Teams are playing man to man against my team. How do I break it? And how do I tell my players how to?

Question

I'm trying to coach people who don't really know anything about basketball. if anyone could help me beat man to man I think we could be half way decent

Answer 1

I would put 4 of your players on one side of the court (that way their defenders will have to go there too if they play man to man defense) and then have your best player that can drive past opposing players and finish one-on-one against his defender. They can't help but go back to zone if you keep using this play and keep scoring. 3 out of 5 times if your player is a good one-on-one he will score with this and that's pretty good.

Answer 2

Walk them through the basic pick-and-roll play. The key thing is walk through the play in practice until they get it. Don't expect to tell them what it is and then have them execute. You need to run it in slow motion and explain and let them see and feel it and they will understand.

Once you have the basic understanding, you run drills. You have two people play 'defense', and then the team members take turns at being the screener and the dribbler. Everyone on the team should be comfortable with both roles.

Once you get this play down, (and it's companion, the 'pick and pop', where the objective is to get the dribbler an open jump shot), then you can work on double screens. It is really cool when people learn that basketball is a team game, rather than a collection of individuals just running around on the court.

Answer 3

Man to man is easier to deal with than zones i think. The pick and roll is deadly against man to man if executed correctly. Run some off-ball screens on the baseline with the postmen screening for the wingmen. Have the 5(center) screen for the 4(PF) roll up to the top of the key. There are tons of plays and ways to score, but mostly if your team isn't more atheletically gifted than the other team, you have to use team work. setting screens and such.

Take a look at this site too
http://members.tripod.com/~coacheshome/play.html
and this one
http://www.coachesclipboard.net/
goto offense and look at the 3 out, 2 in.

Answer 4

I've had that problem before, i've coached teams with no ballhandlers at all. If you have a big man get the inbounds pass to him, it's always easier for a big man to make an open pass. Or you could always look for a mismatch, if they have one of their weaker players out there go for him. Also have your team set picks, picks are the easiest way to get a man open...hope I helped.

Answer 5

the key is passing. you could do what someone said about having one person go to the rim everytime, but then your team isn't going to get any better. also if you do that then the defense can stop one person easily, then you are out of luck. pass a lot, and set screens off the ball, bring players towards the ball. try pick and rolls and stuff like that. good luck!

Answer 6

your guys need to move to get open. They will need to set screens for each other.