All coaches believe the objective of any basketball offense is to score as often as possible on each possession of the ball. That is one thing on which we all agree. Determining how that objective is accomplished, however, is another matter. There are as many different philosophies as coaches and success is not reserved exclusively for proponents of any single approach. There are many successful coaches whose offensive philosophies vary widely.

A coach usually arrives at his own offensive philosophy based on tempo and style of play. Both of these may be effected by the limits of your personnel. Some coaches use the same system year after year. Such coaches make adjustments based on their talent for that particular season. These coaches are called system coaches.

Other coaches change their system from year to year, adapting almost exclusively to the talents of the players. These coaches are called flexible coaches.

My philosophy, as developed from childhood experiences, association, and observation has led me in somewhere between the system coach and a flexible coach. I was 10 years old when I first became aware of fast-break basketball. The high school coach of a little town by the name of Stendal in Indiana, named Cox, used it with great success. Coach Cox turned out many high quality collegiate players and won so many games, the Evansville Courier’s sports editor called the Stendal Aces "Cox’s Army." Kern McGlothin, the coach who greatly influenced my life, played under Cox, then later played for Coach Bill Slyker at Evansville College.

Coach McGlothin went on to become champion of the small schools of Indiana basketball, himself. This gentle teacher had the ability to take players of little talent and weave them into teams that drove daggers into the hearts of larger schools. My first contact with him came in my sophomore year of high school. Even after my graduation I often accompanied him on scouting trips and eventually became his scout during the most successful years of his career.

It was during this period of time in my life that I learned most spectators, and players, prefer up-tempo basketball. Therefore, my style of play is to run and attack. Push the ball up the court at every opportunity. As the ball is pushed up the court, look to score - primary break to secondary break, then on to one of your chosen half-court offenses.

The primary goal on offense is to play "team basketball." To me, team basketball is about not forcing shots, making the extra pass, and attacking the basket to pass, not shoot. When five guys are playing as one on the court, basketball is a beautiful game to watch. Besides team basketball, stress ball sureness, catch-and-face, shot fakes, pass fakes, playing off the elbows with dribble penetration, draw-and-kick action, draw-and-kick out action, wise shot selection, crashing the boards, and getting offensive rebounds. I would further describe my offensive philosophy as follows:

•  Utilize personnel effectively as possible.
•  Encourage team play. Achieve results through cooperation and unselfish effort by all.
•  Fast break at every opportunity.
•  Concentrate on the high percentage shot with good offensive rebounding coverage.
•  Use multiple offenses with a major emphasis on a free-lance offense, with rules.
•  Some set offenses that utilizes talents of personnel.
•  Eliminate the element of surprise by thoroughly preparing team to meet all possible defenses.
•  Vary the offense throughout each game to prevent the defense from preparing too easily, or becoming accustomed to a single style of play.

The personnel on hand during any one year will always present a challenge of how to best use their strengths and hide their weaknesses from the offensive standpoint. As a coach you must determine how tall and how quick your team will be compared to their opposition. Will outside shooting, or ball handling be assets to exploit, or deficiencies to obscure? Is there one player the team must get open? If so, how? The answer to these, and similar, questions determines your offensive system for the season; however, as a coach you must remain flexible enough to make changes as the season progresses.

A coach should be constantly learning. Read books and magazines on basketball, attend clinics, and swap ideas with other coaches. Basketball offenses are seldom new; however, do not be afraid to integrate some new idea into your own offense if suitable to your personnel. Chances are something used ten years from now will be an adaptation of something in common use five years ago.

Know your material before installing a system. If you are new and don’t know your personnel, the pre-season practice will be essential in determining the system. Actually, the success of any system is due more to players than the coach. Regardless of the coach’s ability, the wrong system is doomed to failure.

You should make it a rule to never change offenses in mid-season. When change is essential, adapt from the existing structure so that the change is not too radical. All offenses should be adaptable for use against all three types of defenses: man-to-man, zone, and combination.

The best teams have set starting combinations; therefore, you should practice your five best players together as a unit as soon as their superior ability becomes evident. Any necessary changes must be made decisively. The team will know before you that changes should be made. Normally, you will need two, or three, substitutes at the most. These three replacements will be needed in the center position, in the forward position, and in the guard position. If there are only two replacements, the change might be to a forward-center combination or a guard-forward position.

These replacements must have as much practice, and game, time as possible so that the coordinate their movements with those of the starters. Never wait until pressure situations to insert a first-line sub.

There are only two types of offense: free-lance and controlled. In a free-lance offense, players make their own patterns, depending upon the defensive deployment and the ability of the opponents.

Free-lance is not as free, or uncontrolled, as the name implies. All two-on-two and three-on-three plays should always be part of your drills. Controlled offense is a set patterned offense. Both types must fall into one of the following classification, based on the position of the offensive players in relation to the basket and the defensive players guarding them:

1. Five Offensive Players Outside – Offenses that begin from this structure are a 3-2 (wide) and a five-man weave.
2. Four Offensive Players Outside and One Inside – Normally this is a four-man weave system or a single type of offense in which the corner men are approximately 18 or 19 feet from the basket.
3. Three Offensive Players Outside and Two Inside – Three offenses start from this structure:
   1. A double-post places the two larger men in closer to the basket than the other three. The 3-2 offense may have three front men moving while the two inside men are stationary in close to the basket.
   2. A 1-3-1 offense uses a tandem pivot, one high and one low.
   3. An overload offense overloads one side of the court, passing the ball to the side that has only one player and having a teammate who was away from the ball cut off a post man toward the ball.
4. Two Offensive Players Outside and Three Inside – This is a standard 2-3 offense in which the forwards are within eighteen feet of the basket.
5. One Offensive Player Outside and Four Inside – This offense has four players close to the basket such as a stack offense which usually forces a zone to play you man-to-man.

The physical makeup of your team determines the type of offense you can best use. Each team falls into one of the following six categories:

1. Five Small Players – In high school, these players would be 6 feet tall and under. In college, they would be 6 feet 4 inches and under. This team’s offense should use aggressive defensive tactics as an offensive weapon. They should depend on player speed and ball handling ability to penetrate toward the basket quickly as possible. They can use a 3-2 motion offense or a five man weave. They should only take good high-percentage shots within the 18 to 20 foot area.
2. Four Small Players and One Big Player – This team should use the sideline fast-break, utilizing the big player in the "Big Dog" capacity as their secondary attack. A good set offense for them would be a four-man weave, using the big man as a moving pivot in close to the basket. They can also use three players outside and two players inside, utilizing the next tallest player as the other post player.
3. Three Small Players and Two Big Players – I would recommend the sideline fast-break for this team at every opportunity. Their secondary attack should include Don Meyer’s "Big Dog" theory. They could use a 3-2 offense with the two big players as double posts, either side by side, or in tandem. They could also use a 1-3-1 set offense.
4. Two Small Players and Three Big Players – In my mind, this is the ideal basketball team. This team should use the sideline fast-break at every opportunity. They should also utilize Coach Don Meyer’s "Big Dog" concept as their secondary attack with a transition into a 2-3 set half-court offense. This would allow the three big players to stay close to the basket for offensive rebounds.
5. One Small Player and Four Big Players - With the assumption the small player is quick and a good ball handler, this team should use the more conventional centerline fast break, with the small player in the middle. This should be followed by a secondary attack, transcending into a 2-3 set offense, if one of the big players can handle the ball. This is an ideal team for a stacked, or some other unusual offense devised by the coach which would take advantage of their overall size and using low double screens for the bigger players.
6. Five Tall Players – If two of these players are fairly quick and another is a good ball-handler, they could benefit from a controlled centerline fast break, coupled with a secondary attack flowing into a stacked offense. If two of the five are good ball handlers, a 2-3 set offense would be appropriate.

Teaching the players offensive basketball fundamentals is a major responsibility of every coach. It does not matter what offense you choose. None will work unless executed properly; therefore, how much offense can be absorbed, and well executed, by the players determines the amount of offense you can offer them.

In recent years, all-purpose offenses have become more popular. In my own years as a head coach, we always had some offense which could be equally effective against both zone and man-to-man defenses. I also believe in being prepared with a zone offense against all types of zones as well as a full-court press offense to be used against all types of full-court presses. I do not think there is enough time for players to learn an unlimited number of custom-made offenses to counter every conceivable defense. This fact alone led me to advocate the sideline fast break. It was originated to overcome full-court presses.

At the same time, as the coach, you must expose your team to possible defenses. The element of surprise should be eliminated by working against the full range of defensive alignments in scrimmages. That is my sole reason for choosing multiple defenses and featuring coach Dean Smith’s method of implementing then in earlier portions of this notebook.

The proper use of practice time to accomplish this and other offensive objectives is covered in a later chapter devoted to practice planning.

I do believe in using multiple offenses to the extent that opponents find it difficult to prepare against us. Prepare a checklist every season to determine what must be covered prior to the first game.

Initial emphasis must be put on running the fast break, secondary attack, and a basic half-court attack against a set defense. The basic half-court attack is used at our offensive end, assuming the defense is set. I do believe in a quarterback (point guard) and a one-man front, who signals which offense to be executed. If in-bounded in the back-court, he does this by signaling the appropriate number with his free hand while dribbling across the ten-second line. The attacks are limited to five offenses simply because of scarcity of six-fingered point guards. A complete chapter is devoted to each of these five offenses and a method for teaching them.

There is truth in the saying, "the weak learn from the strong." Therefore, if I were coaching today, my chosen five offenses from the winningest coach in basketball, Dean Smith; however, substitute your own if you choose. It is hard to argue with success. His offenses are simple and can be easily taught at any level.

Coach Dean Smith gives the following brief descriptions of each half-court offense he used and gives reasons for their use:

1. "One-Four Quick Hitter Offense – Use this offense to utilize players at special functions that takes advantages of their strengths. Use it primarily against man-to-man defenses; however, it adapts well against zones, especially match-up zones. Having a screen on the point and making use of the mismatch is another advantage. The 1-4 game is structured to bring about a good shot quickly. If a scoring opportunity does not present itself, our continuity takes us into the Passing Game.
2. T-Game Offense – This T-game is an all-purpose offense designed as an inside attack against any half-court defense. The T-game can be varied, depending on the personnel at hand. It can be used as either a single, or triple-post attack. As an inside game, it lends itself to the high-percentage shot, strong offensive board coverage, and a greater opportunity to get the opponent into foul trouble. The T-game is one many continuity-type offense presented in this notebook.
3. Passing Game Offense – The passing game is another all-purpose offense used against any type half-court defense. It serves as our high-low post free-lance offense. It is a simple offense to learn and serves to increase overall offensive skills through its execution. Therefore, I recommend its use as a primary, if not exclusive, half-court offense to grade-school-level coaches. This would be the offense most frequently used at any level.
4. Four Corner Delay Offense – This offense allows the team to continue to score via lay-ups or foul shots. Coach Dean Smith established this Four-Corner Delay game years ago. It is usually, although not necessarily, used in the late stages of the game. The Four-Corners require only three ball handlers, instead of four required by most delay games.
5. Basic Cut Movement Offense – This offense should be incorporated into your plan of attack especially if your team lacks height and great quickness. If that be the case, you should use it as a primary offense. The Basic Shuffle Cut comes after an entry from the 1-4 set. Hopefully, it is disguised in this manner. It generates much movement of all players and after one Basic Cut, the team moves into the Passing Game as continuity. It is important that this offense be used against man-to-man defenses only."

The master offensive checklist incorporates the following techniques in addition to the half-court attacks:

1. "Fast-Break Offense – The fast-break offense begins with a successful free-throw, successful shot, defensive rebound, or an interception. You need to cover the beginning of the break, transition from defense to offense, taking the ball down-court, the secondary attack in the scoring area at the end of the fast-break, and transition into the Passing Game Offense.
2. Full-Court Press Offense – The Sideline Fast-Break was designed to counter all types of presses. This offense is designed to take us all the way to the baseline rather than just across the ten-second line. From this scoring area you can score or go immediately into the secondary attack, most preferably Coach Don Meyer’s "Big Dog" concept and transcend into one of our offensive sets.
3. Offensive Rebounding – For emphasis, offensive rebounding is listed separately on our check list, although it is an important part of every offensive attack.
4. Out-of-bounds Situations – You must spend time to insure possession of the ball in bounds from any point on the court. Possession, rather than scoring from an in-bounds pass, should be the main goal.
5. Foul-Shot Situations – Our first goal is for the foul shooter to believe he is going to make the shot and for the other four players to think he is going to miss it. Secondly, we want to set up our press for the seven out of ten foul shots the shooter is likely to make; however, we would also like to regain possession of as many of the misses as possible.
6. Last-Minute Situations – This category is used to cover every possible occurrence related to the unusual or to the clock. Unique situations usually come about late in a very close scoring game. This part of the offensive checklist is vitally important since, obviously, many games are won, or lost, during the closing minutes."

Through the use of Coach Smith’s master offensive checklist, we hope to cover all possible defensive tactics that can be used against us during the season. We then decide the amount of practice time to be devoted to each area listed. The implementation of Coach Smith’s overall offensive philosophy, the execution of each phase of offense listed, in addition to much work on individual fundamentals, should prepare us adequately as an offensive basketball team.

To better understand the diagrams and play descriptions relating to my own philosophy of these offenses, it will be helpful to understand the method used in numbering players:

#1 – Quarterback or Point or Outlet - This player is generally the most capable ball handler and dribbler. He is usually the smallest guard.

#2 – Second Guard or Fly - This player, usually bigger than #1, does not have to be the same caliber ball handler or dribbler.

#3 – Smallest Forward or Wing – This player is the best ball handler of the front-court players. #2 and #3 have similar roles and could be classified as swing men. #3 is generally bigger than #2 and smaller than #4.

#4 – Biggest Forward or Safety – This player’s offensive moves are similar to those of #5. Offensively, there is little to distinguish the difference between #4 and #5. #4 is usually quicker and smaller than #5.

#5 – Biggest Defensive Center or Big Dog – This player is the key to a successful sideline fast break. His principle duty is to beat his defensive player down the floor every time, post up at the low post on ball side, seal any player in that area on his back, and call for the ball.

General Offense Rules:

•  Play smart! Understand and know what the coach is looking for.
•  Play unselfishly. Always pass to the open man and don't force shots.
•  Protect the basketball. Handle the ball with sureness. Avoid turnovers.
•  Make the safe and easy pass. Don't force passes. Every pass does not have to lead to a score.
•  Pass away from the defense. Always know where the defense is, and pass away from it.
•  Play under control. Don't have your mind made up about what you want to do. Read the numbers and take what the defense gives you in an organized and controlled matter.
•  Be patient. Don't play fast! A good rule to remember is to "hurry, but don't rush." It's not how fast you go, it's what you do.
•  Don't force shots! Pass the ball when you are well defended.
•  Dribble with your head up and see the court.
•  Always know the time and score.
•  Maintain proper spacing of 15 to 18 feet. Spacing is offense and offense is spacing. Keep the offense high and wide. Perimeter players should stay above the NBA three point line, except of course when executing cuts or screening opportunities.
•  Catch-and-face. Anytime that we receive the basketball, face the basket in the triple threat position.
•  Always look to go inside first, before shooting outside shots! The first objective every time down the floor is to go inside. I like for the post-player to touch the ball before any shots are taken.
•  Use a jump-stop in the post area. Catch the ball with both feet off the floor, but pass with both feet on the floor. Keep the ball under chin, with elbows out.
•  Always look to dribble penetrate (slash) to the elbows. Most coaches I have ever been associated, loved to play off the elbows offensively (jump shot, draw-and-kick, or kick-out).
•  Look to draw-and-kick. Anytime a weak-side defender rotates to stop ball, look to pass to an open teammate. Use a bounce pass in the paint to hit the open teammate.
•  Get fouled! To win the big games, you must get to the free throw line, and then you must make them. Great players get to the foul line 7 to 8 times a game.
•  Communicate on all screens. Raise your weak hand to let the cutter know you're coming to screen for him. As you set the screen, call out your teammate's name.
•  Set tough, hard screens. Set your screen on the defender's numbers (headhunt). The screener should remain in a stationary position for a two count.
•  Always receive the screen late - Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait for the screener to jump stop and say your name before you begin your cut to get open.
•  Read the defense. Think before you move. Try to take advantage of what the defense gives you. The cutter and screener must concentrate on their defender and not watch the ball.
•  Cutters should always make their cuts away from their defender and "move with a purpose."
•  Move to be a great receiver! As a pass receiver, you must always step to the ball, show a hand-target, and call for the ball.
•  Backdoor cut when overplayed. When your defender has a foot and hand in the passing lane to deny you from catching the ball, change direction and cut behind the defender toward the basket with your lead hand up.
•  Fake a pass, to make a pass.
•  Acknowledge (credit) the unselfish pass that leads to score. "Point to him," the assist guy. Let the fans know, who made the play.
•  Crash the offensive boards. Players #3, #4, and #5 must crash the boards on every shot while players #1 and #2 sprint back to stop the fast break.
•  Rebound the offense. I want the shooter to always follow his shot with his hands up. The other players (#3, #4, and #5) are responsible for weak-side rebounds. Most rebounds (75%) are grabbed on the weak-side of the basket.

I am big on shot selection. Shot selection is the single most important factor in the development of successful offensive play. I believe a poor shot is just as bad as a turnover. Do everything within your power to keep your players from forcing bad shots. Basketball is not an equal opportunity game. Shot selection will vary from player to player, from possession to possession, according to each player's ability to shoot the basketball.