A basketball coach's philosophy of team offense

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 basketball 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 affected by the talent of available personnel. Some coaches use the same system year-after-year. These coaches are called system coaches. Other coaches change their system from year to year, adapting almost exclusively to the talents of their players. These coaches are called flexible coaches.

My personal basketball team offensive 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 McGlothlin, the coach who greatly influenced my life, played under Coach Cox, then later played for Coach William Slyker at Evansville College. Coach McGlothlin 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 high schools in Indiana. 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 possession, catch-and-face the basket, shot fakes, pass fakes, playing off the elbows with dribble penetration, 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.