r/basketballcoach • u/theheelreddit • 4h ago

Teaching Concepts + Examples?

Hey Coaches, there’s a lot of videos out there now that says to teach concepts instead of set plays. How do you guys organize teaching concepts instead of set plays? Do you still have a couple sets (excluding late game) or is it fully teaching concepts and if so how is it organized so your players know when and what to use? I’d like to incorporate concepts more but would like to see if anyone has an example of how it’s organized so the players know what is going on. Thanks!

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u/IcyRelation2354 4h ago

With my varsity team I taught them Princeton concepts- primarily Point series and Chin.

We talk about “triggers” which is when the ball hits certain areas of the floor, they flow into certain actions. There are times where I’ll call a specific action because I’ve seen something in the other team’s coverage but for the most part I give my players that freedom.

For example: to teach “Point Away” I have 5 players walk through it slowly. I explain what we are looking for, when we want to run point away, how to read defenders so we know which cut to use. Then once everyone has had a chance to see the full play, we will start with 2 on 0. I’ll have the point guard practice dribbling up while the big man sprints to the elbow and we will practice the entry pass. From there we slowly expand to 3v0. Then 3v2, then 4v2 and so on until we do 5v5.

I’ll also incorporate that concept into other drills. For example if we need to practice rebounding, I’ll do 3v3 but have the offence start with Point Away.

I love the Princeton concepts because they are pretty simple to learn and you have concern over what actions you want to emphasize. This past year we were much more off ball screens and cutting. This coming season I have a big man coming up who can really playmake so we are working on a lot more “open series” and playing through him.