16

BUILDING THE

By Archie R. Chadd

Mr. Chadd's Anderson High School team
won the 1935-36 championship of basketball's
“capital state"—Indiana. The author got his
basketball schooling under Tony Hinkle at
Butler University, with whom he has continued
association, helping him put on the Hinkle
system at summer coaching schools. Mr.
- Chadd will have another article next month,
and in this he will explain the workings of
the machine, complete and in operation.

BASKETBALL machine is
A built on the same basic princi-
ples as all other machines: each

component part must be evened and
tempered to carry efficiently the load
of its individual assignment. This is
somewhat of a contradiction to the
usual advice that coaches should “make
the system fit the players, not the
players fit the system.” I believe that,
with boys who have an aptitude for
basketball and respond favorably to
coaching, they can be “evened and
tempered” to fit into the system in
which the coach and they have confi-

SCHOLASTIC COACH

BASKETBALL MACHINE

The coach of the Indiana state champions
gives the details of his early work-outs

 

 

 

 

 

DIAG. |. Well-known practice drill for in-
culcating habits of passing and ball-handling
at top speed, and timing of cuts. The center
man has the ball at the start at one end of
the floor, and passes to either of the side
men cutting in front of him: in this case the
one to his right. The passer then cuts diago-
nally behind the man he passed to, and then
cuts back into the line of play, timing his cut
so that he comes in in stride to receive the
ball from the third man. A shot is taken at
the end by the man cutting closest to the
basket.

Drag dribble

In the drag dribble the dribbler keeps his body between the opponent
attempting to guard him and the ball. Through this medium competent
dribblers can advance the ball close to the basket under circumstances
when openings for other options have failed to present themselves. The
dribbler "dragging" does not have for his objective a shot at the basket
for himself, but a position from which he can initiate a renewed and closer
passing attack. In these pictures the dribbler is dribbling with his right
hand because of the angle at which he is moving from the left side of
the court through his freethrow arc. A right-hand dribble here affords him
much better protection than would a left-hand dribble. The latter would
be used were he moving in the opposite direction at a similar angle. In
Diag. 3 at the top of the facing page the dribblers going in from the left
are to dribble with their left hand: they would be guarded on their right
side because of the direct line they are beating to the basket. Below the
dribbler is off at another tangent, and his objective is a pivot-post posi-
tion on the right side of his freethrow lane. Note his use of the left arm.
It is being made to serve for protection while it is kept free of contact
with the defensive man. Drag-dribblers are usually not so observant of this
point, for they know that this is the sort of foul easily concealed from the
referee. Even more important than in the unguarded dribble is the need
for keeping the bounces low.

 

dence. This is the only sense that I
have in mind in the use of the term
“machine.” I don’t mean to suggest
that our players, after I am through
with them, have no thinking to do. In-
deed, they have a lot more to do, and
fourfold more choices and decisions to
make in the flash of basketball’s mo-
ments, than they ever would be called
upon to make were they to play their
basketball untouched by “machine
methods.” Enough theorizing. Let us
get down to business.

We don’t permit our basketball
players on the floor until football is
out of the way, early in November.
This eliminates overlapping the sports
with the danger of dividing the interest.

 

 

 

DECEMBER, 1935

The basketball men re-
port for the first practice
about November 8. They
report as their respective
classes are called} such as
sophomore, junior, and
senior, giving every boy
in school an opportunity
to report. Each class
works for 90 minutes for
two days on ball-handling
and shooting at the bas-
ket before a cut in the
squad is made.

The first two days of
practice we spend in ball-
handling and footwork,
organizing a group of fif-
ty to eighty boys in the
manner shown in Diag. 3.

We use four groups of
ten boys—two groups on
each side of the floor util-
izing each basket, and
sometimes we put an ad-
ditional twenty boys in
the center of the court,
ten working at each bas-

 

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DIAG. 3. Accommodating 60 players in a drill that brings into play skill
in handling the ball and footwork. The players in each line work in twos.
The first player, holding the ball in his position in line, fakes a dribble to
the inside, then drag-dribbles toward the basket, coming to a stop half-
way to the basket with his inside leg advanced. He pivots toward the
sideline on his rear foot, and hands a quarterback pass to his trailer com-
ing along at top speed. The trailer drives right through the ball, taking it
from the first man without stopping, and drives right on to the basket as
fast as he can dribble. Players in lines on the left (as they face the basket
toward which they are moving) should use the left hand in dribble; those
in lines on the right, the right hand. This is to keep the ball removed from
the imaginary guard, with the dribbler using his body as a screen between
guard and ball.

 

17

In making this first cut
of the squad we disregard
the size of the boys en-
tirely. We are most con-
cerned with individual
cleverness and_basket-
shooting ability. This first
select group will number
approximately 85 to 100
boys, necessitating three
practice periods for the
third day with approxi-
mately 30 boys working
each period.

This third day of prac-
tice should be a strenuous
one. With only 30 boys to
handle, each boy should
be kept moving with spe-
cial emphasis on cutting
for the basket from vari-
ous angles. On this day,
if the practice has been
successful at the close of
one hour of real work,
the boys will show fatigue
with a tendency to run
lightly—not slow up, but
rather lighten their steps,

 

 

DIAG. 2. Here five men are brought into
the drill, the passer cutting behind two men.
The ball moves in a more or less straight line
(broken lines show path of ball, solid lines
paths of players), and the players must cut
toward the sidelines and regulate the distance
of their cut so as not to retard the speed of
the drill. When the ball is fumbled or
dropped, the same players should be required
to pick up the drill from that point, the ad-
vance men returning in line and the drill re-
suming from the point of the fumble.

ket, thus using thirty boys at each
basket, putting in action sixty boys, as
Diaq. 3 shows. Ball-handling and foot-
work show up in this drill. As the
more efficient boys stand out, their
names are checked and at the close of
the practice for the second day, the
boys are told by posting a list on the
practice bulletin board those who are
to return for the third day.

Using thirty boys driving at each
basket may appear dangerous but to
date we have not had a boy injured in
this work. I feel that perhaps the only
advantage in using a large group at
each basket is that the boys learn to
protect themselves.

We use two assistant coaches while
working fifty or more boys, as we
want the mistakes corrected as they
take place. We do not use student as-
sistants.

x?

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DIAG. 4. Defensive drill. Xl and X3 are
defensive men working on a man-to-man basis
against any two of the three offensive play-
ers, 2, 4 and 5. XI has the ball and, to start
the drill, passes it to 2, from a short distance
so that XI can be in a good defensive posi-
tion on 2 when the pass reaches him. If XI
throws the ball to 2 from a distance, 2 will
get his shot away and. XI will derive no good
from the exercise. If the ball is passed from

which is an indication of tender feet.
This is the time for some teamwork
rather than individ- [Turn to next page]

XI to 2 at close range, 2 has an opportunity
to shoot long, fake a shot and dribble to ‘as-
ket going around XI on either side into the
basket or going around on either side start-
ing a dribble to basket, stopping suddenly
and shooting if XI has a tendency to,over-
run his position. XI tries to recover the ball
before 2 makes the basket. If XI recovers the
ball, he passes to X3 who is calling for the
ball as he would if he were the teammate of
XI in a regular game. If 2 recovers the re-
bound, 2 shoots again or passes to 4 or 5
who are his teammates and the exercise starts
again involving X3 and 4 or 5 according to
the one who receives the ball. While XI is
guarding 2, 4 and 5 are watching for mistakes
that 2 may make in attempting to score on
XI. At the same time X3 is watching for mis-
takes made by XI. Only one basket is used
in this exercise. Three offensive men are pre-
ferred to two in order to prevent the defen-
sive men working against the same offensive
men throughout the exercise.