Three on three basketball can and should be used to develop your team’s offense because the games can be altered in many ways in order to fit your offensively philosophy.  At yesterday’s practice, we worked on multiple variations of three on three basketball in order to help develop our team offense and defense (which will be covered in the next post).  Each game was to one point and the loser would rotate off while the winner stayed and played the next team.  We used both sides of the court so that teams would not be standing for a long period of time.  Each block of games which usually lasted for 10 minutes had certain variables that needed to be followed and worked on based on our team’s offensive principles.   Offensively we run the dribble drive but with more movement off the ball and some added pick and roll sets. Consequently, we worked on all of these concepts during our three on three play.   

The first concept that we worked on was moving without the ball.  In order to do so effectively, the players were not allowed to dribble at all during this time period.   Too many players get caught dribbling too much and the other players tend to stand around and watch.  By eliminating the player’s dribbles it forces them to rely on cutting and screening in order to get an open look at the basket. 

During the second block of games, the players were all given one dribble per touch.  Once again, this forces them to really move without the basketball in order to get open looks but at the same time, they were now working on using their dribble for a purpose.  Players can do more than they think with one dribble provided they use their dribble to attack a gap and force a teammate’s defender to help or attack the basket and score.  By limiting the number of dribbles a player has, they are forced to use their dribble properly or they will waste an opportunity to score. 

As we progressed into the next block of games, we allowed each player three dribbles on each touch.  Now we were getting into more of the dribble drive offense’s concepts.  Once again because of the limited number of dribbles, the players had to learn to attack properly with their dribble in order to be productive, but at the same time they were still forced to rely on moving without the basketball and setting screens in order to keep their spacing and create driving lanes for the man with the ball. 

The final variable that we added was that the score had to come off the pick and roll.  Each player still only had three dribbles per touch because we wanted to work on attacking off the pick and roll effectively and not with an excessive number of dribbles.  My players are drilled to go by screener tight with their shoulder low enough that they actually hit the screener’s hip.  It is preferable that they use two dribbles while coming off the pick and roll with the second dribble being the one to clear them from the pick and attack the space that is being created by the action.  It is preferred that the player with the ball attack coming off the pick and should not go sideways.  Attacking while coming off the pick will put the defenders at a disadvantage when trying to help and recover and should lead to better scoring opportunities.  On the other hand, cominf of the pick and attacking laterally creates an easy help and recover opportunity for the defenders. 

Once we had worked on all our offensive variables, there was an, “anything goes” session of three on three.  This is meant to work on all of the concepts we had worked on in the previous four sessions while allowing the players to use their own creativity within the offense.  This is an important concept because players are too often confined to what their coaches want them to do that it actually limits their capabilities as a player.  A player’s creativity can sometimes be the best part of their game and it should be cultivated to make your team better. 

Ultimately, making the team better is the goal of every practice and game and three on three basketball can go a long way towards accomplishing this goal.  Using three on three basketball can be a highly efficient way of developing your team offense.  The games can be short, competitive, and altered in a way that fits your team’s offensive concepts.  By adding rules to the games, the players are able to work on those concepts more effectively.  Since there are fewer players per team than in a regular game, each player will get more opportunities to work on the designated concept.  Also, because the games are short (only one point games) it forces the players to compete harder in order to win and stay on the court.  Consequently, they will try to execute the concepts better more often and more efficiently in their attempts to win.  Overall, three on three basketball is an excellent way to develop your basketball team’s offensive concepts and improve in a game like setting.

The 12 Cone Ballhandling Drill is usually done for a specific period of time (ex. 30 seconds) with each move.  The players can and should incorporate all their change of directions moves into the drill.  As the player gets more advanced, they should also use double change of directions moves in order to make the drill more challenging.  While doing this drill, it is important to make sure that the player is moving quickly fom cone to cone, staying low with their body and the dribble throughout the entire segment of the drill, and moving past each cone explosively as if to simulate beating a defender.  Ultimately, this is a great drill for guards to build up their guard skills, but it can and should be used by all players looking to develop better ballhandling skills.

Categories: Ballhandling / Dribbling  Offensive Moves  
Ages: All Ages  Youth  Middle School  High School+  

Purpose of the Drill:

The purpose of this drill is to allow players to work on creating space while using their back-dribble and then change directions.

Instructions

• The player will attack each chair off the dribble, one after the other, at full speed.
• As they approach the chair, they should use their back-dribble to create space for themselves as the chair represents a defender.
• They will then change directions with a change of direction move (crossover, between the legs, behind the back, etc.) and attack the rim for a finish.
• They then repeat the process at each chair.

Points of Emphasis:

• Attack at full speed. Not doing this, will defeat the purpose of using the back dribble.
• Push off the front leg in order to create more space for themselves.
• Work on attacking with both hands.
• Stay low in the backdribble and attack off the change of direction quickly.
• Work on finishing at the rim and shooting the jumper off the dribble.
• You can even incorporate a post player into this drill to allow the guard to drop off a pass to them.

Motivation/Teaching Tips:

• Use a prescribed number of made shots before moving on to the next chair.

Categories: Agility  Defense  Footwork  
Ages: All Ages  Youth  Middle School  High School+  

Purpose of the Drill:

The purpose of this drill is to work on agility while combining different movement patterns.

Instructions

• The player chooses any movement (two step, three step, four step, hops, lateral two steps, etc.) pattern to run through the ladder, slides diagonally back to the beinning of the other ladder where they run through the other ladder, and slide back to the beginning of the first.

Points of Emphasis:

• Move through the ladder as quickly as possible.
• Be sure to use different movement patterns while running through the ladder.
• Stay low on the slides.
• Change directions from the ladder into the slides as quickly as possible.

Motivation/Teaching Tips:

• Time the drill.

Categories: Offensive Moves  Passing  Post Play  Rebounding  Shooting  
Ages: All Ages  Youth  Middle School  High School+  

Purpose of the Drill:

To teach your post players how to relocate from the block on dribble penetration from different angles and score from those new spots.

Instructions

• In this step, the players on the wing drives baseline and the post player relocates to the center of the lane just below the foul line.

• In this step the player from the wing in penetrating towards the middle of the floor while the post player relocates to the short corner.

Points of Emphasis:

• At each relocation work on shooting off the catch, then shooting off the dribble, and finally, finishing at the rim.
• Work on both sides of the floor.
• Rebound and finish your misses.
• Vary your finishing moves. (ie. jump stop and finish, head fake and finish, straight finish, step throughs, etc.)
• Finish with contact using a blocking pad.

Motivation/Teaching Tips:

• Have a specific number of shots that you need to make before you move on the the next move.

PS. Speaking of seeing you on the court, try this fun basketball agility drill with your team, I think they will really enjoy it!

Follow the Leader

Categories: Agility, Ballhandling / Dribbling, Defense, Footwork, Offensive Moves

 Ages: All Ages, Youth, Middle School, High School+

Purpose of the Drill:

To practice changing directions without the help of a patterned movement.

Instructions

• Player 1 will start in front of player 2.
• Player 1 will start off sprinting or sliding in any direction and should change directions throughout while player 2 should follow player 1′s movements and change directions when he does.

• This is the same as the previous step except in this variation, both players are running through the drill with a basketball.

Points of Emphasis:

• Sprinting and sliding with your head up in order to view your partner’s change of direction.
• Planting hard in order to change direction.
• Making a quick move in order to stay with your partner.

Motivation/Teaching Tips:

• Try to beat your partner by changing directions effectively.
• Create a competition to see who can be the best follow the leader.

• Never give a scholarship to a person who you wouldn’t want to come to your house.
• Everything starts with personal integrity.
• The guys around your team; teammates, have to be good for your team to have the success they are capable of achieving.
• Coaches need to let players be part owners of that team so they feel how important the outcome is; like a coach feels in the outcome of a big game or a great practice. 
• Coaches will do as much as they can get away with, just like players.
• John Wooden rarely talked about winning and losing.  He talked about doing everything the right way.
• Red understood leadership and how to get the most out of his guys.  He was a teacher first and foremost.
• Bill Russell feels that if you break the opponents game down too much, you can over analyze.  Don’t over analyze.
• The best players play with their heart and mind.
• The problems with players have always been out there.  It just depends on which type of players you want to coach. 

1. Hard dribble.  If we know you have a soft dribble, we will trap you and force turnovers.  (Add pound dribbles to your drills)
2. Get your shoulders to their hips on dribble penetration.  “It’s a shoulders game.”
3. Play low to high.
4. Be ready on the catch.  After the catch is too late.
5. Moves to master:

Guards: Catch and shoot, Catch and shoot off the dribble, and Catch and quick penetration.

Bigs: Jump hook, drop step and dribble drop step, up and under, quick spin, perpendicular post (turn and face).

It is highly important that when developing basketball skills, players and coaches include these must haves in their workouts.  These are fundamental skills but as always, it is the mastery of the fundamentals that make great players.

My Elite Basketball Training workouts are intense workouts that always focus on developing great skills while getting you in the best basketball shape possible.  I want my players to be warriors on the court so I design my workouts to be harder than the games themselves.  Honestly, what good is a basketball player who can make all their jumpshots while standing around and shooting but is not in good enough condition to get open or even get up and down the court?  The answer, not much good at all.  I like to use drills that incorporate as many aspects of basketball training into them because it makes for a more efficient workout.  The drill below is one such example of this and will help alleviate that problem of being an out of shape jump shooter.  This drill is an intense shooting drill that combines sprinting, backpedaling, footwork, shooting, and finishing all into one drill.  Now that is training efficiency and that is going to make you a warrior! 

Purpose of the Drill:

The purpose of this drill is to develop your jump shooting and finishing while adding elements of conditioning, agility, and footwork.

Instructions

• The player will sprint a banana cut to a designated spot in the front court.
• When they get to that spot, plant, pivot, and sprint to the elbow for a jump shot.
• Then backpedal back to the spot near half court.
• Then run another banana cut toward the rim for a layup.

Points of Emphasis:

• Proper footwork stepping into their shot.
• Change directions by planting your foot and pivoting.
• Elevate and finish high on the jumper and the layup.
• Use various finishing moves.
• Incoporate the dribble into the jump shot and the finish.

Motivation/Teaching Tips:

• Do for time or a prescribed number of makes.
• Have two players compete against each other for number of makes.

Along with combining these skill sets, it is imperative that players transfer their skills to game like situations, a concept that I refer to as transferability.  This can be done individually with games like Beat the Pro as well as in small groups with various one on one drills.  These drills are used to create competition which often makes players try harder and to get players to incorporate the skills they have learned into a game like situation. 

The Agility Ladder One on Ond Drill is a perfect example of a drill the incorporates basketball skills and agility into a competitive situation.  This drill can be used at all levels of play but is better served at some of the higher levels of play.   

Categories: Agility, Ballhandling / Dribbling, Games/Fun, Offensive Moves

Purpose of the Drill:

The purpose of this drill is to work on ladder agility drills with a partner while turning it into a fun game of one on one.

Instructions

• In this step, two players are lined up to run through the agility ladders.
• The offensive player will dribble the basketball while running through the ladder while the defensive player will run through.
• Once the players get through the ladders, it becomes a one on one game to one point.
• Switch offense to defense after a few repetitions.

Points of Emphasis:

• Move quickly through the ladder.
• Change the movement pattern (3 step, 4 step, hops, lateral in and outs, etc.) of the defensive player in order to make it more difficult for them.
• Limit the number of dribbles for the offensive player to two or three dribbles.
• Make sure the defensive player boxes out.
• Move the ladders to other parts of the court like the wing and the baseline.

Motivation/Teaching Tips:

• Play to a designated number of points.
• Have a consequence for the loser.