A comprehensive approach to creating a practice plan that simultaneously focuses on skill development and game-like situations. The Craft of Practice Planning Practice planning is one of the great obsessions of basketball coaches at all levels. There is probably no aspect of their job that coaches spend more time on then designing the perfect practice plan. As a…
Moving The Nail Defender
Six tips for moving the nail defender with cutting and screening to facilitate top penetration. The “nail” is tiny hole drilled in the floor at the center of the free throw line. It is here that defenses will often park a defender meant to deter top penetration. The offense wants to drive through the nail;…
Final Four – The Kansas Jayhawks’ X Factor
The combination of great offense and talented players makes Kansas arguably the most consistent team in the NCAA the last decade plus. Thirty-one wins. Another Big 12 regular season championship. A Big 12 tournament championship. And the latest – a trip to the Final Four. Oh, and this was supposed to be a down year…
Virginia Cavaliers – Pin Screen Reads
A look at pin screens and reads for the cutter with a little help from The University of Virginia Cavaliers Patient. Precise. Deliberate. Cerebral. Disciplined. All words used to describe the University of Virginia’s present-day version of the Mover Blocker Offense and the pace at which they run it. Some of these words are meant as compliments from…
How 5 Surprise NCAA Teams Are Exceeding Expectations
Every college basketball season, a team or two takes fans and media by surprise and outperforms its preseason expectations. This year, there are several, and not only are these teams ahead of schedule, many are ranked in the Top 25 polls. Let’s take a closer look at five men’s NCAA programs that have drastically improved their records this year,…
Top 10 Coaching Articles of 2017
Anyone else feel like 2017 was a blur? In the coaching business, every year goes fast. As we wrap things up, it’s a great time for reflection. It was a year of strong growth for this blog which makes us very proud. We added some phenomenal contributors to our roster in 2017, so a big thank you…
Free Playbook: Top 20 Plays of 2017
Behold – the FastModel Sports Top 20 Plays of 2017. This playbook is compiled of the most downloaded FastDraw plays from our FastModel Sports PlayBank this year. This database is a phenomenal resource for thousands of coaches from every level of the game – youth, high school, college and even professional. Our PlayBank hosts over…
Concepts and Benefits of Motion Offense
The motion offense is one of the most widely used and utilized basketball offenses around the world today. It is used by teams at all levels, ranging from youth, to high school, to college, and up to the professional ranks. Why is it so widely implemented? Because it allows players to play and think as…
NCAA Tournament – Iowa State Motion
2 Out 3 In Motion Offense Today’s basketball offense breakdown comes from the 2 Out 3 In Motion Offense. Iowa State used the concepts once used by Steve Alford when he was at New Mexico. The 2 Out 3 In motion offense is very unique, which allows the post area to become open for isolation plays and…
Single Gap Spacing Issues
A look at single gaps and spacing issues that can arise in five-out alignments. Five-out alignments are common in all levels of basketball. While the five-out does open the lane and can be effective in pulling defenses away from the rim, it does have it’s drawbacks. The most notable drawback being the predominance of single…