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THE MEDIEVAL SIEGE AND TRANSITION DEFENSE * One article from the new Elite Athletes weekly blog Olivier Goetgeluck and I will be sharing in 2020... * As John Kessel always says (Director, USA Volleyball), we don’t coach basketball. Rather, we coach people who happen to play basketball. This is where the delivery of the coach has to be aligned with how people learn best. We can use this to look at several trends in coaching (e.g. block vs random practice), but I think this al...
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McDERMOTT THE DOMINOES WIZARD
This sequence starts with Doug McDermott coming off a stagger. Caruso slides under Domantas Sabonis’ last screen, arriving on-time to take away the shot.
Great recognition of “neutral" by McDermott, who immediately uses Sabonis for a quick “get action.” As he goes to get the ball out of Sabonis’ hands, Caruso attempts to disrupt the action but is caught overplaying. McDermott sniffs out the dominoes and immediately cuts backdoor, putting the Lak...ers in trouble.
LeBron James is the “low man” and as such steps across to help and stop McDermott’s drive. The Mc’s combine, with McDermott kicking out to McConnell as soon as he sees LeBron commit to help. McConnell fires the extra at lighting speed to Aaron Holiday, who has demonstrated great spacing by lifting to the swing. The Lakers get a little bit confused with their rotation as Alex Caruso and Avery Bradley both close out to the corner. This forces Caruso to make a two-way close out, giving up the wide open three to Holiday.
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“Neutral” - When the defender’s positioning leads to no clear advantage.
"Get Action” - A throw and go. The passer goes to get the ball, typically receiving it back through a hand-off.
“Low Man” - Also called the ‘in.’ Lowest defender on the floor responsible for protecting the basket.
“Extra” - Also known as the ‘one more’ pass. Off a kick-out, used on the two side to get the ball to a teammate who is more open. Go from a good to GREAT shot!
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Interesting clip from the weekend's Belgian Cup game Oostende vs Charleroi. Charleroi needed the three to advance to the next round given the aggregate scoring system.
How much is great play design sometimes confused for poor defensive coverage? In all reality, this is a fairly simple play with a few actions. Starting with the flare screen, Oostende switch this easily. It looks like Charleroi are trying to set up a STS action, but with the switch, #2 Anthony Beane screens his... own to enable the catch on the swing.
From here, it looks like Charleroi will go into a get action, but this is rejected in favour of a “keep-it” read. Again, Oostende switch this so there is no real advantage. Oostende are now 2.5 secs away from the next round. During the course of a game, Oostende have successfully guarded a pitch/ DHO action multiple times. So what is the difference now? They are competing in the “height of the storm.” This is the last few seconds and the moment that the game is on the line. The music is loud, the fans are chanting and the horns are blazing.
Connections become critical competing in the storm. This is is where using teammates’ names and giving information that another teammate needs (e.g the coverage call) builds trust and enables successful performance. It cannot be assumed that your teammate knows - “the storm” is influencing what would otherwise be common rationale. After switching the last 2 actions and with minimal time left, you would assume the switch is coming. But a major defensive lapse occurs as the Oostende defender stays with his check resulting in a wide open three. Had they switched, they would have most likely got a good shot contest leading to a very different outcome.
An interesting clip which shows the power of encouraging coherent connections, especially at this level where external factors such as audience and music can have a disrupting effect. This has to be reinforced in both the practice and competition environments.
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“JAZZ MONDAYS”
Defense starts this possession, with Gobert getting a good contest at the rim on Wiggins’ euro-step. As Royce O’Neale takes his “break-out dribble”, Bojan Bogdanovic and Donovan Mitchell start the Jazz’s “two-side break.” You can see great spacing here with Boganovic, Mitchell and Ingles all seeking the sideline and staying with their spacing by running up the lane.
With Wiggins way out of the picture and slow to get back on D, the Jazz are in dominoes with th...eir numerical advantage. The Golden rule of dominoes (https://basketballimmersion.com/the-bask etball-podcast-ep8…/) is to never allow ‘1 to guard 2’, and so Mitchell cuts from the 45 which commands Robert Covington’s attention, opening up the corner skip to Bogdanovic. This also creates room for Ingles who is trailing.
A great “first touch” decision is made by Bogdanovic to attack the close-out, collapsing the D and kicking out to Mitchell. Bogdan “No Creeping” Bogdanovic immediately gets back out to space after his pass.
3 beautiful pass decisions are then made by the Jazz to ensure that the ball don’t stop! Bogdan is rewarded for his efforts by receiving the last extra from Ingles. SPLASH!
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“Break-Out Dribble” - After rebounding the ball, the first few dribbles the rebounder takes to advance the ball up the floor in a positive manner to start the dribble push. Also known as a ‘bust-out’ or ‘smash’ dribble.
“Two-Side Break” - A system which takes advantage of how the defense typically loads back in transition to the middle of the floor, by creating a ‘two side’ with players in the corner and 45. The ball handler look to skip to the two side and get an early three or drive and kick.
“Dominoes” - The moment an advantage (e.g. numerical, match-up or positional) is triggered offensively. The offense drives, kicks and spaces or moves the ball rapidly until a great shot appears.
“First Touch Decision” - A soccer term for the decision making speed that must happen the moment the ball hits the foot. In basketball, this is the ability to drive, pass or shot efficiently and quickly the split second the ball is received (a la Efficient Sauce).
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“SPLIT SUNDAES"
As Jimmy Butler advances towards the single side, Duncan Robinson empties the corner with a “ghost screen.” 👻 Not only does this create space for the baseline drive, but also distorts the defense as they have to prepare a potential coverage to guard the ball screen that never comes. The Lakers recover through Alex Caruso doing a solid job of levelling Butler off and removing his straight line to the rim.
Rather than picking his dribble up and potentially gett...ing stuck under the basket, Butler completes a “Nash Dribble.” This always commands attention, and you can see this as all 10 eyes of the Lakers leave their checks to glance at Butler. 👀 Good penetration reaction principles can be seen here from the Heat, as Tyler Herro drifts to the corner ready to receive a potential kick-out.
Instead, Butler kicks to Olynyk. This could be a potential shot for Kelly, but instead he opts for a quick “trigger” action with Robinson, in the form of a Dribble Hand-Off (DHO). As Olynyk takes his first dribble towards Robinson he sees LeBron rooted in position, leaving a big gap to attack through. This leads to the split decision and an extended finish at the rim to counter LeBron’s shot blocking ability.
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“Ghost Screen” - A player sprints towards the ball handler looking like they will set a ball screen, but instead of setting one, sprints into space or dives to the basket.
“Nash Dribble” - A dribble used frequently by Nash to exploit and get ‘underneath’ the defense. Instead of picking the ball up mid-penetration, Nash would keep his dribble alive and dribble under the key to the other side. This would often result in a pass or open shot next to the basket as the defense falls asleep. Some coaches call this a ‘Gretzky.’
“Trigger” - A quick action, typically used out of transition to create an advantage.
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🏀 “COVERAGE COUNTERS” 🏀
A lot to 👀 in this clip from Lakers & the Heat yesterday. LeBron shifts his stance to protect the middle and push Jimmy Butler to the sideline. Props to Bam Adebayo 🙌 who instantly recognizes the push coverage, and counters this by “flipping” the ball screen.
The good stuff is not over! 👌 Butler uses a shift dribble to explore and come off the ball screen, immediately gaining an advantage with LeBron riding his hip. Meanwhile Adebayo rolls to put press...ure on the rim and attract Javale McGee’s attention, creating more time & space for Butler on the ball.
Butler’s slight freeze dribble ❄️ allows him to take this all in and seek out a clear route to the rim. He seizes the opportunity by scoring with a same-foot, same-hand finish. Follow me on Twitter (@AlexJSarama) for more NBA breakdowns!
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“Push Coverage” - When the on-ball defender shifts position to send the ball to the side, forcing the ball handler to reject the screen. Also known as “Icing.”
“Flip the Screen” - As the screener converges on the ball handler’s defender, they suddenly change the screening angle to offer a new route for the ball handler.
“Shift Dribble” - A lateral dribble taken with the same hand in the direction the ball handler is moving. Also known as a “Skate Dribble.” ⛸
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Love this SLOB the Jazz ran last night vs the Timberwolves. Get action and a quick pin from Gobert creates the small advantage. Great first touch decisions to then convert this to a big advantage and get the open shot.
🔊 Visualization Warm-Up 🗣 Connecting & Talking Task is a necessity to avoid a breakdown. 🎡 Use a wheel start. Any player takes the initiative to start with the ball. ⏰ 10 sec shot clock. 3 in a row, can’t see the same pattern of play repeated. 🧠Fun and challenging!
🎥 Video Breakdown 👻 “Ghost Cuts” 🎃 Halloween Exclusive 🏀 Coming soon = SSGs and how we teach the ghost cut.
Some new ideas for 2v1 Shooting. Start with pass out of the post, defender takes away either the corner or 45. On catch guided defense, offense has 3 options based on the cue from defense. 3 reps, 3 different decisions:
1️⃣ Shot 2️⃣ Extra, Shot 3️⃣ Extra, extra (boomerang)
Here is a Dynamic 3v2 start we use at Elite Academy. This is good for introducing the concept of “ghost cuts.”
Offense stays for x3 reps, D is in a new alignment giving a different decision each time. E.g:
1️⃣ take away pass to wing... 2️⃣ take away pass to corner 3️⃣ allow ball handler to drive and play off the split (can score off the drive or split, kick & the extra pass if needed).
We have introduced the concept over the last few weeks of defense staying for x3 reps and giving a different cue for the offense to read on each rep. This is really helping our offensive decision-making as players are now getting more time seeing and playing against different cues.
You can also constrain offense to only play outside 3PT to encourage finding the extra pass.
Can load up to 3v2 + 1 by having third defender wait on the baseline and enter on a paint touch or first pass.
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📍Copenhagen 🇩🇰 🏀 “Shadow 1v1” ⛹️♂️ A new 1v1 start I’m experimenting with to encourage being deceptive. Offense tries to lose defender’s shadow through fakes and change of speed.
Looking forward to joining Basketball Immersion’s MasterClass session tomorrow evening at 9pm Eastern Time. Will be discussing a variety of topics including ideas from the Best in the West Clinic held over the weekend.
One of my favorite parts of the whole trip has been working with this group of girls in Prince Albert. Experiences like this make coaching so rewarding! 📸 #SerchCarriereImages
Day 1 of our @eliteathletesbe 🇨🇦 Tour. Next stop ➡️ Lloydminster. So fun to be working with Basketball Saskatchewan Inc.
📸 #SerchCarriereImages
Interview with Fullcourt.dk, Denmark's largest basketball website. Discussed different youth coaching observations from my time with the NBA, in addition to my new role at Elite Athletes & Elite Academy.
For any coaches interested in some of the ideas shared in the article, I will be in Copenhagen from 14th - 18th October to deliver a Coaches' Clinic and EA Camp.
https://www.fullcourt.dk/…/nba-europe-t raener-europa-er-en…/
Looking forward to speaking at the Best in the West Coaches Clinic in Saskatchewan, Canada, next month. My on-court presentations will showcase some of the small-sided games that I use with players at Elite Academy & Elite Athletes.
Joerik Michiels and I will also be touring Saskatchewan running x6 player clinics in Regina, Lloydminster, Prince Albert, Saskatoon, Estevan & Yorkton. For more information, head to Basketball Saskatchewan Inc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch…