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.

First and foremost, it must be understood that transition defense actually begins on offense.  Throughout an offensive set, players are cutting, screening, and attacking the basket off the dribble.  These movement patterns cause spots on the floor to be vacated and subsequently filled by the next cutter.  The most important spot on the floor, as it pertains to transition defense, is the top of the key.  If the basket is attacked off the dribble or the cut from the top of the key, and a shot goes up before that spot is filled by another offensive player, your transition defense will be at an immediate disadvantage.  In order for your transition defense to be effective, your offensive players must rotate into that area of the court because they actually serve as your first line of transition defense.  And once the ball is secured by the opponent, your players must immediately sprint back on defense.  If your offensive players do not rotate to fill the top spot on the floor, they are usually left trying to sprint back on defense from below the ball line.  This gives the advantage to your opponent who can now start their attack ahead of your players.  In order to slow down this attack, your players should be sprinting in order to get themselves ahead of the basketball and set themselves up in good defensive position. 

Good transition defensive teams realize that their goal is not to defend a man, but to actually defend the basket.   Consequently, the first man back defensively should sprint back and immediately protect the basket.  In doing so, he will protect against any pass ahead toward the basket that could result in a layup.  The second priority in defensive transition should be to stop the basketball.  An easy way to do this is to have the man closest to the player who grabbed the rebound pressure the outlet pass.  This will serve to slow down any transition attack.  However, once the ball is advanced, the defensive player closest to the ball in transition must slow down or stop the person with the basketball.  This could be the player closest to the basket (the first player back) but only in situations where they are the only player back.  If that happens, your team is at a major disadvantage defensively.  In order to slow down the guy with the ball the defensive player must hedge at the man with ball and try to force him towards the sideline.  If the ball-handler is able to gain the middle of the floor, he has the advantage 

because he has more passing or scoring options from the middle of the floor than he would from the sideline.  Forcing the player with the basketball towards the sideline will help these two defensive players achieve their primary goal which is to slow down the offense’s attack long enough for their teammates to get back on defense.  It should also be noted that if these two defensive players have gotten back on defense and are ahead of the basketball, they should set up in a tandem defensively in the lane.  This defensive set up where one player is in the lower part of the lane and the other is in the high part of the lane will allow them to accomplish what has been previously mentioned.  The high defender will stop the basketball while the low defender will cover the basket.  In a situation where a pass is made, the low defender would take that first pass and the other defender would fall back into the lane and protect the basket.  It should also be taken into account that for these two defenders to be effective they must be constantly communicating with each other as to whom will cover the basket, who will stop the ball, who takes first pass, etc.  Without this communication, these defenders will get scored on quickly and will not give their teammates the opportunity to get back on defense.   

As the remaining players transition back to defense each player has a specific spot on the floor that they should fill and a role that they need to perform.  The third defensive player back should form a triangle with the other defensive players.  In doing so, it will enable them to cover any pass that is thrown to their side of the court and allow the other two defensive players to drop into the middle of the lane, to protect the basket, and match up with the ball if it comes back into their area.  The fourth defensive player back will fill the defensive spot on the high side opposite the ball, thereby forming a square.  From this position they will be able to provide middle support from the weak side and match up with the player with the ball on any pass into their area.  Finally, the last player back should run toward the middle of the lane and get below the ball with their back to the baseline.  This will enable them to see the entire court and they can then match up accordingly.

all five players have transitioned back to defense, and ultimately match up with a man, it is necessary for them to understand that they may not be guarding their man that was assigned to them at the beginning of the game.  Because of the guidelines of transition defense, they may end up guarding another player that was not their original assignment.  In this situation, this is fine and they should stay on this player because the goal of transition defense is to prevent the other team from scoring, not find your man.  In other words, if the defensive player who stopped the basketball in transition is supposed to be matched up with another player, they do not all of a sudden leave the player with the basketball to find the player that they were assigned to.  They must stay on that man for that defensive possession or until a logical switch can be made.  In the same respect, if your team is a zone defensive team and a player finds themselves in another area of the zone that is not their usual spot, they must stay there for that possession.

To recap, transition defense is about defending the basket and not a man.  It all begins on offense where at least one, if not two, offensive players should rotate back to the top of their offense.  This will enable them to get ahead of the basketball and prevent an easy scoring opportunity.  The player closest to the offensive player who grabbed the rebound should pressure that player and prevent an easy outlet pass.  The first two players back on defense need to communicate with each other to ensure that the basket is protected and that the ball is stopped.  They should play in a tandem alignment with the top defender covering the ball and the bottom player covering the basket.  The third defensive player should form a triangle and the fourth defensive player should form a square.  Both situations will provide support from the weak side and allow someone to match up with the ball on any skip pass.  Finally, the last player back should run to the middle of the lane and see who is open and match up accordingly.  It is essential that these concepts be emphasized and drilled daily during practices in order for your team to be effective in their transition defense. 

Two drills that can be used to practice transition defense are the UNLV “See it Fix it” drill and the Transition Defensive Scramble drill.  The UNLV drill starts out with five players in one color (let’s say blue) on offense lined up across the foul line extended and five players in another color (white) matched up next to them. The coach has the basketball and is standing on the baseline where he will pass the ball to a player in blue who will then start the fast break.  The player in white standing next to this player must sprint and touch the baseline and then sprint back on defense.  The rest of the defensive players must follow their transition defensive principles in order to prevent the team from scoring until their other player gets back on defense.  A variation of this drill that will make it more challenging is to send two defensive players to the baseline, thereby creating a 5 on 3 advantage.

Transition Defensive Scramble Drill starts with two teams playing five on five in the half court simply running their offense. When the coach yells go, the player with the basketball must leave the ball where it is and he and his teammates must immediately transition back to defense.  However, they must guard a man that is different than the one that was guarding him.  Once again all transition defensive principles must be followed in order to slow down your opponent and prevent them from scoring.

1) Have as many drills in your workout as possible that are equal to or faster than the game itself.

2) Understand that it is a process to improve your skills.

3) Eliminate the workout killers (fatigue and boredom)

4) Always have a written workout program.

5) There are five areas that need to be touched upon in each individual workout:

• Conditioning (add movement to your drills)
• Weak hand development
• Shooting
• Footwork and balance
• Playing through contact

6) The Theory of Two

• We can show any player any skill in two minutes or less.
• It will take two weeks of you working on it every day for you to become comfortable with that skill.
• It will take two months before they can use it in any game.

Having read through these six keys to basketball skill development, ask yourself if your workouts include all six keys.  If so, then you are ahead of the game.  If not, it would be best to rethink your workouts and make the necessary adjustments because in the end it will only make you a better basketball player or coach.