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When designing and implementing a conceptual offense we start with the end in mind. We want to get a high value shot that stems from an offensive advantage. A high value shot can differ from team to team, but we primarily were looking for shots at the rim, free throws, and inside-out threes. An advantage can come in the form of a numbers advantage, a long closeout, or a mismatch. For us to be most effective when an advantage is created, our players must understand spacing and possess the ability to make quick decisions and finish plays. With these concepts in mind, as coaches, we must give them a template that puts them in the positions that best use their skill-sets.

PRIMARY TRANSITION

For us, we had a bunch of players who were ultra-skilled with the basketball and thrived in the open floor. We always wanted them thinking “attack” upon a change of possession. On an opponent miss, we want to secure possession and then get the ball advanced up the floor as quickly as possible. Whether that be with a “pitch ahead” (same-side pass up the floor), “pitch across” (opposite-side pass up floor), or with the dribble, we are encouraging our players to get the ball up the floor and put immediate pressure on the defense. This pace can only be set if our players without the ball are willing to sprint. We teach our players to sprint wide (toward the sideline) and deep (toward the corner) unless they are or have the ability to get behind the defense, in which case they can break their path for a lay-up. On a make, our same principles apply. We say “Right Back at Em” to instill a mentality of “if they score, we’re coming right back and matching it”.

TRANSITION FLOW

If our primary transition doesn’t get us into a high value shot, we can seamlessly flow into our motion principles (without a call), which we term Space & Attack. Space & Attack is predicated on the understanding of space (general positioning, penetration reaction, second cuts) and putting pressure on the rim through dribble penetration, cutting, or playing through the post. This next video shows clips of our team flowing from transition into Space & Attack.

POST CONCEPTS

Within our Space & Attack, we use post play as a way of attacking a match-up as well as creating coordinated actions with our players that can help disorganize the defense and create an advantage. As a general rule, anytime the ball is entered into the post, we get into a “split action” with the player who entered the ball into the post. Depending on how the defense plays us, we can screen the backside, cut behind the defense, or hold our space.

QUICK ACTIONS

At times within a game we won’t need action outside of Primary Transition and our Space & Attack principles. In other instances, we might use a Quick, which is a designed action in hopes of creating an advantage or to attack a matchup/ specific defensive coverage we noticed. Sometimes the quick actions can be called, other times we can flow into them organically. Most of our quick actions stem from the same alignment as our base spacing.

FLOW FROM QUICK ACTIONS

If we don’t create an advantage with a quick action our offense doesn’t stall or reset. We immediately move into our Space & Attack principles to continue to put pressure on the defense. The same concept applies on baseline and sideline out of bounds as well. We use an action to try and score or create an advantage, but if neither happens, we seamlessly flow into our Space & Attack principles.

CONTACT TAYLOR

If any coaches that read this post are interested in having Taylor Jannsen conduct a clinic or practice(s) to help design and implement a conceptual offense that fits your team and level, please contact him @ performancemaxllc@gmail.com

This post is geared toward the actual installation and implementation of a conceptual offense. The previous blog post outlined the guiding principles and more specific actions within our offense.

How We Teach

When implementing our offense or specific pieces of our offense, we subscribe to the Whole-Part-Whole Method. We start with the whole where we will introduce our spacing, terminology, and certain concepts through video clips or 5 v 0 skeleton offense. There isn’t a ton of time spent in the initial “whole” phase, it’s mostly an introduction to paint a picture and allow players to see how the concepts fit into an actual game. After we’ve introduced a piece of our offense through the whole, we start small-sided games to teach and reinforce the concept. The advantage of small-sided games is that players are able to get more repetitions and we are able to create conditions that are similar to the context of an actual game. After players have started to demonstrate a clear understanding of the concepts, we come back to the whole, which will consist of 5 v 5 scrimmage variations. Depending on what we are implementing, we will use scripted actions, constraints, or a modified scoring system to elicit the actions we are looking for in both small-sided games and scrimmage variations.

Phases of Implementation

Phase 1: Overview of Offense 

The first phase in implementing our offense is showing video clips of ideal offensive possessions. To us, that means that we were able to create an advantage in the possession (number advantage, closeout, mismatch, etc.) that led to a high value shot. The on-court work in Phase 1 is introducing our basic half-court & transition spacing & terminology via 5 v 0.

Phase 2: Attacking w/ the Advantage (Blender or Dominoes)

Many times coaches will start teaching and implementing their offense by walking through their set plays. While that can be effective for some, we start by teaching our players how we want to play when an advantage has been created. We call this “Blender” or “Dominoes”. This is taught through small-sided games w/ an advantage in the half-court or in transition. Concepts such as racing to space, pitch-aheads, 0.5 rule, exit cuts, and penetration reaction are all things we are emphasizing. If we feel that we need to decrease complexity, we will use 2 v 0 or 3 v 0 Conceptual Drills to teach these concepts relating to playing with an advantage. The bottom line and main reason we start here in our implementation is that a play or an action is going to yield different things- many times it won’t be a score, but many times it will be a small advantage. We want our players to be able to take the advantage that was created and understand how to create a shot we are looking for.

Phase 3: Attacking a Neutral Defense- Space & Attack

Once our players have an understanding of when an advantage has been created and how we want to use it to create a high-value shot, we need to move into attacking a neutral defense. The better the opponent, the more likely it is that our team will have to use action to create advantages- meaning we are not just going to be able to out-run every team we play and get a basket in transition each possession. Our basic spacing and movement template that we start with is Space & Attack. This is our default offense when there is no call or we are just “flowing and playing”. Space & Attack has players passing, cutting, spacing and potentially posting. We teach players a slice cut, through cut, shallow cut, or post cut. The type of cut they perform can depend on where they are on the floor and the matchup they or a teammate has.

A game we play frequently early on when implementing Space & Attack is Wildcat 3 v 3 (Brian McCormick). In Wildcat 3 v 3, there are no screens and each catch has to be made behind the 3-point line unless it’s a direct cut to the rim. This teaches our players to create gaps through cutting, recognize when there is a gap, and then attack gaps w/ a downhill drive. Additionally, we can reinforce spacing and penetration reaction on a drive, which we will have covered in “Blender” or “Dominoes”. Also in Space & Attack, we begin teaching how we want to play out of the post. We will go 3 v 3 beginning w/ a post entry and perform a post cut or post split. Space & Attack gives us a foundation of spacing as well as ball and player movement. It connects our players to a base structure that they can fall back onto in the chaos of a game without any calls.

Phase 4: 5 v 5 

In Phase 4, we want to bring the “whole” back through 5 v 5 play working on our Space & Attack Offense. To emphasize and reinforce pace, we use a shot clock (10-15 seconds). Our players know that there are no screens unless the ball is entered to the post. We are looking to create our advantages in transition, through the drive, and through the post. Space, pace, and flow seamlessly into Space & Attack until we get an advantage and are into Blender or Dominoes.

Phase 5: Introduce Actions & Sets (Repeat Whole-Part-Whole Method)

When our base Space & Attack principles have been established, we want to introduce other quick actions as an alternative method to create advantages. The better an opponent is defensively, the more action outside of Space & Attack we may have to run to create our advantages. To start, each of these actions will flow directly from the same spacing as our Space & Attack- this creates seamless flow. Players do not have to be in specific spots on the floor to execute the action. As discussed above, we will usually show the action 5 v 0 to give players a handle on the broader picture of the action and the options within an action. We then move into small-sided games where we script the particular action 2 v 2, 3 v 3, or 4 v 4. Finally we come back to 5 v 5 scrimmages. If players are struggling to understand their options, we can lessen complexity by using Conceptual Drills or going back to 5 v 0 and 5 v 5 guided offense.

To learn more about drills and small-sided games we use, please feel free to reach out to me at: performancemaxllc@gmail.com. I am also currently scheduling clinics for youth and high school coaches and teams looking to implement these offensive concepts this winter.

The guiding philosophy of our offense is:

Develop Players. Give them Space. Play with Pace. Seamlessly Flow. 

The better our players, the better our offense. The better our offense, the better our players. Player development connects w/ offense. Many times these items are seen as separate. When we are working on our offense, we are also developing our players skills. Just as when we are emphasizing a particular skill, we are working on and ultimately enhancing our offense.

All coaches want skilled players. We strive to develop versatile, offensive-minded players who thrive in the chaos of a game. Versatile means that we have players on the floor, regardless of size, who have the ability to shoot, pass, handle, finish, pivot, accelerate & decelerate. Offensive-minded means they have the confidence to attack space when it’s presented and ultimately make the “right play” given the interactions and decisions present on the floor. Lastly, to thrive in the chaos of a game, skills cannot be viewed and evaluated solely from an isolated perspective. They must be evaluated, and ultimately developed in conjunction with the decisions that occur within a game. Technique is important to a degree, but it is often over-valued & over-coached. Adaptability, vision, and feel are more important. Here are some clips that illustrate versatile, offensive-minded players using skills in the chaos of the game:

We are constantly fighting for our spacing- it’s a crucial ingredient to any offense. We call our base offense and spacing template Space & Attack. It’s predominately a 5-out system (but can be adapted to be a 4-out as well) where initial action can vary from team to team. We generally start with ball movement and cutting to introduce the offense. There is a huge emphasis on players being higher and wider with their positioning. Penetration reaction is something we frequently work on within conceptual shooting drills- players must understand how to maintain the integrity of our spacing when a teammate penetrates. When initial spacing along w/ gap recognition is established and understood, we will also begin to utilize backside pins and incorporate post cuts to give ourselves other options to create small advantages within our Space & Attack. Additionally, and once again connecting back to player development, spacing isn’t just player positioning on the floor, it’s also predicated on player “gravity”. Having multiple shooters on the floor that the defense must stay connected to opens up more space to attack.

Playing with pace doesn’t mean that we rush up and down the floor without any sense of valuing a possession. Pace is sprinting to our spacing when we secure possession and probing for an early advantage before the defense gets set. This can be off of a made or missed shot by our opponent. On a rebound, we give freedom and want the player who rebounded the ball to initiate our early offense. If we aren’t able to get an early advantage via transition, we move the ball and our players w/ pace. Playing with pace certainly involves our ability to attack early in a possession, but it also involves the energy of the ball and the intention of our players cuts as a possession extends longer.

Flow ties together our offense. On a made or missed shot by an opponent, we race to space to probe for an early advantage. If we aren’t able to create an advantage early in the possession, we are organized w/ our spacing to seamlessly flow into offense. We do not need to reset our spacing or call a set each time down the floor- we have the ability to flow and play without interruption. Whether it be a pass & cut, drag screen, post-up, snap, or center action- the action connects w/ our spacing. The goal is to constantly be on the attack. If an action creates an advantage, we use or transfer the advantage until we create a high-value shot. When an action doesn’t create an advantage, we re-space and move right into our next action without lag or delay.

Our base offense establishes our spacing template and gives us a foundation to work off of.  The quick actions we install connect to that spacing template (flow). Every team takes on a slightly different identity based on the players that make up a roster. For example, some teams may use post cuts and rely more heavily on post entries as opposed to gap creating cuts for dribble penetration. It may fit a team to automatically flow into a drag screen if no transition advantage was available early. Each game, depending on an opponent, could also call for different wrinkles and actions as well.  Maybe an opponent is poor in handling off-ball screens and that game requires flowing into action w/ an off-ball screen. This is where coaching and adaptability is required. There were games when we needed to use quick actions with screening more and then other games teams couldn’t keep us in front so we could simply use cuts to open up gaps to create our advantages. Regardless, the goal of any action is to create an advantage that leads to a high value shot. Below is a PDF file that shows quick actions we use that directly connect w/ our spacing when we arrive in the half-court.

PMax Basketball Conceptual Offense Flow Actions

Part 2 will feature our approach on how we teach and implement the offense. Thanks for reading!

To make your fast faster, make your slow slower. I say this to kids in basketball workouts to emphasize change of pace. The best players in the game of basketball aren’t always sprinting around the court or performing every movement at full speed. Great players understand that going slow & changing tempos can make a quick or full speed burst that much more effective. This is a concept that has meaning in everyday life too.

The urge and way of life for most of us is to always be on the go. We believe there’s no time for slow- busyness & activity consumes our society, but just like in basketball, if we never slow down our “fast” isn’t nearly as effective. If, however, we have the ability to change speeds, and take the time to slow down and really make our slow slower, we can make our fast that much faster and more effective.

One simple example could be taking 15 minutes in the AM and mapping out time blocks or setting specific intentions for your day. By “slowing down” for a brief moment to write out a plan, we inevitably end up having the ability to go faster as we are less likely to fall victim to distractions or procrastination. A coaching example is before I run a practice or a session I take the time to write out a plan, take deep breaths and remind myself of who I want to be as a coach. I’ve learned that when I don’t have a plan and my mind isn’t clear, I can lose patience and in turn, lose my ability to run an effective practice. In other instances, making our slow slower might be putting away our phone for an hour and going for a walk/ performing any type of exercise. It could be having a personal conversation with a loved one or going to bed an hour or two earlier.

The bottom line is when we rush and go through each day and moment of our life in a hurry and only “play at one speed”- we run ourselves thin and never operate with a clear mind. It causes us to be less effective and less productive in each activity we partake in. So if you feel like you’re going 1000 MPH but it’s not adding up to anything, remember: to make your fast faster, make your slow slower.

The primary goal of any offense is to score. Great offenses will create advantages that lead to high-value shots for their players. An offensive advantage can occur when the defense is in rotation, out of position, has a numbers disadvantage, or is mismatched (size or quickness). The offense is in a neutral state when the defense is matched up, in position, and set. We like to say that their “shell” is intact. An offense can be at a disadvantage when the ball is being trapped. 

When the offense has an advantage, players make decisive passes or drives until a high value shot has been created. When the offense is neutral, they use an action (cut, screen, penetration, post entry) to “crack the shell” & hopefully create an advantage. If the offense is at a disadvantage, they find the open player to move toward an advantage state. 

Some coaches prefer a high volume of sets and/or scripted patterns to generate the shots they want. Our offense is more conceptual in nature where we try to give players core principles, equip them with skills and then empower them to make decisions within the chaos of a game. When players learn to make decisions based on what the defense gives them, offense becomes unpredictable and hard to guard. Every action the defense performs, the offense has a counter. 

Key foundations within our conceptual offense include: 

• Player Development: There isn’t a more important component of offensive basketball than player development. Without skilled players, regardless of offensive scheme, you’ll always be facing an uphill battle. Every practice we spend a large portion of time developing our players’ skill sets. The overarching mission is to help develop versatile, offensive-minded players who thrive in the chaos of a game. We want players to excel at the things they do a lot (sounds simple, but so much modern player development is spent on things that don’t happen frequently over the course of a game). We also talk about and emphasize being a “joy to play with” frequently. A question we want our players to ask themselves is: “Do other players on the team enjoy playing with me?” 

• Space: Having players that are skilled, decisive, and spaced will force tough, “no-win” decisions from the defense. When spacing is lost, the defense is able to guard two people with one defender. A phrase we use often is, “When in doubt, space out!” To us, this means stretching the court higher (toward half-court), wider (toward the sideline), and further away from other teammates.  

• Pace: We love to play in transition. Ideally, we are attacking the defense before they get a chance to get set up on every possession. Pace also means that the ball moves quickly (Spurs 0.5 Rule) and that we execute our cuts and movements at a tempo that never allows the defense to relax. A misconception with pace is that we automatically take the first available shot each time down the floor. Again, we want to attack before the defense gets set up, but if the defense is back and in position, we have the ability to flow into continued action to create an advantage. 

• Flow: The connection of an offensive possession. Flow is our players’ ability to play without resets or frequent coach interference. Each segment within our offense can seamlessly transition into the next without stoppages. For example, we can flow from transition or a “quick” directly into spacing and attacking through dribble penetration. 

Additional Items: 

• A “quick” is an action that we perform as we are crossing half-court, usually after a make or a dead ball when the defense has their shell intact. It can be a called or it can happen by players initiating the action w/ their movements/decisions. Quicks are designed to be executed with pace to create an advantage that we can attack from. 

• Our primary transition offense as well as the offense we flow into is mostly predicated around quick ball movement coupled w/ spacing principles to create defensive closeouts. When we need a change of pace or need to offer a different look to the defense, we do so by  playing through the post (or running a “quick”). Generally speaking, fewer and fewer teams work on defending the post & coinciding actions that go along with it. When we enter to the post or we are looking to enter it to the post, the ball slows down- our cuts & actions away from the ball, however, do not. At times, we will get post touches organically through a player cutting & holding their position on a mismatch. Other times we call “Power” and look to isolate a player four around one. 

Below is a video that illustrates many of the concepts listed above. Feel free to reach out with any questions you may have: performancemaxllc@gmail.com.