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Thursday, January 13, 2011

Use Early Offense to Put Pressure on the Defense ASAP

I was doing a lot of thinking about early offense and converting from defense to offense. I have assisted on a some teams that ran a secondary break, a-la University of North Carolina, and I seemed to like it. I think secondary breaks work well, as long as it's something that is done every time down the floor.
When converting to offense, I think the main thing to think of is that you want to put pressure on the defense as quickly as you can so that the defense breaks down as soon as possible. In all reality, most players like defense less than they do offense. I think that's a pretty widely accepted statement. But most players will and can defend for the first 10 seconds of a possession. They just switched to defense and are fully concentrated on their responsibilities. After that initial 10 seconds, earlier than that in some cases, is where defenses break down. Assignments get messed up. Communication is lost and points are scored.
What I want out of an offensive transition is to put as much pressure on the defense as early as I can. What's the hardest to defend? I say ball screens, back screens, and ball reversals. So, lets put as much pressure as you can as early as possible. Give your point an immediate ball screen, once the fast break has been stalled. Put the pressure on the defense to do something with it. Put a back screen in. There must be some communication on all back screens or a layup is going to be given up. Ball reversals make the defense shift and can put the defense at a disadvantage. Move the ball quickly. How about a combination of all 3? Whatever you do, you're going to be putting pressure on the defense. When you put pressure on the defense is when good things happen offensively.
I talked about secondary breaks earlier. You don't necessarily have to have a secondary break, but just look at how soon you can begin your offense. The quicker you put pressure on the defense, the quicker they will break down, leading to scoring opportunities. Everyone can play defense for 10 seconds, playing defense for a minute is pretty tough, especially if the offense is always putting pressure on the defense and forcing them to communicate, shift, and make decisions.
What are your thoughts on this? I love comments!

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