Kevin Sivils - Coaching Basketball

Coaching Basketball

30 Set PLays and Quick Hitters for the 1-4 High Alignment

Kevin C. Sivils

KCS Basketball Enterprises, LLC

KATY, TEXAS

Copyright 2013 by Kevin Sivils

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below.

Kevin C. Sivils/KCS Basketball Enterprises, LLC

Katy, Texas

www.kcsbasketball.com

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Coaching Basketball: 30 Set Plays and Quick Hitters for the 1-4 High Alignment/Kevin C Sivils . 1st ed .

This book is dedicated to coaches who work hard to master our profession and to make a difference to the players we coach. To Coach Jack Trager and Coach Don Meyer, two coaches who made a difference for me.

The information provided in this book is on an as is basis. The author and publisher shall have neither the liability nor the responsibility to any person or entity with respect to loss, damages or injury arising form the information contained in this book.

Chapter one

Why the 1-4 High?

W hy run all of your set plays, quick hitters or entry plays from a 1-4 high set? Good question. Here are the reasons I love this alignment for all set plays:

• Less is more. This one set keeps things simple for your players.
• It creates excellent spacing. Offense is all about good spacing.
• This alignment creates good scoring opportunities for every position.
• It is easy to create plays for any type of shot necessary from this alignment.
• The plays can be run to either side of the court simply by running the mirror image of the play.
• It is very easy to get into from a numbered fast break system.
• It denies the defense from establishing its defensive priorities, making this alignment difficult to defend from the onset.

What are defensive priorities? From my perspective, regardless of the type of defense run, most traditional defensive systems want to establish the following priorities:

• Be able to apply tremendous pressure on the ball and provide help to the on-the-ball defender.
• Be able to provide help in any situation.
• Protect the rim and low post areas.
• Force the ball out of the middle to one side to establish a ball side and help side, allowing the defense to outnumber the offense 5-3 by virtue of the two help defenders.
• Defend two offensive players with one defender if possible (usually a zone defense).
• Establish good inside positioning for defensive rebound coverage.
• Clog the lane area with help defenders to prevent:

• Lane penetration via pass, cut or dribble
• Low post entry passes
• Backdoor cuts for lay-up

Some of the ways the 1-4 high alignment prevents the defense from establishing its priorities include:

• preventing the defense from being able to establish a help side defense.
• forcing the defense away from the lane area and rim, opening the area up for penetration of one form or another.
• requiring the defense to guard each offensive player, including the ball, with only one defender.
• operating the offense from the middle of the court to initiate the attack.

In addition to the advantages the 1-4 high set denies the defense, it is versatile due to the fact all of the plays can be run as mirror images. Any play depicted being run to the right hand side of the court can be run in its mirror image on the left hand side of the court.

chapter two

Offensive Building Blocks

B asketball has a set of universal skills. It does not matter what offense or defense you run, the system of play is built upon those universal skills, or as I prefer to call these skills, building blocks.

In the case of the 1-4 high alignment and the plays run from this alignment, this universal truth holds true. Each of the plays in this book is made up the basic offensive building blocks.

This concept of building blocks is important for one simple reason. If the plays are not working, it is usually not because the play is not sound. Rather the players are not executing the offensive building blocks properly.

The list of offensive building blocks, and the fundamental skills required to execute the offensive building blocks is beyond the scope of this book. There are a few offensive building blocks that are of key importance to the execution of the sets included in this book. These key offensive building blocks are:

• Driving against the grain
• The Euro
• The Double Euro
• Feed the Post
• Partner Three Tactics
• Basics of Screening and Cutting

For the purposes of this book only the first five offensive building blocks will be covered.

Driving Against the Grain

Driving against the grain is an outstanding one-on-one tactic. Diagram A depicts the offensive player #3, making a long v-cut to get open. Note the distance the defender, X3, must cover.

Diagram B depicts #3 "driving against the grain." This means the offensive player drives in the direction from which he/she initially cut. In this example, this means #3 drives back to the left hand low post block.

This tactic works because of the Law of Inertia. An object in motion tends to stay in motion and travel in a straight line (the direction the object was initially traveling in). Note X3's momentum carries him/her in the direction opposite of where #3 will drive.

To make this tactic most effective, #3 must attempt to catch facing the goal in triple threat ready to shoot a 3-point shot. A two-inch shot fake, combined with a crossover, make the initial attack almost impossible to defend, forcing the defense to rotate to help.

This is an excellent attack for slower offensive players to initiate dribble penetration. For 3-point shooters who will be pressured on the perimeter, this is an essential skill to add to the arsenal.