Friday’s practice centred upon the introduction of some basic structure to our game.
To date, the team has worked on some basic drills around ball-handling and approaches to the basket, as well as some basic zone defenses, but we’ve not done anything yet in terms of transitions. That’s what Friday was all about.
We first worked on the introduction to our fast break, emphasizing the use of four quick passes to exit our zone and get the ball up-court to our guards in scoring position. Specifically, overhead and swing passes were introduced, and players drilled using these passes while working out kinks that pop up with respect to timing and minor errors of execution.
Given that it was their first experience with the concept of a fast break, it must be said that, for the most part, these drills were performed very well, with guards being hit coming cross-court and getting plenty of good looks at the opposing basket. Also well-done was the work of our centres, who were very effective at getting down court and offering the guards a second option under the opposing basket.
Perhaps the event that happens most often in a game of basketball is the inbound that happens after every stoppage in play. As such, a team that prepares for these situations is a team that increases its opportunities for successful outcomes off the inbound. For us, an inbound is an offensive chance, and players are taught that there is no such thing as the ball being out of bounds, that, even though the ball has momentarily left the court, we’re still there and thinking the game.
The first inbound we looked at was the basic stack formation to be used when we’re inbounding under the opposing basket. The girls were shown their positions and the attached assignments for each position. The idea is that the play is “on” as soon as the official hands the ball to the centre, who initiates the play from out of bounds. The play itself is a series of flashes, screens, and ball-fakes designed to get a primary shooter open for a shot close to the basket. Options are built in to the play to set up secondary shooters should the primary option not be available.
Due to the complexity involved, there was a little bit of confusion in the early going, but as adjustments were made to improve flow, success began to come, and the girls began to execute well as a unit.
The stack is one of four different inbound plays that will be made available to the team, each specific to a certain situation. Again, having a plan for these situations gives us a substantial advantage over teams that perhaps have not prepared as well in this regard.
A successful practice, made all the better by the eagerness of the players to learn and develop the content.
