess.  Go full speed, and force the defender to play the cut.

7. Second Cutter:  Screener is always the second cutter.  Go opposite the first cutter, and do so with a purpose. First cutter inside = second cutter away.  First cutter away = second cutter inside.

8. Read the defense, don’t predetermine your cut!!!

TYPES OF SCREENS:

1.        Down Screen:  Screening towards the basket, with back usually facing the ball.

2.       Flare Screen:  Screen from the seam to the slot, when a screener is on the wing, or below the cutter.

3.       Pin Screen:  Screen from outside the perimeter towards the post area. 

4.       Back Screen/Up Screen:  Back to basket, moving up the floor.

We want to try to set all screens outside of the lane, the reason for this, is so that we can keep the floor spread, and it gives us a pretty good spacing opportunity for either inside first cuts, or inside second cuts. By doing this, and wanting screens outside of the paint, we have noticed that we have better dribble penetration angles as well.  There isn't as much traffic.

Thanks and see you tomorrow!!

2x2 Relationship Shown

In this situation we are in a 2x2 relationship if 1 has the ball.  In this case we 2 and 5 would be partners, and 4 and 3 would be paired up.  This is where we could designate our screeners, have screen calls, etc.  If 5 were to slide to the backside, we would be 1x3, which we don't want a whole lot, but if we did, it would be an automatic screen the screener off of one of our all inside or all outside calls.

Also in this situation if we were all inside 5 would be the screener for the 2, and the 4 would be the screener for the 3, because in the partnership, they are the ones who are closest to the midline at that time.  If we were all outside then we would just flip, and 2 would be the screener for 2, and 3 for 4.

Everytime a pass is made, those numbers aren't staying the screener, it would be re-evaluated on the fly.

Motion Offense Day 3

Today we are going to discuss the screening rules for what we do.  Now this can be adapted to many ways, but we have decided this is what works best for us.  I have our rules listed first, and our designations listed lower.

I think it is important, at least at first, to designate some type of screener.  Like we talked about yesterday, we want to always keep a screener/cutter concept, and talk about a 1st cutter/2nd cutter impact.  There are several ways to establish this, and you will have to pick which fits you.  Some have gone with the mover blocker series (Dick Bennett has great videos on this) in which you can pick an alignment (lane/lane, wide/wide, lane/wide, top/bottom); while some have chosen the designated screener, and designated cutter approach (Don Meyer has great videos for this), we pretty much call our screen based upon what defenses are doing to us, or trying to get a offensive player open.

For instance we have a few calls, and all of these are based upon a 2x2 alignment with the ball (diagrams will come later today).  We may go all inside (person closest to the midline will screen the person outside of them).  We do this against really aggressive man 2 man teams, while trying to establish the inside cut.  Our best goal here is that one of our better shooters starts close to the midline, and will work to screen outside of them, and 2nd cut to create spacing.  

We will also go all outside (person farthest away from the midline will screen the person to their inside) we will do this against teams that are loaded with bigs inside to get a good post shooter a shot from 10-15 feet, and will also utilize this against teams that can't handle the flare screen very well.  If they can't handle the flare very well we will try to make sure our shooters get to the inside of a partner so that they can receive the flare, and get to the corner, or we will tell our quicker kids to receive the flare, and try to inside cut it hard.  This usually ties down the hedger, and creates room for slips, or second cuts away from the rim.

We also have other calls such as: all flare, all down, etc, but we only use those in situational areas, or against zones, which I will get into later this week.  Hope this helps!!

SCREENING RULES:

1.       Screeners head for defenders shoulder nearest the offensive cutter.

2.       Screeners, always look to find a cutter, never stand!!!

3.       Make sure we have two cuts at the point of action!

4.       Make sure that we know who, or where the screens are coming from, as this will change based upon personnel

5.       This year we are going to designate either an area, or the type of screen to set.  Sometimes we will still have the screener cutter concept, but this is the next logical step in the progression of the offense

1.       INSIDE: Person inside will set screens, based upon who is closest to rim (see diagram labeled screening rules inside)

2.       OUTSIDE: Person outside based upon relation to the rim/midline will set the screen. (See diagram labeled screening rules outside).

3.       ALL FLARE: Mainly against zones but will be set from the bottom up the whole possession, looking for flare, out, or pop cuts.

4.       ALL BACK:  All screens will come from lower offensive person, moving away from the rim for the possession.

5.       ALL DOWN: All screens will come from upcourt towards the rim.

Instead of designating screeners/cutters as our only means of working the offense, we are going to shift so that we can utilize mismatches, or personnel moving by changing our screening rules.  This year we are going to make this more of a location screening, (ex. We want to get a big defender away from the rim, we are going to run a lot more ALL BACK for a few possessions, to get them away from the rim as much as possible, and hopefully get them into a chasing situation.).  Hopefully this will reduce some confusion on our end, make us more cognizant of where everyone is on the floor, and be more difficult to defend/scout.

Motion Offense #2

Today we are going to look at some of the basic rules of the offense, and see where we can apply them.  Like stated yesterday, motion, to me, is at its best when we use spacing, and timed/purposeful movement to create as many 2 on 2 or 3 on 3 opportunities on one side of the floor.  Here are some more of our rules from our motion packet.

You will see a couple of things mentioned below, and the biggest thing that we constantly teach is spacing.  The old Chuck Dailyism of "Spacing is offense, and offense is spacing." holds very true here.  We want to keep the floor wide, and allow for dribble penetration.  By doing this we create tougher help situations, and help the helper when the offense is initiated.

We will also focus on proper use of the dribble as much as possible.  3 major things to teach within our system is to dribble for 3 reasons, and 3 reasons only.  1. Get to the rim (game is still won or lost there) 2. Center the basketball (try to get it close to the lane line as possible, it allows the ball to "see the action" on both sides of the floor. and 3. To make a better passing angle.  Those are the only three that we will use, and will often stop and run, or use a flat basketball if we get too dribble happy early in the season.

Today we also add the first cutter/second cutter concept.  If you need more detailed information on this, we will discuss it in the next few days.  You can also look up Coach Don Meyer's "Building your motion offense from scratch" video.  

Basically we will have two cuts at the point of the screen.  The cutter, who is receiving the screen, will be the first cutter.  They can cut inside (towards the rim), or outside (away from the rim).  Wherever they go, the screener (second cutter) will vacate and move opposite.

ELEMENTS OF THE OFFENSE:

1. Cutting
2. Screening
3. Passing
4. Penetration
5. Spacing: “Spacing is offense, and offense is spacing.” Chuck Daily

MOTION RULES:

1.       Constant movement by the athletes, but does so in a controlled manner.

2.       Spacing of 15-18 feet maintained at all times.

3.       Never pass and stand, either cut or screen.

4.       Only dribble for 3 reasons: better passing angle, attack the rim, center ball.

5.       Ball must be centered as much as possible, let the ball see the action.

SPACING RULES:

1.       Make sure that we are about 15-18 feet apart so that we can get to the 2 on 2/ 3 on 3 opportunities that we would like.

2.       Second cutters (screeners) need to second cut hard to vacate the area where the contact of the screen happened.

3.       Make sure that we know where the screens are coming from (i.e. inside, outside, down, flare, etc) or who the screeners are at all times of the possession.

Week 1 Motion Offense #1

Starting this week we will look at motion offense, and how it can be applied to high school basketball specifically.  Currently there are many definitions of motion offense, and many revert back to a continuity with options.  For this segment, we are going to focus on a strictly rules based motion offense, that will be designed around screening, cutting, and spacing.  There are no pre-determined cuts, we are going to focus on just the reads and reactions of defense.

For Section 1 We are going to discuss what motion offense is, and how we can apply it *(Click on the link at the bottom for a sample packet of our motion offense rules)

WHAT IS MOTION OFFENSE?



Motion offense is a system based upon a series of screeners and cutters, working together to free each other up. We will focus heavily on spacing so that we can capitalize on offensive opportunities out of several alignments . There will be times that the offense takes a different shape, and will be hard to scout. This at times to the untrained eye, will look like a freelance offense, but nothing is farther from the truth. We will work on things such as: balance, spacing, timing, ball position, screening, and we must know where all 10 people are on the floor at all times.

This is a process that will be frustrating at times, but will teach the kids to be players, not robots, and outthink their opponents throughout the entire game. There will not be a pattern to what we will do, but it will be very structured.





WHY DO WE RUN MOTION OFFENSE?

We will run motion offense to utilize the ability that our athletes possess. We will also run it so that our players can understand how to play the game, not just run a pattern offense. We will have sets to compliment, but they will be few, and far between. I feel that by doing so, we can create an environment that teaches our kids how to outthink our opponent, and adapt to any change that they might throw at us. This will also make us a little more difficult to scout on the defensive end. Finally we feel that in late game situations we are able to run a lot of clock with our base offensive package that our kids feel very comfortable in.



WHAT ARE WE TRYING TO GET?

We are trying to get into as many 2 on 2 or 3 on 3 situations on a side of the floor. We feel that by running our offense with quality screens, and timing, we can tie down help on the back side with action, thus limiting help opportunities from the back side. What this allows is more room to run our offense on one side of the floor, and doing so by trying to isolate defenders, and placing them in difficult situations. If we can get a number breakdown, we feel that we can penetrate better, and free up room for our interior post players to operate, instead of having to do the above in traffic.


Motion Offense Packet

Welcome To Coach Wallen's Basketball Blog

This blog is designed to help pass information to coaches, players, and parents for the sport of basketball.  On this site, I will post helpful information on all things related to basketball that I have gathered, and hope to pass on.  I hope you enjoy the site!!