Newsletter #353

Today's Theme... Preparing for the New Season

It's that time of the year again, and coaches should have a broad overall season plan.  Plan your preseason conditioning program.  You'll need to choose an offense(s), defense, press, press breakers, plays, drills, etc.  The information below is geared toward high school teams.  See this page for details and links:  How to Plan for a New Season

If you are a youth coach, see these resources:

• Pre-season Middle School/Youth Basketball Practices - which includes a series of 7 sample practice plans to get you started.
• Coach's Clipboard Complete Youth Guide - everything a youth coach needs!

Offense - you'll need a man-to-man offense... motion, dribble-drive, read and react, ball-screen, triangle, flex, horns, blocker-mover, Princeton, Swing, etc... lots to consider and to choose from.  Simplify, pick one and get good at it.  Choose an offense that fits your team personnel and will get your best players good shots.

You'll also need a zone offense, especially for attacking the 2-3 zone (the most common zone you will see).

Defense - Pressure man-to-man defense (Dick Bennett style) or zone defense (Jim Boeheim style)?  The packline defense is great for stopping dribble-penetration, clogging the paint, and forcing outside shots.  Also consider Bob Kloppenburg's SOS pressure defense system.

Are you going to press? - If your team is a quick, deep pressing team, select a press defense. Over the years, we have effectively used the matchup press defense, but it takes awhile to learn. A zone press or simple full-court man-to-man defense, or a half-court trap ("Viking press") might work well for your team.

You need a press offense - a plan for attacking presses.  We have used the "80-60-40" system for attacking pretty much anything we see.  Our high school varsity teams have always used a secondary break to get the ball up the floor quickly.

Select plays - after you have installed your half-court and full-court offenses and defenses, put in a few plays.  But save a couple good plays for the post-season.  Select plays that get your best scorers good shots.  Pick a few man-to-man plays, and a couple zone plays.

You'll also need a couple baseline man-to-man out-of-bounds plays, and a play or two for attacking the 2-3 zone on the inbounds. Also put in a sideline play or two, and maybe a "buzzer-beater".

Use the right drills - There are many drills listed on Coach's Clipboard Drills page that drill individual player fundamentals, as well as team concepts for offense, defense, pressing, transition, etc.  Selecting practice drills depends on what you are trying to accomplish.  Keep things simple and just select things that will help your team, and then get good at those things! 

See:  How to Plan for a New Season, How to Plan Good Basketball Practices