SLOW IS SMOOTH & SMOOTH IS FAST EMPHASIZING THE FAST BREAK

Motivation

By Kyle Lovorn klovorn@lcisd.net

Over the course of my coaching career, I have been blessed with many opportunities to surround myself with amazing people. After just completing my seventh season at Lubbock-Cooper High School, I feel extremely grateful for the experiences I have had over the years. The amount of support our program has received from our community, parents, and administrators has been incredible. Anybody that is involved in the LCP Community will tell you that the “small-town” atmosphere our school district leaders have created through our “big-school” growth has played a large role in the success of all of our student-athletes.

Each season always presents different challenges as you prepare for them. As my coaching staff and I prepared for the 2022-2023 season, we knew we would need to adjust our philosophy on the court in order to give our players the best chance for success. One of the main challenges that we were presented with were the adjustments we needed to make offensively due to our lack of size. Fortunately, we felt like we could make up for the lack of size with speed, good decision making, and consistent perimeter shooting. We felt like playing an up-tempo style of offense would work to our advantage with the players we had. This would consist of an aggressive brand of offense: 1) looking to score quickly in transition, 2) penetrating to the rim as much as possible, 3) reading the help defense for opportunities for kickout 3’s.

We eventually decided to sell out completely to the Dribble Drive offense. This played to the strengths of our players and fit directly into how fast we needed to play offensively. The execution of the Dribble Drive offense would be important but we felt like the execution of our fast break could set us apart and make us more difficult to guard. The intent of this article is to share some of the important aspects we emphasize with our fast break.

Fast Break Terminology

A fast break can occur after a steal, rebound, or even a made basket.

Primary Break: We consider our Primary Break any possession in transition from defense to offense that does not involve all 5 offensive players. i.e. 1 on 1 fast break, 2 on 1, 3 on 2, etc. Most of these possessions occur after a steal or a long defensive rebound.

Secondary Break: We consider our Secondary Break any possession in transition from defense to offense that involved all 5 offensive players. Most of these possessions occur after a short defensive rebound or an opponent’s made basket.

Sprint All Game

The first key to having an effective fast break is sprinting up the floor. It is well agreed on that the easiest shot in basketball is a layup. Not just any layup but an uncontested layup. And the best way to create uncontested layups is to beat the defense up the court by sprinting. Sprinting seems like an obvious element of the fast break but I also believe that most players/ coaches take this for granted if it is not emphasized and drilled into your practices. The ability to not only sprint but do it for 32 minutes is difficult to do. Your players must be conditioned to do this if you as the coach are demanding it from them. During the 2022-2023 season, our players bought into weekly conditioning to accomplish this. Not only was our conditioning built into our practice drills, but once a week our team would condition through sprinting drills. Our players embraced the mindset that conditioning is a skill, not a punishment - they considered conditioning after practice the same thing as shooting free throws after practice.

During the season we chose one day per week to condition after practice. We alternated the following conditioning drills…

1) Sweet 16’s + slow defensive slides

2) Sling Shots

3) Suicides

4) Syracuse Conditioning (open date weeks)

The last element I would like to add to this topic is that sprinting up the floor after an opponent’s made basket is crucial as well. It is natural for the opponent to have a relaxed mindset after a made basket as they transition to defense. We feel like we can take advantage of this situation a few possessions per game if we are consistently sprinting the floor after the opponent’s made baskets.

Outlet After Made Baskets Only

One of our team’s strengths during the 2022-2023 season was the ability for all players to handle the ball in the open court. I understand that this is not the case for all teams but it is something we wanted to take advantage of to make our fast break even faster. We obviously found that when our players are required to outlet the ball to our point guard each possession, it allows the defense more time to get back and set. Going forward we only require our players to outlet the ball to the point guard after the opponent’s made baskets. Any other transition situation our players have the freedom to initiate the fast break themselves after any steal or rebound (regardless of position). Our point guard owns the sole responsibility of making sure the player with the ball does not get trapped. If they do, the point guard retreats back to the ball for an outlet pass. To give our entire team the freedom to advance the ball up the court on a fast break demands we constantly drill those situations in practice. Most of these drills are emphasized as Primary Break drills. ALL PLAYERS must be comfortable dribbling while sprinting, catching while sprinting, and passing while sprinting. These three skills are often overlooked at the middle school and high school level. Our varsity works on them multiple times per week. I will touch on these three skills in a later section.

Spacing Is Key

One of the ingredients of great offense is creating space between players. Space is difficult to defend. This is no different during the fast break. We consistently drill this idea for our players until it becomes a habit. The spacing you have during a Primary Break or Secondary Break is critical to a good fast break.

2 vs 1 PRIMARY BREAK

► The 2 vs 1 fast break spacing is bit different than any other primary break situation.

► Both offensive player’s path up the court is directly towards the block area.

3 vs 2 PRIMARY BREAK

► The 3 vs 2 fast break starts with the ball handler’s path attacking directly toward the rim.

► The two players without the ball take a path next to the sideline as they cross half court. They become our “sideline runners”. We typically drill this by placing cones they must run on the outside of. Once they approach the 3 point line, they have the freedom to cut towards the block area.

► Once the ball is passed, the middle player must relocate to the ballside elbow while the opposite side cuts towards the basket.

Primary Break

► The 4 vs 3 fast break starts with the ball handler’s path attacking directly toward the rim.

► The next two players closest to half court become our sideline runners. If they do not receive a pass before they reach the 3 point line, they continue their spacing to the deep corner.

► The last player’s path up the court is towards the nearest lane line slot area.

5 vs 4 PRIMARY BREAK

► The 5 vs 4 fast break starts with the ball handler’s path attacking directly toward the rim.

► The next two players closest to half court become our sideline runners. If they do not receive a pass before they reach the 3 point line, they continue their spacing to the deep corner.

► The last two player’s path up the court is towards one of the lane line slot areas. They must be on opposite sides.

► If a shot is not taken before all five defenders get set, our Dribble Drive offense is initiated.

5 vs 5 SECONDARY BREAK

► The 5 v 5 Secondary Break begins with our “4/trailer” throwing in the ball on the left lane line.

► The “1/pg” relocates to the left wing to receive the outlet with her back to the sideline. Her path with the ball is directly towards the rim.

► The “5/rim runner” sprints towards the opposite rim up the middle of the court.

► The “2/3/sideline runners” are interchangeable. They must sprint up the sideline on opposite sides of the court. They will continue to the deep corner to help initiate the offense.

► We have five options in our Secondary Break that we give our team to consider while the fast break develops. The options are irrelevant to the emphasized spacing. These can be changed as you see fit for your team.

PASS FIRST, DRIBBLE SECOND

One of the points of emphasis in our fast break has always been advancing the ball up the floor with a pass instead of dribbling, when possible. There is a time and place for attacking the open court with the dribble and players should be comfortable doing so. But with the obvious fact that a pass travels quicker than any player dribbling, we felt like it is an important aspect to drill with our team. As I mentioned before, there are three keys skills that are often overlooked when it comes to the fast break

1) Sprinting while catching

2) Sprinting while passing

3) Sprinting while dribbling

When we drill our fast break during practice, we focus on the aspect of sprinting while passing and catching. The timing and accuracy of the passes made in transition are essential to a great fast break. Here are a few of the drills we use to work on these skills…

Uconn Transition Drill

Part A

Part B

1) Form three lines on the baseline with the middle player 2 starting with the ball.

2) The sequence begins by players 1, 2, and 3 all sprinting in a direct line up the court to the opposite baseline while passing the ball back and forth to the 2. No dribbles are allowed.

3) Once all three players have reached the opposite baseline, 2 should end up with the ball.

4) 1 and 3 take off sprinting back the opposite direction as if on a fast break.

5) 2 is only allowed two dribbles and then must make a push pass to 3 (or 1).

6) 3 must immediately make a bounce pass to 1 (or 3) as 1 (or 3) approaches the basket.

7) 1 (or 3) must finish a layup at the rim without dribbling.

8) The next three players in line begin the sequence again.

Goal:

The goal of this drill is to complete this sequence perfectly. Throughout the season we will normally progress to the point where we can complete this sequence perfectly 10 consecutive times.

Emphasis:

The points of emphasis in this drill are: 1) lead the pass in front while sprinting, 2) solid catches and passes without traveling, 3) timing the sequence in transition for the drill to be successful.

3 MAN PUSH DRILL Part A

Part B

Form three lines on the baseline, with the middle player 2 starting with the ball.

1) The sequence begins by executing a 3-manweave while only making two passes as quickly as possible. The 1 player can take as many dribbles as needed to score a layup.

2) 2 will get 1’s rebound and all players will fill the same spots they had in Part A to begin Part B.

3) The three players again execute a 3-man-weave while only making two passes as quickly as possible. The 1 player can take as many dribbles as needed to score a layup.

4) This sequence will continue with the next three players in line. They may begin their sequence before the first group finishes theirs.

Goal:

The goal of this drill is to execute the sequence and make 25 layups within two minutes. The clock will not start until the first layup is made. At the one minute mark, the entire team will begin the sequence the opposite direction (as to work on both right and left handed layups).

Emphasis:

The points of emphasis for this drill are: 1) sprinting while catching and passing, 2) attacking the rim full speed in transition for a layup, 3) completing the transition sequence while under pressure to compete against the clock.

Decision Making While Playing Fast

During the 2022-2023 season when our coaching staff and players made the commitment to use an uptempo style of play on offense, our only non-negotiable was keeping our offense efficient. This was based on: 1) shot selection, and 2) turnover percentage. We felt like as long as we were taking shots that aligned with our team’s strengths, and we limited our turnovers relative to the amount of possessions we had, we would be able to sustain a fast style of play throughout the season. We also knew it would take our players being under control as much as possible while playing fast.

There are a couple of aspects that go into shot selection. First, it must be made very clear to each individual player what their shot selection should look like during a game. Players must also understand that their shot selection may look different than their teammate’s. If their role is communicated well and they buy-in to it, the likelihood of success is much greater. Next, you must work on these shots during practice. Create game-like shooting drills that directly correlate to your fast break and half court offense so your players know exactly what types of shots to expect to have in the games.

Finally, one of the toughest parts of limiting your team’s turnovers is the process it takes to get there. You must have…

• players comfortable handling the ball on a fast break in the open court.

• players that don’t mind being pressured while handling the ball.

• a team backup plan for unexpected traps.

• great decision makers in traffic that make great passes with two hands off of two feet.

During the 2022-2023 season our turnover percentage was 12.9% over a 38 game season. We did not get to that point overnight. It took many weeks and months of drilling these necessities with our team to teach them how to take care of the basketball. There are countless drills and fundamental aspects of the game that coaches can use to work on this. I believe as a coach you must have an intentional consistency when teaching this part of the game, regardless of the drills you use.

The aggressive up-tempo style of offense we used during the 2022-2023 season was a great tool for our team to use in order to be successful. Our team bought into it and worked hard to execute it. Its an exciting style of play and can sustain a full season when done under control in an organized fashion.

If you ever have any questions about our fast break or any element of the Lubbock-Cooper Lady Pirate Basketball program, please feel free to contact meklovorn@lcisd.net