Controlling Tempo - Talking the Point Guard Position

I want to shift gears for a moment and go from talking about our motion offense and, instead, talk about that key position in making any offense run smoothly - the point guard position.  

The Hurricane Basketball Program is fortunate to operate from a position of strength at point guard.  Our middle school and high school divisions are loaded with the islands most talented point guards.  We have high expectations for those playing the point.  We ask a lot of them, even in the early stages of their development.   We are constantly in our point guards ears, instructing them on the need to be leaders on the floor; sharing the importance of controlling game tempo and knowing player personnel;as well as wanting them to have the ability to call plays on their own without always looking to us coaches on the sideline.

I am very fortunate to work along side knowledgeable coaches who enjoy teaching this great game to young people.  One such coach is Kent Tacklyn, who is a former member of Bermuda's National Basketball Team and who played college basketball at Morris Brown.  I want to share some insights that he recently passed on to the point guards of our team:

5 Common Qualities Of Elite Guards -- Which Ones Do You have?  By Joe Haefner (Breakthrough Basketball)

1. Great Ball Handlers
You might be thinking, DUH! But the truth is that I don't think that many players and even some coaches understand the difference between dribbling and ball handling. I know that I didn't at first.

You can be a great dribbler, but a terrible ball handler. You can also be a great ball handler and a good dribbler.

For example, you might always catch and dribble. You overdribble the ball and the offense stagnates. It takes you 7 dribbles and 4 moves for you to get to the basket from the 3-point line. These are examples of somebody who may be a great dribbler, but a very poor ball handler.

Steve Nash - a great ball handler

Great ball handling encompasses the skill of dribbling, passing, and the ability to make good decisions on the court. Things like...
·         Dribbling when necessary. Not just catching and pounding the ball.
·         Dribbling effectively. Getting to the basket from anywhere in the half court in 1 to 2 dribbles.
·         Making great decisions in game-like situations such as the fast break, off of ball screens, finding the open man, passing out of traps, etc.

Don't be a great dribbler. Be a great ball handler.

2. Good Shooters
If you want to be a threat on the floor as a point guard, you absolutely need to work on your shot. Being a good shooter will open driving lanes, passing lanes, and so much more for your team.

Kyrie Irving - a sweet shooting point guard

If you can shoot the ball and the defense does not close out on you fast enough, you hit the jumper. If they take away the shot, it's time to take it to the hoop, create havoc on the defense, finish at the basket, and create easy scoring opportunities for your teammates.

Now if you don't shoot the ball well, you will have difficulty getting to the basket because the defense doesn't have to rush out on you. You go from multi-threat to a no threat.

Point guards that can shoot and handle the ball are the best in the business.

3. Play With Composure
Great point guards have the same mentality when they're down by 20, up by 20, have 4 defenders blitzing them, or playing against sagging zone defense. For these point guards, it's just time to stay composed, execute, and go to work.

If you get too high or too low, this can affect your play and decision-making. By staying composed and alert, this will dramatically improve your decisions and lead to better team play.

4. Great Finishers
Point guards develop great finishing moves to finish over taller, more athletic players. Each level that you go up in the game of basketball, your goal is to get the ball to the backboard or the rim as quickly as possible as athletic defenders rotating from the weakside make a living blocking the shots off of dipsy-do finishers.

Develop finishing moves like a quick lay in, Floater, side step, the quick stop.

Pick 1 or 2 moves and become great at them. Personally, I like my players on the quick stop to change pace and direction to keep the defense off balance and then I'll add one of the moves above based on strengths. Once you become great at those two moves, you can look to add a third.

5. Communicate Effectively
There is a difference between communicating and communicating effectively. Being able to communicate your message in a clear, concise manner to your teammates and coaches is critical. Going on a 30 second rant isn't feasible and effective during games.

Chris Paul - great communicator

Say things like…
·         Get your butt down on the box out.
·         Seal him on the backside.
·         Sprint back on D.
·         Finish through the defense.
·         Kick it out when they collapse.

Also being able to communicate in a positive way that your teammates respect you is crucial. If you're going to correct a teammate when they do something wrong, you better be the first one there when they do something right.

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As Coach Tacklyn shared with our players, there are certainly other things that point guards do well, but it is his hope and mine that this helps them in the process into becoming a great point guard/basketball player.

Offensive Philosophy – The Motion Principle (Part 2)

I’m back to talk about the Team Hurricane Motion Offense.  My system is constantly evolving, and there’s so much that I’d like to share.  I will try to keep it simple in presenting my ideas about good motion offense.  Obviously, the ideas shared are not solely my own.  As coaches know, we borrow extensively from each other.  So I will share with you those notes and ideas that inspire me and my motion offense system.

Seven Characteristics of Good Offense:

The following seven characteristics of good offense come from Lawrence Frank and his video “Early Offense & Zone Offense.”  

Lawrence Frank

Ask yourself the following questions about your system:

1)    Can your offense flow 94 feet?

a.)   Is there a constant flow?

b.)   You want an offense that does not have stops and starts.

2.)   Do you have good spacing?

        a.) 15 – 18 feet

 3.)   Do you have good ball movement

a.)   Does the ball get reversed from side, top, side.

4.)   Do you have player movement?

a.)   Are you putting players in position to score?

b.)   Are you moving bodies?

5.)   Do you have multiple passing outlets to pass the ball to?

a.)   Are you married to one pass?  If the pass is not there and they take it away, is  your offense is dead?

b.)   Is everyone an eligible receiver and will it trigger specific actions?

6.)   Do you have opportunities to drive?

        a.) Can you attack the paint off the dribble?

7.)   Do you have offensive rebounding opportunities?

     a.) Are you putting your players in position to get offensive rebounds or are putting our best rebounders outside the 3-point line?

I value all 7 of these keys, but the two that I place a premium on is #1 and #5.  I want our offense to have a constant flow, continuous movement and fluidity.  I believe that a fluid offense is possible when you have multiple passing outlets.  For me, that means having an offense that is symmetrical…it can start on the left or right side.  We’re not married to one pass.  It means that our offense doesn’t get bogged down if the defense takes away a particular side with our initial entry pass.  It also means, those good defense teams that can lock you into a side, we have multiple actions there that we can go to.

In order to achieve these objectives Team Hurricane employs a 3 out 2 in motion offense system.

Key Concepts of the Hurricane Motion Offense

Here are some key concepts to our motion offense.  I will cite those concepts attributed to Gordon Chisea, a former assistant coach for the Utah Jazz, from his awesome streaming video from Coaching U Live, A Detailed Look At the Utah Jazz Offensive System.

  1.) Every screen should be an opportunity to score.  Don’t come off screen lazy.  Don’t  set lazy screens. (Chisea)

       2.) Screens should give teammate daylight. (Chisea)

   3.) Go set the screen when the ball is in flight. (Chisea)

       4.) Don’t bring screen to cutter, cutter brings himself to the screen. (Chisea)

       5.) Run offense on both sides of the floor. (Chisea)

      6.) Power Triangle – try to run initial offense from a Power Triangle that includes: Point Guard – best ball handler, Wing – best perimeter player, and Post  - best interior player.

       7.) Embrace the open shot opportunity you have been given. Don’t pass up open/in rhythm shots to dribble into a poor, highly contested and defended shot, or turnover.

       8.) Any of our 3 perimeter players can initiate the offense.  #1, #2 and #3 are interchangeable.

       9.) Offense is primarily a series of 3-man games/partnerships, and 2-man games/partnerships.  

    10.) 3-man games/partnerships are a variety of actions (LA, Zipper, Down Screen, Shallow Cuts, Jersey Cut - our cut to corner). 

     11.) 2-man games/partnerships are not strictly pick & roll, but involves the 2-men “dancing” with one another (down screens, shallow cuts) to free each other up and to engage the defense.  

    12.) Sometimes partnerships switch and a player from 3-man side exchange places with player from 2-man partnership and vice-versa.

    We'll stop right here and in my next post, I'll try to give you some diagrams and/or videos to give you an idea of what it looks like.  Please feel free to comment and share any ideas you may have on motion offense.

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20 Second Time Out - Pop's Philosophy

I need a quick timeout before I continue on about the Hurricane Motion Offense.  It's actually kind of connected as it touches upon the idea of giving players freedom (the essence of a good motion offense) or being a control freak type of coach.  But I came across an excerpt from an interview with San Antonio Spurs Head Coach Greg Popovich as  transcribed by Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News (via PBT).  In it he talks of why he often leaves solving certain problems up to his players:

A lot depends on the competitiveness and the character of the player. Often times, I’ll appeal to that. Like, I can’t make every decision for you. I don’t have 14 timeouts. You guys got to get together and talk. You guys might see a mismatch that I don’t see. You guys need to communicate constantly — talk, talk, talk to each other about what’s going on on the court.

“I think that communication thing really helps them. It engenders a feeling that they can actually be in charge. I think competitive character people don’t want to be manipulated constantly to do what one individual wants them to do. It’s a great feeling when players get together and do things as a group. Whatever can be done to empower those people …

“Sometimes in timeouts I’ll say, ‘I’ve got nothing for you. What do you want me to do? We just turned it over six times. Everybody’s holding the ball. What else do you want me to do here? Figure it out.’ And I’ll get up and walk away. Because it’s true. There’s nothing else I can do for them. I can give them some bulls—, and act like I’m a coach or something, but it’s on them.

“If they’re holding the ball, they’re holding the ball. I certainly didn’t tell them to hold the ball. Just like, if they make five in a row, I didn’t do that. If they get a great rebound, I didn’t do that. It’s a players’ game and they’ve got to perform. The better you can get that across, the more they take over and the more smoothly it runs.

“Then you interject here or there. You call a play during the game at some point or make a substitution, that kind of thing that helps the team win. But they basically have to take charge or you never get to the top of the mountain.”

Greg Popovich

I loved reading this by a coach I admire because I sometimes wonder if I give my players too much freedom.   I'll ponder whether or not I need to run more of a set-play offense, give them a more shot-specific play.  Then I realize, it's not me.  It's not who I am as a person.  I've heard many a coach say in some fashion, "You have to let players figure it out on their own."  And they're right, I can't always hold their hand.  I want players/students who feel empowered.  I think to how I was raised.  I was raised in a disciplined household, but yet I had parents who still gave me space to grow and find myself.  Looking back on it, I realize now that a good parent, teacher or coach can achieve success with their child/student/player by three things: 1) Give them a structure/system that reflects your integrity; 2) Hold them accountable; and most importantly 3) Demand that they live by a high standard.