A Coach's Diary

This is a good change up to the traditional 3 on 2/2 on 1 transition drill by the Cleveland Cavaliers in their training camp from 2016.

The drill in the video above is a part of our closeout series that we do.  We usually do this leading up tot shell defense.  Our philosophy is to give up no open shots.  To make sure that we can do this, we have to work on flying to our man, closing out with a high inside hand, and chopping our feet as we approach the ball-handler so that she can't blow by us. Here the Cleveland Cavaliers show a couple of parts of their closeout progression in their training camp from 2016.

Everybody loves to sprint on offense, but you have to teach how to sprint back in transition defense and get matched up. 1 - Load to the ball 2 - Inside the line of the ball 3 - Talk and match-up Puts 6 seconds on the clock to get a clean shot and end with a block out.

A great drill to work on legal traps and anticipating the pass as an interceptor, and it works on being strong with the ball and being sure and tough offensively against traps.  It also teaches your players to be more comfortable in a trap, to not panic, and to have a plan for getting out of the trap. Defensively, it teaches those on the ball how to play strong with their hands up so they don't foul in the trap without fouling, how to get deflections, and how to anticipate the next pass as an interceptor. I like how he shows to use the drill in different parts of the court depending on where you are anticipating you want to trap and where you anticipate your opponents will try to trap you.

Winners Fail | Losers Hide This excerpt and notes are taking from the book What Drives Winning.  They have a great website and a really good Youtube page. Its important to redefine what losing and failure is.  Take the emphasis away from the result and place it on the action. Courage is about being willing to operate and step out of your comfort zone. Courage has nothing to do with the outcome.  It is about being all-in.  Have a circle around you that is supportive and who value you going all in over the results.  You have 2 options with it comes to a challenge: 1 – You can hide from it 2 – You can chase it In life, you have 2 options when it comes to courage: 1 – You can go all-in and risk being taken out of the game for the chance to be great Or 2 – You can eliminate the chance of being great by playing tentatively and not getting taken out of the game Think of going all-in like a stoplight:  Imagine what ...

We always preach to our post girls the importance of keeping the ball high.  Here, Candice Parker initiates the fast break and keeps the ball high before converting in transition.  A great visual for all post players.

The drill below is from the University of Arkansas.  A simple 2 on 2 rebounding drill.  I like how the coach also emphasizes making good outlet passes out of the drill.   We will experiment with having our bigs stay on the ball, contest the outlook and look to chase and trap the outlet.  So, we will have our bigs chase down and breakdown on the outlet, simulating that they are trapping that pass. If the offense gets the rebound, they get an offensive possession.  If the defense gives up an offensive rebound, they have to stay on defense with the next group.