Understanding the Game

Although 'transition' basketball (fast break offense) is our chosen style, we hope to teach our young players fundamental principles associated with good 'half-court offense' otherwise known as 'plays' or 'set offenses'.

I'd encourage every player to try to develop ONE play, incorporating some of the basic principles of offense:

• Spacing (diminishes the defense's ability to provide help)
• Motion (player movement)
• Ball movement
• Picks or screens on the ball or away from the ball
• Players available to rebound (core principle)
• Floor balance (at least one offensive player back to defend)

The core offensive sets for most teams tend to have the following configurations:

Click to enlarge:

From the top:

• 1-4 (one set used by many teams)
• 1-2-2
• 2-3 (favored by the great UCLA teams of the 60s and 70s

By no means are these the only available sets, and in fact recently I discussed the set the Celtics used on Friday. Remember, the goals we want to encourage are to allow for proper spacing, use individual technique to get separation, small group plays to present mismatches, and to optimize player and ball movement to establish open shots. 

This isn't homework, but rather a goal to help players conceptualize goals of offenses, which will help them BOTH offensively and defensively.