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Volume 11 Number 5 February 2005 It’s Just Man-to-Man In Disguise by Neil W. Gabbey So if your team is facing a I could have told him what my good zone defense, how do you middle school players were doing Back when I was coaching attack it? to beat the same kind of zone. the middle school team at Gilman, The short answer: run your I taught my players as many as man half-court sets. The other The longer answer: keep fi ve zone defenses that we would night, I watched the end of the reading. rotate each time the opposition Princeton-Temple game – which Our current varsity team dribbled down court. And while turned into John Chaney’s 1000th my primary reason for doing this runs no half-court set “plays.” We win, courtesy of an unmade goal- run a primary break and then set was to take advantage of my play- tending call. Ah, home cookin’! ers’ intelligence and athleticism up in a 1-4, if nothing else pres- Mike Jarvis provided color com- ents itself immediately. We stress — not to mention keeping the oth- mentary, and he admitted that er teams constantly guessing — I ball movement and player move- it took him a few losses against ment. knew all along that all we were Coach Chaney’s vaunted match- doing was playing fundamentally But because we aim to play up zone before he realized that the an up-tempo game, hoping to gen- sound man-to-man. best way to attack it was to run Each time I teach a new erate turnovers and easy transi- man-to-man plays. That is ex- tion baskets, most of our competi- crop of players how to play zone actly what the Tigers did all night. defense, I ask them to hold fi rm tion elects to slow the game down Thanks, Coach Jarvis. While I and make it a 40-feet of Bobby to the principles of man defense. cannot put my resume up against “A good zone is really just a good Fischer instead of a 90-feet of Carl his or any other veteran of the col- Lewis. man in disguise” has been my legiate coaching ranks, I wish he mantra for the last dozen years. On many occasions, this tac- would have called me eight years tic has worked. Even against the ago during one of those losses. most unassuming pointed zones, our players have been stymied, unsure how to maintain continual ball and player movement. Practice Philosophy I have to hit ‘PAUSE’ for a second: the last article I had successful practices and game by Ted Anderson published in Basketball Sense preparation. Head Womens Coach detailed teaching principles and Valley Center High School Practice Philosophy outlined drills for ball and player Valley Center, Kansas movement. I promise that what We have a set way we prac- follows will a) not rehash a previ- In 12 years of coaching high tice every day. Players are crea- ous article and b) offer even more school women’s basketball, I have tures of habit, and they like a specifi c “plays” you can use as come to the conclusion that suc- consistent structure. We do not soon as your next practice. cessful programs are developed in do the same things every day, but practice. Players develop habits our structure remains pretty con- in practice that are carried over sistent. Our players know what Attacking A Zone to the games. Game preparation to expect. We use the following 10 also is part of a successful prac- principles concerning practice to Principle 1: Players must tice. Games are the reason that achieve results: move. we hold practices. In this article, Last week, I was watching we will share our philosophies for another collegiate match-up be- Continued on page 2 Continued on page 4 www.basketballsense.com on closing out, jumping to the Philosophy cont ball, and being tough. 9. Take days off during the continued from page 1 it on their own. They have 24 week. minutes before the start of offi cial 1. Post a schedule practice. As soon as we are fi n- We look for spots in the calendar where we can give our Our schedule is posted every ished with our talk at 3:09, we get players a day off. It recharges our day by 7:00 a.m. Our players read after it. players’ batteries as well as the through it every day before prac- coaches. tice. They look for drills that they 5. One set conditioner like and for what our goals are for We do one conditioner a day 10. Shorten practice in the day. They know what to expect called “Oak Hill.” In three groups, February and March that day. Sometimes we do not the players dribble a certain num- put the ending time on practice. ber of lengths with the weak hand. We cut practice down as the Players know that they might get The drill is anywhere from 7 to season progresses. After Christ- out earlier, or that we are going to 25 lengths. The players are rest- mas we quit at 5:14 and later in keep going until they get it right. ing one third of the time. There is February we try to conclude by a time goal on the drill. We reach 5:00. We want fresh legs as well as 2. Start and end on time the goal or run another length for fresh attitudes late in the season. We start practice at 3:09 and each second over the goal. This end by no later than 5:29. At 3:09 drill is used early in the practice. we have a one-minute talk and then begin practicing. Our players 6. All drills are for blood Table of Contents always have the option to stay and We put a time and score ele- shoot after practice and a lot of ment on all of our drills. We also It’s Just Man-to-Man in Disguise .. 1 them do. keep track of one hand catches and drops. We like to put pressure Practice Philosophy ...................... 1 3. Short talks on our players in so called boring ESPN College Basketball: We have stand-up meetings. drills. Catching Up with Coach Majerus . 3 In each meeting, we try to talk Basketball Sense “Note” Book .... 6 for one to two minutes max. Our 7. Condition through feelings are that players have just basketball Basketball Sense Playbook .......... 8 completed seven classes and they We would rather run full- are ready to play basketball. Our Skill Stations court drills that the players enjoy Step-Up-Warm-Up-Intensity .........11 sit down talk is in the middle of than get on the line and run. practice. We treat this like half UCLA, 11-man break, and full- High School Wonder Teams time, and the next segment of court shooting contests are the In New Jersey ............................. 12 practice is very intense. We em- players’ favorites. phasize coming out strong in the A Concept that Works ................. 13 third quarter. 8. Specifi c defensive Fresno City’s principles each day Pressure Offense ........................ 14 4. Stretching gives too much time for players to talk We make sure we have a Coaching Wisdom to Ponder ..... 15 defensive emphasis each day. We Combination Defense .................. 16 We do warm-up drills. If our will continue to try to improve our players want to stretch, they do defense every day. We work hard BASKETBALL SENSE is published eight times a year: fall (Sept/Oct), Nov, Publisher: J. Nicholas Abbott Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, spring (Apr/May), summer (Jun/Jul/Aug). One-year subscrip- tion: $39.90. Two-year subscription: $69.90. Foreign subscriptions: Add $20 per Editor: Larry Lindsay year payable in US currency. © Copyright 2005 by Basketball Sense. It is illegal to photocopy or reproduce this magazine in any way. All correspondence should be Associate Editor: Lason Perkins sent to: Associate Editor: Chris Kennedy Basketball Sense 10 North Ridge Lane, PO Drawer 1667 General Manager: Angie Pool Wrightsville Beach, NC 28480 1-800-545-9065 Fax: 910-256-9831 Production Design CRI Designs, E-mail: [email protected] and Copy Editing: Raleigh, NC Basketball Sense Magazine 2 Volume 11 Number 5 www.basketballsense.com Often, defenders — especially in ESPN College Basketball: transition — get in front of the person, but do Catching Up with Coach Majerus not defend the drive line. If the by Brian McCormick transition, the post entry pass, offensive player and the pass in a half-court drive Hard 2 Guard Skills Academy uses a small in-and-out move or and kick.” Of course, everyone even a hesitation dribble, the de- I admit I learned as much strives to fi nd point guards that fender is out of position to stop a about baseball by watching ES- are three-tier passers. drive to the basket. PN’s Baseball Tonight with Harold Early in the game, Majerus It is especially apparent on Reynolds and Tony Gwynn than I introduced the term “shadow.” the wing. As the offensive player did by playing nine years of Little This is a concept I saw Majerus dribbles the ball along the sideline League. ESPN’s college football employ when Utah played Texas with his outside hand, defenders show has frequently been impres- and TJ Ford, and one which I typically play the offensive player’s sive, as Kirk Herbstreet, Mark stole and used effectively. inside shoulder/hip. However, May, Trev Albert and others do The “shadow” is essentially in this position, the defender is a superb job in breaking down the defender of the inbound behind the ball (as the dribble is Saturday’s game.