Basketball Drills - Coach Sar's Special Situation Drills
From the Coach’s Clipboard Basketball Playbook
Coach Sartini
Winning close games often comes down to being able to execute in certain late game "situations" - e.g. up 1, down 1, etc. Like anything else in basketball, it's wise to practice various late game situations. Coach Sartini's teams practiced various situations on a regular basis. This is not only valuable for your team, but players like these fun, competitive game-like drills - Coach Gels.
Situation Tournament
It's helpful and more game-like if you have a manager set and run the scoreboard and clock for each situation. If this is not possible, have an assistant use a stop-watch and call out the time at various intervals and the last 10 seconds.Rules
- Two teams - red and black
- The first team to win 3 out of 5 (or 2 out of 3 in Set 3) wins that set.
- One time out per situation
- Shooting fouls are two shots and everything else is 1 and 1.
- Possession arrow goes to the team that starts the situation on defense.
- Overtime is SUDDEN DEATH. Winner is the first team to lead by 2 points.
- If tied at 2 sets a piece we play 4 minutes of no dribble or we play 5 minutes of cut throat (Only scores can be lay ups or three pointers - i.e., Dribble drive and kicks, post ups, or offensive rebounds.
- The only defense permitted is man-to-man
Set 1
- Black down 3, 1 Minute left, Black ball at half court
- Red down 2, 40 Seconds left, Red ball inbounding under offensive basket
- Black down 3, 8 Seconds left, Black ball inbounding on front court side of half court line
- Red down 5, 24 Seconds left, Red ball inbounding on front court side half courte
- Tie game, 1 Minute left, Red shoots a one and one
Set 2
- Red down 1, 18 Seconds left, Red ball inbounding under offensive basket
- Black down 2, 40 Seconds left, Black ball at half court
- Red down 4, 45 Seconds left, Red ball on side inbounding at 3/4 court
- Black down 3, 18 Seconds left, Black ball at half court
- Tie game, 30 Seconds left, Black shoots a one and one
Set 3
- Black down 4, 35 Seconds left, Black ball at half court
- Red down 5, 45 Seconds left, Red ball inbounding under offensive basket
- Red down 3, 25 Seconds left, Red shoots a one and one
- Black down 1, 12 Seconds left, Black shoots a one and one
- Tie game, 15 Seconds left, Loose ball at mid-court
Set 4
- Black down 2, 28 Seconds left, Black ball at half court
- Red down 3, 15 Seconds left, Red ball inbounding under offensive basket
- Black down 1, 31 Seconds left, Red ball inbounding backcourt side of half court
- Red down 1, 5 Seconds left, Red ball under Black basket and Red may run baseline
- Tie game, 2:20 left, Black ball - no dribble
Anytime you have a problem in your last game, you can add that to your "situation" for the next few days. Coach Sar found this to be a great teaching tool.
Be creative and make up your own situations. For example, you might want to create some situations that go against zone defenses, or that use full-court pressure - Coach Gels.