Offensive Team Strategies

Posted by Eitel in For Coaches | 0 comments

The main objective that each team has to achieve in the game of basketball is to score as many points as possible. At the same time, the team would also want to reduce the amount of points that the opponent manages to steal from them. With this in mind, development of both team offense and defense is very crucial for any team that desires to rule the court.

Being well versed with many offensive strategies is the best preparation that a coach can equip his players with. During game day, the ability of his players to play various offensive strategies will confuse the opponent. This will subsequently increase the teams’ likelihood of winning.

The goal of a team offense is to create open shots for members of the team. Offensive team strategies require top level of teamwork to be a success. The coach must convince his players to play as one during the game. In a team offensive, the ball is usually passed around until someone finally manages to shake off a defender and take a clear shot.

However, unless you’re up against an inferior team, these clear shots do not come easily. In fact, intricate moves and strategies should be planned and executed to achieve this. Some of the popular offensive team strategy categories are press offense, man to man offense, zone offense and also transition offense. We will briefly look at the some popular strategies under each of these categories.

Press offense is used to counter pressure defense. There are basically two categories of press offense attacks. The first one is a freelance attack where players move around towards open spots. The second category of press offense is control pressed attacks. The coach should decide which attack methodology should be practiced by the team based on the capabilities of its players.

Among the most famous man to man offensive strategies are the Wheel Offense, the High Post Offense, and the Wyoming Weave Offense. For this category, we will look specifically at the Wheel Offense. The benefit of the Wheel Offense is the versatility that it offers when facing a multitude of defense configurations from the opponent.

When the opponent plays zone defense, it has to be met with zone offense. The main objective of zone offense is to distort the configuration of the defense zone. Once this is achieved, attacking players will have better chances at clear shots. Experts reckon that this type of offense is usually more suited for high school teams than college and professional teams. The benefit of this offense approach is that players do not have to make long passes and long shots. However, in college teams, players are already strong enough to shoot and pass farther out. This explains such an opinion.

Transition offense is also known as fast break offense. Fast break is great as it places constant pressure on defenders and will eventually wear them down. Also, this type of offensive is really popular with the fans due to its high speed nature. In terms of motivation, this type of offense gives every team member an equal chance to score. In addition to this, playing fast break offense will reduce the number of opponent players waiting to take a rebound. This is because they know that they will have to get back to defend fast.

There are many offensive team strategies that coaches can look at for their team. When considering strategies, coaches must consider the ability and physical condition of their player. A well planned offense strategy will help in many ways to get your team to win.

Photo credit: Tulane Public Relations

Key Things to Do During a Time Out

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Timeouts seem like such a small part of the game and are often overlooked. Timeouts are a very crucial and highly misunderstood part of the game in some accounts. They can change the flow of the game, and can give a much needed breather when the game is down to those last few points and in the dying moments.

Timeouts cannot be wasted. The time they provide is precious and means it is a chance for a team to change the tide of the game, or get a quick breather for that last stand they may need to make to win. The coach needs to pick and choose the proper times when to call the timeouts because as much as it can save a game, it can also break a game if used improperly.

Some of the most popular uses for timeouts are as follows.

1. As a quick break in play to let your players get refreshed, grab a swig of water and just catch their breath. Sometimes the opposing team will just have the pace of the game going so fast and in their favour, which a timeout puts an instant stop to it, and gives your guys a moment to gather themselves and prepare a plan of their own.
2. Timeouts can be used to “ice” the other team. If as mentioned above the team is on a roll, or in a groove, the timeout also serves to put an end to their “roll”.
3. Timeouts can be used to just completely switch gears. During a timeout the coach can go over a new plan or play that might just open the hole up in the game that your team needs to nail down that win. This is the time where the coach can rally the players and implement a shift in game play meant to confuse and disorient the other team. Towards the end of a game the opposing team is used to your tendencies and will defend and attack accordingly. If the coach makes the right switch in plays, it can catch a defence completely off guard and open up a hole needed to secure the game.
4. All of the above points lead to the fact a time out wrapped into one nice neat little term, is a momentum shift. It grants the coach the ability to change the momentum of the game and give his team the chance to change direction and stop a slide, or to refresh them for the last moments. This is an invaluable resource that needs to be used with the utmost care. It not only serves the strategy aspects discussed above, but also as an instant morale booster if the coach knows his team well enough. A few well placed words and a team can come out of the timeout as good as the beginning of the game.

Timeouts and how coaches use them are as important as the game itself. Like fouls, and bad plays, a bad timeout, can change the game.

Photo credit: SD Dirk