Principles Of Man To Man Offence

An essential part of the coach's job is to teach these fundamental principles to his or her team. As players and teams learn to collectively utilize these principles, their coaches will usually begin to see dramatic improvements in execution of the offensive schemes.

If a team is struggling offensively, it can be tempting as a coach to throw out entire offenses in favor of new ones. However, if a team lacks the foundation that these principles provide, the coach will almost always see the same disappointing results. The first place for the coach to look to improve offensive play is under the hood at these fundamental concepts.

1. Spacing

Most good offenses place players between 15-18 feet apart on the perimeter. This creates the space needed for screens and cuts to be utilized effectively and spreads the defense out, creating more space for a player with the ball to penetrate. Spacing brings off-ball defenders much closer to the ball, make it easier to defend the drive and even to spring an occasional trap.

2. Player Movement

Every man-to-man offense must feature either cutting or filter. Most offenses feature both, giving the defense multiple situations to try to handle effectively and increasing the chances of drawing fouls.

3. Ball movement

This is also termed: ball reversal and swinging the ball. The ball should change sides of the floor in any offensive attack. Regardless of the defense being face, ball reversal forces the defense to adjust and/or rotate, which opens up scoring opportunities. On the other hand, a team whose offense features very little ball movement gives the defense a distinct advantage by allowing the defense to form a strong help side, providing better coverage against penetration.

4. Limited Use of the Dribble

The dribble is a very effective but often over-utilized offensive weapon. Many young players become enamored with fancy ballhandling to the point that they mistakenly consider it the only important aspect of offensive development (the same could be said of dunking. The dunk is the highest percentage shot in basketball and is a shot that should be taken when it is available. However, there are times when a player driving to the basket will face an aggressive defense and a dunk might not be available. In this situation a player often needs to adjust his shot at the basket, which requires experience and ability at shooting the ball from different angles off the backboard.

In most man-to-man half court offenses the dribble should only be used for the following reasons:

A. To penetrate for a shot attempt (this includes pick and roll situations and individual moves) or to draw defensive help and pass to the open man,

B. To improve a passing angle (such as dribbling towards the baseline to improve a passing angle to a post player),

C. To get out of trouble.

5. Triple Threat

Any time a player catches the ball on the perimeter, he should immediately face the basket in triple threat position. The player vision should be directed at the rim, which permits a view of the entire offensive area as the play develops. If no shot or dribble move is immediately available, he should hold onto the ball for a slow two-count. This gives time for a play to develop. Holding the ball for more than three seconds typically disrupts the timing of the offense and brings the action to a halt.