State Tournament Tidbits: Day 1 and 2

Logo Courtesy of MSHSL.org

Spent the last two days at the Minnesota High School State Tournament. This is the 19th straight year my dad and I have attended. It's always fun to watch the best of the best compete on the biggest stage! There are also lots of great coaching points to be had! At this time of the year, coaches pull out all the stops in order to get the win. Also, with teams come from different areas of the state that may use different tactics than are the norm in our area.  Below are some of the best things that I have pulled out from the last two days.





Brainerd's BLOB Series
I got to see 28-1 Brainerd for the first time at the tournament. I will admit I was really skeptical that their record was over-inflated because they didn't play any teams from the metro. They were, however, the real deal! They ran some GREAT 5 out motion offense and this slick inbounds series.

The set starts in a 4 across. The ballside block (5) popps up to the elbow and receives the ball. The ballside corner (1) cuts to the ball and the inbounder fills the corner.

The BLOB has two options. In first one, the corner player (1) takes the handoff and drives to the rim. The other post (5) can lift to the elbow or cut to the backside block on the drive.

 

 

The other option is that they fake the handoff. The elbow player (4) can turn and go attack. As the handoff is faked, the backside block player (5) sets a flex screen for the wing in the opposite corner(3) who comes off of it to the basket.

 



Quentin Hooker's Footwork
Quentin Hooker is a Mr. Basketball Finalist who will be taking a full ride to the University of North Dakota next year. He is fun to watch and very fundamentally skilled. Something I noticed about him was that every time he changed direction he would quickly chop his feet while making the read. This was especially evident when he was coming off the pick and roll. It's something I want to look into more and figure out why he does it and how to teach it.



Perham Motion Entry
Let me preface this by saying that I hate the dribble handoff. With that said, I like that Perham did with this and think that it makes a great entry into the four or five out motion.

It's a five out motion with the guy you want to post up at the wing. The entry starts with the guard to wing pass and the guard cuts through. As the guard cuts through, the wing with the ball (5) starts to dribble at the corner.

As the wing (5) dribbles at the corner (2), the corner makes a read. If the corner's (2) defender is sagging off, he comes up and takes the dribble handoff. The player making the handoff (5) butt screens and then rolls to the block and they look to go inside. If it's four out, we can space and leave the guy there, if it's five out we can just play.

If the defender denies the handoff or pass, the corner (2) backcuts for a layup.

Lakeville North Late Game Situational Defense
Lakeville North was playing Park Center in the first round on Wednesday. The game was tied with 6 seconds left in regulation. Park Center called a time-out in order to set up a last second play. Their star is Quentin Hooker, who was mentioned above. Everyone in the gym knew that Quentin was going to take the last shot. And to everyone's surprise Lakeville North came out in a Box and 1 on Hooker. It totally threw Park Center off and ended up forcing Park Center into a poor shot. They still won in overtime, but the Box and 1 out of the timeout was definitely a surprise because North had not played it all game.


Upsala Dribble Drive Motion Sets
Vern Capelle is a coach from Upsala that runs some great dribble drive, he even a dribble drive DVD out. Below are two dribble drive sets that they ran into their dribble drive motion. He used these late in the game in order to put it away. Both involved the use of dead water screens.


The first one starts with the wings in the corners, a post, the point at half court, and the other guard setting the deadwater screen at the three point line. The guard comes off of it and goes to the rack. He either takes the shot, dumps down to the post, or kicks out for a three.

Coach Capelle went to this look when the other team started to really get out and deny the passes. I thought it was great. They got a bucket off it which sealed the deal for them. In this set, he brought the wings out super high. This eliminated the help and when the guard went off the screen there was no one there to prevent the layup.

There were a bunch of other small things, but these were some that I really thought were good - and a little big different. Enjoy!