At Xavier, we want our players to play with great passion. We are constantly looking for ways to motivate our players to commit to our system and reach their maximum potential. One way in which we have challenged them is with the concept of the 4-minute war.
We want our players to play with energy and intensity for the entire game. We motivate our players to put forth maximum effort for a focused period of time. With the 4-minute war, we divide the game into ten four-minute segments. After each segment, there is a media timeout (approximately every four minutes) in which the team has an opportunity to rest for a minute and refocus on the next segment. Each segment is a “mini-game” within the game, and it is referred to as a “war” to characterize the type of effort that is required to excel at the highest level. Our goal is to win each 4-minute war. We chart the results on the bench, and we communicate them with our team at every timeout. The 4-minute wars allow us to provide some measurable feedback about our execution and effort over each segment of the game. Throughout the course of the season, we can evaluate the tendencies of which segments our team plays well and which segments we have lapses.
We use the 4-minute war concept as a way to focus our team on playing the “Xavier Way.” We want to improve the execution of our system in every game. We want our players to play with the mentality that every possession counts, and that every possession needs to be played with a high level of intensity. Furthermore, we want to play our way regardless of the score at any particular time in a game. If we are winning by several points, we do not want to let down and allow our opponent back into the game. We want to dominate by continuing to develop proper habits. If we are struggling in a game, our disposition is not to change what we do. Rather, we believe in trusting the system, and our challenge is to get our players to play harder with what we do. By breaking the game into 4-minute wars, we focus on the process of playing our system throughout the entire game.
There are a number of ways that we incorporate the 4-minute war concept into our practices. First, scrimmage segments are played as 4-minute wars. We want our players to compete every second at a high intensity, and we want them to be conditioned in a way where they play in game-like conditions (i.e., play for four minutes, rest for a minute, and play again). These scrimmage segments also enable us to cover a variety of situations in our practices. A second practice idea is that we play “One Possession Games” in practice. We will have a jump ball to begin the game, and the first team to score wins (losers run). The purpose of this drill is to emphasize the importance of each possession and the value of the ball. We might spread a few of these games in throughout a given practice.
Another drill that we use is called “Perfect Possession.” In this drill, we are playing 5 on 5 half court man offense versus man defense. 35 seconds are posted on the clock. The defensive team is trying to get “stops” until they get a stop with possession of the ball with :00 on the clock. Any deflection is rewarded by taking 5 seconds off of the Xavier University - Men's Basketball - 3800 Victory Parkway - Cintas Center - Cincinnati, OH 45207 - (513) 745-3417 - www.goxavier.com CONTINUED clock. For example, if the defense deflects a pass during a possession and gets a “stop” with 20 seconds remaining on the clock, there would now be 15 seconds remaining on the clock. The same offense and defense would go again until the defense gets a stop with possession of the ball and 0 seconds on the clock. The offense is executing our system and trying to score. If the offense gets an offensive rebound, the clock is reset to 35 seconds. If a possession begins with 6-8 seconds on the clock, the offense runs a side out of bounds play. If there is less than 5 seconds, the offense runs an underneath out of bounds play. This really makes the offense think, and the defense must be aware of special situations and time on the clock. This drill builds toughness with our team defense, and it places an emphasis on the importance of every possession.
As a coaching staff, our job is to help our players (and team) get to places where they could not go on their own. A cornerstone of our program is that we compete with toughness at all times. We use the idea of breaking the game into 4-minute wars as a way of challenging our players to commit to our system – THE XAVIER WAY!
XAVIER MEN’S BASKETBALL - 3800 VICTORY PARKWAY - CINTAS CENTER - CINCINNATI, OH 45207 - 513-745-3149 - WWW.GOXAVIER.COM www.coach-jackson.com
1. Dribble penetrate into the paint to pass not shoot. If you dribble penetrate looking to pass then you'll find the open receiver and if you are open you will be able to find the goal because you know your court geography. But if you dribble penetrate looking to score and the shot is cut off, now you have to hurry and find the open receiver.
2. Follow a layup shooter. Most missed layup come directly back in the direction they were shot. So whether on offense or defense follow the layup shooter.
3. Follow the player jumping out of bounds to save a ball. 90% of the time the player will throw the ball back in directly behind himself (along the path he traveled to save the ball).
4. On a baseline drive fill the opposite corner ready to shoot.
5. There are three things on Offense and three things on Defense that if you accomplish, regardless of your style of play, will aid in your team being successful OFFENSE: (a) take care of the basketball - eliminate turnovers (b) take good shots (c) make your free throws
DEFENSE: (a) make them shoot over you (b) only give them one shot (c) don't foul unnecessarily.
6. If there is a time-out, your opponent is playing man-to-man and it is the opponent's ball coming out of the time-out. Make a substitution, and run a play for the substitute. He may be left wide open.
7. Teach your small guards to hit the floor after a layup attempt has been blocked.
8. Screen the zone.
9. If you screen in your offense (man-to-man or zone) it is more important to teach how to use a screen than it is to teach how to set a screen. A player who knows how to use a screen can use a bad screen. But a great screen is useless if the player coming off the screen doesn¡¦t know how to use it.
10. GIVE your team a free throw routine. We all know that it is important in free throw shooting to have a routine. BUT how do you really know if all 10-12 varsity players are doing their individual routine each time they shoot a free throw? If you GIVE them the routine, now everyone has the same routine, now you know when a player isn't following his routine. 11. A player NEVER calls time out on his own. NEVER! You tell the player when to call time out. In the last two minutes of the game you may say, "we have three time outs left call one if you get in trouble.!¨ But he is still not calling it on his own.
12. The same player inbounds the ball on every inbounds situation. A Designated Inbounder. If the Designated Inbounder is not in the game you have a #2 Designated Inbounder. When the ball is being inbounded is the only time in the game that the defense out numbers the offense on the court.
13. The most important part of defense is Defensive Rebounding!
14. If your players don't understand what they are doing; they are not really doing it.
15. On a missed "Pass & Catch" situation BOTH the passer and receiver are credited with a turnover.
16. Work on the Pass Fake and the Shot Fake every day in practice, otherwise they will never use them.
17. Offensive rebounding has to be taught and more importantly practiced.
18. The Little things aren't Little.
19. Your program is the most important program. I never wear Houston Rocket clothing, Lamar University clothing, I wear Deweyville Pirate clothing! And that is what the players wear at games! They can wear caps as long as they are Deweyville Pirate caps.
20. Refer to yourself as "we" and "us".
21. If your best player isn't your hardest working player you may be in for a long season.
22. Fake a pass to Make a pass.
23. Good passers make good shooters.
24. Defense starts with footwork.
25. Conditioning will make you a better player. -Being a better player will make us a better team. -Conditioning is something the best teams have. -Therefore, Conditioning is a privilege. -The better you do, the more we will run.
26. Finish practice on a positive note. 27. You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time but if you aren't careful you'll be one of them .
28. When in danger, when in doubt, - Run in circles, scream and shout! - If you try to give your team too much = confusion.
29. RULE OF PROBABILITY : Once the ball goes into the low post player, if the post can encourage the defender to make an aggressive attempt to block the shot, then the probability of a foul being committed will be high. Basketball consists of predicting your opponent's actions sufficiently to encourage him to commit himself to a probability of failure.
30. Coach = Teacher / Good teachers ask good questions.
31. "I only use statistics that reinforce what I already think." -- Dean Smith
32. "The Team is the Star." -- John Wooden
33. "Other people go to work. I get to coach basketball. I know I'm blessed." -- Jim Valvano
34. Study the Masters of the Game: Adolph Rupp, Bruce Drake, Henry Iba, Pete Newell, Lou Carneseca, Ralph Miller, Don Haskins, John Wooden, Ray Meyer, etc.
35. Call coaches and ask them about their program. I will always remember as a junior at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, I called Ralph Miller to ask him about his 1-4 High Offense. He spoke with me for two hours. I was in heaven ---- until I got my phone bill.
36. Things that get rewarded get done.
37. If you reward OK effort, you'll get OK effort. Only reward great effort.
38. The best and most lasting form of reinforcement is positive and VERBAL!
39. Execution is the best offense.
40. Borrow, don't copy!
41. Write it down! 2
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3 5 4 2 3 4 2
1
A B
1 passes to 2. 1 cuts off of the 2 passes to 4. 5 ducks in. UCLA screen by 4. 5 goes to the left block.
1 5 2 3 4
C 2 downscreens for 1 as 3 spaces out wide on the left wing. XAVIER MEN’S BASKETBALL - 3800 VICTORY PARKWAY - CINTAS CENTER - CINCINNATI, OH 45207 - 513-745-3149 - WWW.GOXAVIER.COM