Coaching Youth Basketball - Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18 - The Littlest Offense
We have all heard of the Littlest Angel, The Littlest Engine, etc. Now we have the Littlest Offense. I have briefly touched on this, but now it's Hammer time.

Go watch any 3rd-6th grade game and here is what you will see. The guards will dribble the ball from New York to L.A. and back, while the forwards seem to move within a 2 foot circle. The forwards don't move to get open. Go to a game and watch. If I'm not right, I'll buy the next round!!

Just a little side note here, I don't use the term center with this age group. In fact, even as we speak, I don't use that term with my daughter's 8th grade team. I have 3 forwards. I mention this so you don't get too confused, and ask, "Well, what about the center?"

The Littlest Offense comes in 3 and 1/2 parts. I like that, 3 and 1/2, kinda has a ring, 3 and 1/2!! I'll go into the half first.

1/2 - Getting your whole team to dribble with their heads up. If you can accomplish this early in the season, then Helen Keller had nothing on you. I actually checked into buying neck braces for my team so they couldn't look down. My wife told me I wasn't allowed because it would constitute cruel and unusual embarrassment.

Anyway, if your team can keep their heads up while dribbling, then they can see who's open. You will gain 4 to 10 points a game this way. But 4-10 points isn't much the beginning coach might say. Now it's time for a reality check. Here's the score of every game my team played in 4th grade. It's kinda like, Where's Waldo, look for the pattern.

W 4-2 W 6-2 W 4-0 L 6-8 W 7-4 W 4-2 W 12-10 L 8-10 W 9-8 W 14-8

See the pattern? The cool thing is, you will get just as excited about a 4-2 win as you would a 40-36 win. If your team can keep their heads up and pass to the open man, you could win every game because of heads up play. (Sorry about the wet humor, I couldn't resist.) So now you know the 1/2.

1. Getting your forwards to move to get open. Every LS you have should end in 10 minutes of scrimmaging without dribbling. When you can't dribble, everyone is forced to move without the ball. If you do this enough in your LS's, then 2 things will happen in your games. Your forwards will move to get open because it is now a habit. AAANNNDDD, your guards are now used to passing the ball rather than dribbling across the country. If you can teach them this, you will be 3-4 years ahead of everyone else. This no dribble scrimmage works at any age.

Several weeks ago I was talking with some 8th grade coaches when I came up with one of my normally stupid ideas. Why not put together a team of coach's daughters to play in a tournament. No one is allowed to be on the team except coach's daughters. Of course I'm foolish enough to say I would coach it.

Remember the chapter "The Ants Go Marching One By One?" As soon as I realized that now the parents would all be coaches who would want to put in their 10 cents worth, (I would say 2 cents worth, but we coaches think our opinions are worth more!) I freaked out and headed to my usual watering hole. Yes folks, I can be real dumb!!

Any way, I figured my biggest challenge would be how to get them to play as a team. We had our first of only 2 LS's last night, and we scrimmaged, talked, scrimmaged, and talked for 2 hours. Our scrimmage was a no dribble scrimmage against my regular team. By the end of the LS, they were working as a team and I was extremely proud of them. How did I get the parent/coaches to keep their yaps closed? I offered to let them coach and I could sit back and critique, amazingly, I got no takers. By the way, I will tell you later on in the book how our tournament turned out, once we play it.

The point is, "no-dribble" scrimmages work, regardless of age.

2. I know I have mentioned this before, but pass and cut is part 2. Every time your player makes a pass, they cut to the basket looking to get the pass back. At the younger ages, this will make you look like a basketball guru.

3. Pick and Roll - This is a little harder to teach. A pick or a screen is really hard for younger kids, but so is riding a bike and they learn how to do that!

Here's how to teach a screen to younger kids. Tell them that they are a detective who has to sneak up on the bad guy and stand to the right or left of the bad guy. By the way, the bad guy is the opposing player who is guarding their teammate with the ball. Their job is to block the bad guy and stop them from following your teammate. The dribbler's job is to dribble around you and run their defender into you, so the bad guy can't follow the dribbler.

The hard part is the person doing the blocking has to keep their feet planted in one place. If they move their feet, they just fouled the other player. The next hard part is that they can't lean their body into the defender, because that too is a foul. The last part of this is that they can't use their hands or arms to block the defender. The way to avoid hands and arms is to have them cross their arms across their chest. The real secret is to get the defender to run into you. This is a pick or a screen.

So what is a pick and roll? Once you succeed in the pick, then you break to the basket looking for a pass or a rebound. All colleges and pro teams use some form of a pick and roll. This offense never goes stale, you can use it forever.

Remember, simple is good? Guess what, there is no more offense to teach you. If you can teach your team these 3 and 1/2 things in the first year, you will have accomplished what it took me 3 years to accomplish. Don't try to get fancy or complicated. You may be ready to learn new things, but your kids won't be. Remember, this game is not for you, it's for the kids. Except for some inbounds plays and things, I have just given you your whole first season's offense. If you can accomplish what I've taught you, you will be a basketball god in your league.

Thought this chapter ended here? Wrong!! I have a friend who has a rather great website and he is one of the 2 people who get to see this before it hits the web. My friend read chapter 18 and e-mailed the following suggestion. He achieved something here , that I could never do, he wrote it well. After reading my last sentence, see what I mean, I can't write worth a _ _ _ _!!! The following is written by Steve Jordan, aka Alaska Coach. His site and Coach Jackson's website are my basketball Encarta. And heeerrrreeee's Alaska!!

Ed "you mentioned the pick and roll. I think you should add a paragraph about how the screener should "roll." I , too, teach arms over the chest, but then have the kids lean on whichever elbow bears the brunt of the contact. The body weight freezes the defender and allows the screeners something to use as a pivot point. The end result is a perfect seal position, for a moment anyway. Too many kids will run up and bang into the defender, jump around and race to the hoop. This makes for a sloppy pick and a tough passing target. A beautiful pick is deliberate and methodical. The extra time creates extra space and gives the offense more options."

I read this and re-read it, and boy did he hit the nail on the head. For those of you who have never seen screening at the younger ages, it can be extremely ugly. Here is some of what you will see:

1. Your player is about to screen a defender, so they run into the defenders back and almost knock them over. This is a foul on your player.

2. Your player sneaks up on the defender, stands straight up, knees locked and the defender runs into your player. This sounds right, right?? Wrong, with their knees locked, your player will normally fall down or stumble. Now they are out of the mix for several seconds until they regain their feet.

3. Your player will run up to the defender, not wait for their team mate to run the defender into them, and then roll to the basket. The net result is that they never ever set the screen for their team mate.

Without waiting for the body contact and without a slight lean on the elbow and side, it is hard to actually block the defender and stop them from fighting through your pick. By slightly leaning, you will have your knees slightly bent so you don't fall, stumble, or look like an idiot. AND, you maintain your proper stance and footwork. AND YOU STOPPED THE DEFENDER from following your team mate.

So why am I spending this much time on screens or picks? Because this is one of the 3 major weapons or offences you will ever learn. Don't ask me what the other 2 are, because I haven't decided which ones they are yet, only kidding!