EXPERT SESSIONS AND ADVICE
Your best screener executes three screens during the course of the play creating multiple high-percentage scoring opportunities
WHY USE IT
When you are trailing and desperate for a basket, get players moving toward the rim for a better chance at scoring.
SET UP
Position your best screener near the right-side elbow. The other four players are spaced outside the 3-point line with two bunched together on the left side.
HOW TO PLAY
The entry pass is made to one of the left-wing players coming to the ball. After making the pass, the top guard cuts low off a screen by the elbow player [1]. The new ball handler turns and fires a pass farther down the left wing. The passer then runs off a backscreen near the top of the set and relocates high. The player now on the right block relocates to the ball side [2]. The screener now takes a step out and sets another backscreen. The top player cuts hard toward the basket up the left lane line while the ball handler dribbles around the action, uses the congestion and tries to score at the right side of the rim [3].
TECHNIQUE
Trailing by 11 in the first half of the title game, Notre Dame used this play to inch closer to the UConn women. The screener is key as she is called up to set three solid picks.
I’d always heard of football coaches scripting out their first 5 or 10 plays of a game, but it’s not something I’d heard of basketball coaches doing. However, when I met up with frequent Basketball Coach Weekly contributor Justin Duke (author of 46 Winning Warm-Ups), who says he sometimes scripts his first few plays to help build confidence.... MORE
Recently, I discussed blowouts and how to handle them from your perspective. Roy Nickerson, a coach in Billerica Travel Basketball, Massachusetts, says he uses a statistical model by Bill James, who is more usually associated with baseball analytics. While Nickerson says the model was developed for college games, he says it can be used for lower levels.... MORE
