18

ual play so we bring in the “three man
pass” drill shown in Diag. |. This
drill, and the one in Diag. 2, have
been published a thousand times if
once, and are no doubt familiar to all
coaches, but I am including them here
because the editor has asked me to
“tell all” of what we do, and I am
loath to omit anything under this in-
junction.

Drills as shown in Diag. | and 2
we find very good with which to close
a strenuous practice any time during
the season, especially following a lot
of individual work. In drills of this
type the boys forget themselves and
think of the other fellow. At the same
time they are handling the ball, cut-
ting for the basket, timing their cuts.
These drills also teach the boys to
handle the ball at top speed. These
are good drills for conditioning, for
the loafer is easily spotted.

The same boys finishing the third
day of practice report the fourth and
fifth days to find an altogether differ-
ent type of play in store for them,
namely, volleyball. Many coaches may
disagree with me, but we find that
playing volleyball during our early
season training is quite beneficial. It
serves as a relief from the main busi-
ness at hand, and, what is very im-
' portant, gives the blisters a chance to
heal. This is most necessary with us,
and I doubt that our boys are more
tender-footed than the next school’s!
We inspect the feet of our players
regularly, and paint the soles with
tincture of benzoin, then apply two
thicknesses of tape before each prac-
tice. We never allow the players to
wear two pairs of socks.

By the sixth day of practice we
have made every effort to diminish the
squad to 60 boys with two practice
periods, two hours devoted to 30 boys
in each group. These two groups con-

DIAG. 6. Here are the five floor positions
for the system of interchanging the three front
men, |, 2 and 3, by screen plays, with the 4
and 5 men entering into the play but always
returning to their stations. (See article). Hav-
ing the players walk through the plays is a
good method of teaching interchanging posi-
tion play.

 

ON

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DIAG. 5. The | and 5 men are the first
two men used in developing the system.
Hence this drill to help pick the best men for
the positions. No. 5 passes in to No. |, and
follows his pass. No. I's first option is a di-
rect return pass (quarterback pass) to 5,
either inside or outside. 5 can conceal the
side on which he will pass | by heading in
one direction, then suddenly cutting in the
other as he nears |. In this diagram, 5 passes
to the inside, and | elects to keep the ball
and dribble in at a diagonal behind 5's
screen. 5 never continues toward the basket
unless he receives the pass from |. When he
doesn't, as in the above, he goes into I's
corner, and swings back into his own regular
position. See diagrams below for return pass
by |, and other developments.

tinue to work daily until January 15,
at which time we start concentrating
on tournament play. During this
period of work the number of boys
will vary from 20 to 30 in each group.

Starting the sixth day of practice
we try to impress the boys with the
value of individual cleverness, both of-
fensively and defensively. The strength
of a team is in the ability of each in-

DIAG. 7. The 2 man is brought into the
proceedings, | having declined his first option
on 5 and his second option of a dribble by
himself. 1, after passing to 2 who pulls out.
2 may return pass to | on the inside as a
first possibility. In this diagram | passes to
the outside and takes 3's position. (See

SCHOLASTIC COACH

dividual member of it. This is espe-
cially true when speaking from a de-
fensive viewpoint if the defense is of
the man-for-man type as is used by
the majority of teams throughout the
middle-west. I am frank when I say
that 60 percent of the practice time
each day for the first 60 days of our
season is spent working on drills for
our individuals on defense. The fact
that offense in any sport is more nat-
ural leads me to the conviction that
the greater part of the time spent
should be given to the more unnatural
aspect of play. We stress defense be-
ginning the second week and continue
to do so throughout the season. The
drill shown in Diag. 4 is used in our
practice at least three days each week.
We teach the glide as a means of
footwork for individual defense and
emphasize the position relative to the
opponent being guarded and his bas-
ket. The defensive man must always
be between his opponent and the bas-
ket. The position of the defensive man
cannot be emphasized too much. While
working on our offensive drill which
may include 2, 8, or even a 5-man in-
terchange, defensive men are used to
make the situation real, and we insist
that each defensive man play his part
as though he were in a real game.
The offensive style of play em-
ployed by the Anderson team of last
season was designed from the pivot
style, interchanging only the three
men in the front court. Many coaches
use a system of interchanging five men
but I am convinced that the five-man
interchanging system requires too
much time for development for the
average high school boy. In this sys-
tem too much time is required for
execution of detail, and the system be-
comes too complicated for the amount
of time that can be devoted to it aside
from ball-handling and development

DIAG. 8. Bringing into the offense the 5
man is the most intricate part of the play,
and should not be undertaken until the use
of the 2 man has been mastered. The 3 man
cuts to the right of 2 after 2 has failed to
play on I. The developments from this point
are explained in the article.

 

 

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