Teaching Motion Offence to Young Players

By Mike McNeill, Coaching Development, Basketball BC This article will not discuss the advantages and disadvantages of motion offence. It is for the coaches who have already made the decision to teach their players to play motion and are looking for a method to introduce it to their players. Motion offence is a conceptual offence in which the movement of the offensive players is based primarily on the position and movement of the defensive players, as well as the location of the ball. For a player to become an effective offensive player he/she must learn to read the defence. This is essentially 1) recognizing how their defender is playing them, 2) how the rest of the defenders are playing and 3) where the ball is located. If players can learn to read the defence they can be effective in any offensive system. 4 Out, 1 In Motion Offence: This system is based on a 4 out, 1 in motion offence. The positions are shown in the figure 1. To begin the process of teaching motion offence to young players the coach should spend a short amount of time introducing the players to the 5 spots on the floor. This will enable the players to see the big picture and help them understand how the 4 on 0 work will fit into a 5 player system. Positions: 2 guards 1 step outside the 3 pt. line and off the edge of the lane extended 2 wings 1 step outside the 3 pt. line and bottom of the circle extended 1 post the post plays in the low post area. Figure 1. The four perimeter players are interchangeable and will play in any of the four perimeter spots. The post should be restricted to one block to block cut during each possession. This rule will prevent the block from continually following the ball and clogging up the area around the basket. The method of teaching motion offence is to introduce it to the players with only 4 offensive players. By limiting the number of players on the floor you can focus on the most difficult aspect of moving and moving with a purpose. Having only 4 players will reduce the congestion and confusion for young players. It will give the players more space to play and give more opportunities for each player to touch the ball. The 5th player will be added later and will not significantly change the movement.

Figure 1: Positions 4 on 0 - Pass, Cut and Fill: 4 on 0 - Pass, Cut and Fill is a 4 on 0 drill to allow players space and reduce the confusion that can be common when there is five players on the floor. When the 4 on 0 - Pass, Cut and Fill drill is followed by drills which incorporate a guided defender it can provide an effective environment to teach players to move, keep space, see the entire floor and play with timing.

Concepts to Teach: 1) Spacing - the spacing should be 12-15 feet between teammates and one big step outside the 3 point line. The players should be "wide at the wings and deep at the top" - this spacing will improve the passing angles and will create more room for cutters. 2) Timing - The ball and player should arrive at the position at the same time. This will help prevent a defender from running through the passing lane. 3) Filling to Open Spot - When a spot is vacated the spot is then filled. This will ensure floor balance and will allow the ball to be reversed. 4) Be a Cutter First Every time a player passes the ball they should be a cutter first. This means the cutter steps towards the pass and is prepared to cut to the basket or to create a screening angle depending on the positioning of their defender. 5) Cut to the Front of the Rim with Speed - the foundation of motion offence is the basket cut. Cutters going right to the front of the rim will force defenders to defend more of the floor, will create more help from weak-side defenders and may result in more lay-ups. The players must also cut with speed. Though the players may begin their cuts slow they must finish with speed as they go to the basket. 6) Space Out, Space Up - Spacing out means to move out to the 3 pt. line first and spacing up means moving to the proper position on the wing. This movement creates more space for the offence and gives more opportunities for baseline drives and a better angle to blast cut. 7) Drag the Arc To give the cutter and his/her teammates, more space and room to gain speed, the cutter

moves along the 3 point line towards the baseline, and then comes off the down screen. This will also ensure the down screen will be low enough to garner good cutting opportunities. Note on V-cutting while all players must learn to v-cut, spacing is a more critical issue for young players in the half-court. V-cutting can distort spacing, bring defenders into help position, and requires greater timing than dragging the arc and using a blast cut. As players progress and understand the concept of spacing, the V-cut can be introduced. STAGE 1 Learning Spacing and to Fill to Open Spots The first step in teaching young players motion offence is to teach them to move. Young players have a tendency to stand and watch the ball, or to only run at the ball. The foundation of motion offence is the basket cut and therefore this method of teaching motion will incorporate basket cuts consistently. It is recommended that the first step a coach take in offensive team play is eliminating the tendencies to stand and/or watch the ball. Set up for the drill: 1) Place 4 spots on the floor (either tape on the floor or rubber non-slip spots) at the two guard spots and the wing spots. The guard spots are the edge of the lane extended towards center and one big step outside the 3 point line. The wing spots are the bottom of the jump circle extended towards the sideline and then one big step outside the 3 point line. 2) Place two chairs on the floor. One chair is in each corner, one step off the baseline and one step outside the 3 point line.

The rules for the drill Stage 1: 1) Only basket cut on the guard to wing pass; 2) Every player must call their cuts "basket", "fill", "blast", "fade", "curl"; 3) When you receive a pass a. get the ball into the 'triple threat' position and, b. hold the ball for a onecount, to see the cutter all the way to the basket. 4) In most possessions it is advisable the players make between 4-6 passes before they score a lay-up. 5) If the coach yells spots players must immediately get onto one of the spots. This will help to reinforce spacing and floor balance. Figure 2: O3 drags the arc, touches the chair, and blast cuts back to the ball. O1 passes the ball to O3 and, is a cutter first, by stepping to the ball, and then cuts to the basket. O2 will fill into the spot nearest the ball vacated by O1. O2 will call the fill cut and then must fill the spot with proper timing to ensure he/she and the ball arrive at the spot at the same time.

Figure 2 Pass, Cut and Fill Figure 3: O3 passes to O2, O4 blasts and fills the guard spot, and then receives a pass from O2 with proper timing. O1 spaces out.

Figure 3 Pass, Cut and Fill

Figure 4: O1 blasts to the wing and receives a pass from O4. O4 is a cutter first and then basket cuts. O3 and O2 begin to fill the spots vacated.

Figure 6: O3 will reverse the ball to O4 who has blasted to the wing. O3 is a cutter first and cuts to the front of the rim.

Figure 6 Pass, Cut and Fill Figure 4 Pass, Cut and Fill STAGE 2 Learning to Read a Defender Figure 5: O1 passes to O2 filling and O2 reverses the ball to O3 filling to the guard spot. O4 spaces out. Set-up for the drill: 1) Leave the spots on the floor. 2) Leave the chairs in the corners The 4 on 0 Pass, Cut and Fill drill continues the same way but now the coach or coaches step in and become guided defenders. They should walk inside the drill and randomly step into passing lanes and deny passes to players cutting to the ball. When a coach steps into a passing lane the player should back-cut. When there is a back-cut the other players must again fill to the next spot. Below is a list of what the coach can do and the action the player should take. 1. The coach guards the passer and doesnt jump to the ball on the pass. The passer should face-cut right in front of the coach to the front of the rim. Figure 7. Figure 5 Pass, Cut and Fill

wing will fill back to the same side. Figure 9.

Figure 7. Guard face-cuts. 2. The coach guards the passer and does jump to the ball on the ball. The passer should back-cut behind the coach to the front of the rim. Figure 8. Figure 9. Wing back-cuts vs denial. 4. The coach denies the guard to guard pass and the player backcuts. The next player fills and the cutter fills to the same side. Figure 10.

Figure 8. Guard back-cuts. 3. The coach denies the guard to wing pass and the wing back-cuts. The

Figure 10. Wing filling to guard spot is denied and back-cuts 5. The coach denies the wing to guard pass the guard back-cuts. Figure 11.

STAGE 3 Concept of Moving on the Weak-side Set-up for the drill: 1) Leave the spots on the floor. 2) Leave the chairs in the corners. The 4 on 0 Pass, Cut and Fill drill continues to be built upon. The next movement added is when a guard to guard pass is made. The passer will exchange on the weak-side with the wing. 4 on 4 To allow the players to practice against defence and learn to read the defence you should play 4 on 4. However there should be some conditions placed on the defence to allow the offence to have some success. The defenders may try to get into the passing lanes; this will create opportunities to back-cut. However, do not allow the defence to pressure the passer. The offensive players will have enough difficulty without having to play against pressure defence.

Figure 11. Guard filling to ball-side guard spot is denied and back-cuts. The rules for the drill Stage 2: 1) Only basket cut on the guard to wing pass or when denied; 2) Every player must call their cuts "basket", "fill", "blast", "fade", "curl"; 3) When you receive a pass a. get the ball into the 'triple threat' position and, b. hold the ball for a onecount, to see the cutter all the way to the basket. 4) In most possessions is advisable the players make between 4-6 passes before they score a lay-up.

The rules for the drill Stage 3: 1) Only basket cut on the guard to wing pass or when denied; 2) On guard to guard pass the passer will exchange positions with the weak-side wing. 3) Every player must call their cuts "basket", "fill", "blast", "fade", "curl"; 4) When you receive a pass a. get the ball into the 'triple threat' position and, b. hold the ball for a onecount, to see the cutter all the way to the basket.

In Figure 12, O2 fills the guard spot and receives a pass from O3. O2 passes to O4, who is filling to the other guard spot as O1 spaces out. O2 and O3 will exchange positions. While weak-side exchanges are not recommended as an effective tactic, the intent here is simply to teach the players to move when they are away from the ball. So while down-screening would be a better strategy, it is not advisable yet because of the amount of learning involved in learning to set and read screens.

The 4 on 0 Pass, Cut and Fill drill continues to be built upon. The next step is to add the down screen and the cuts that occur with down screens. The rules for the drill Stage 4: 1) Only basket cut on the guard to wing pass or when denied; 2) On guard to guard pass the passer will down screen for the wing. 3) Every player must call their cuts - "basket", "fill", "blast", "fade", "curl"; 4) When you receive a pass a. get the ball into the 'triple threat' position and, b. hold the ball for a onecount, to see the cutter all the way to the basket. 5) In most possessions it is advisable for the players to make between 4-6 passes before they score a lay-up. Curl Cut The first cut to teach off screens is the curl cut. This is an aggressive cut that attacks the basket. The cutter should curl the screen when the defender either runs into the screen or tails the cutter. When O1 passes to O2, O1 will down screen for O3.

Figure 12. Guard to Guard Pass Weak-side Exchange STAGE 4 Teaching the Down Screen and the Curl Cut/Back Cut It is beyond the needs and abilities of youth players to understand all aspects of screening when they are first introduced to it. However as they become more comfortable you can begin to teach more of the reads and phrases that go with reading screens. Set-up for the drill: 1) Leave the chairs in the corners.

a. Screeners Rules: O1 should be a cutter first to create a screening angle. On a down screen, the back of the screener should be to the ball. O1 should signal his/her intent to screen by putting a fist in the air. O1 should land on a 2 foot stop with his/her feet should width apart and knees bent. O1 is the 2nd cutter on this screening action and will 2nd cut back to the ball, with his/her hands ready for a shot O1 will fill the guard spot.

b. Cutters Rules: O3 must drag the arc. O3 should come shoulder to shoulder with O1 as he/she comes off the screen. O3 is the 1st cutter, and must call curl as he/she goes to the basket looking for the ball. O3 must change pace coming off the screen if the defender tails O3 will space out to the weakside wing. It is advisable that early on the coach, or a player, act as a guided defender and tail the cutter. This will help to teach the cutter the situation in which they should curl the screen. Figure 14. Back-Cut. The screeners and cutters rules are the same as previously. It is advisable that early on the coach, or a player, act as a guided defender and go over top of the screen early. This will help to teach the cutter the situation in which they should back-cut.

Stage 5: Teaching Pass, Cut and Fill with a Post Player Set-up for the drill: 1) Leave the chairs in the corners. Figure 13. Curl Cut Back-Cut The second cut to teach off screens is the back-cut. This is done when the defender goes over top of the screen early. The cutter gets to the level of the screen and then quickly changes direction calls back-cut! and goes hard to the basket. Figure 14. The 4 on 0 Pass, Cut and Fill drill continues to be built upon by adding the post player. The drill now becomes 5 on 0 Pass, Cut and Fill Post Rules: 1. Movement is restricted to block to block cuts. 2. Face the basket when the ball is at the top or at the weak-side wing. Post up when the ball goes to the ball-side wing.

Cutters Rules: 1. Follow normal cutting rules but never cut in front of the post. a. When the post is ball side and the cutter basket cuts, he/she must cut behind the defence to the front of the rim. Figure 15.

Figure 16. Cutter Fills off Down Screen with Post Ball-Side Conclusion: Teaching team offence to young players is a long and sometimes painful endeavor however it must be done if the players are to experience success down the road. Initially during each practice session 15-20 minutes should be set aside for teaching motion. Follow the stages outlined but also interject 4 on 4 play to allow the offensive players to experience movement with defenders on the floor. With defenders, the offensive players will have more opportunities to read the defence. Opportunities to cut to the basket must be encouraged if teams are going to be aggressive offensively. To this end most of the drills within this teaching system have the athletes cutting to the basket to encourage aggressiveness. The concepts outlined early in this article are the keys to offensive success. The players must be constantly reminded of the concepts. Regular review and reinforcement of these base concepts is critical to the offensive development of players. No matter the offence the players use later in their career if they understand these fundamental concepts they will have little difficulty adapting to any offensive system.

Figure 15: Back-cut when Post is Ball-Side b. When the post is ball-side and the cutter curls a screen he/she must cut to elbow area and then fill. Figure 16.