This drill improves the players' ability to create scoring opportunities for themselves in a fastbreak situation, and works on their ability to defend while in transition. This is also an extremely good drill to run for conditioning purposes, as the players’ all-out efforts on both ends of the court are a good way to increase their stamina while still working on their game fundamentals.
How to Run the Drill:
Have a line of players on one end of the court. Have the first player in line turn and hand the ball the ball to the second player. The first player gets into a defensive stance, and the second player puts the ball on the floor and attempts to get by the defender.
Once past half-court, it is helpful to put in a rule of the maximum amount of dribbles a player can take—more dribbles for a younger, less experienced player, less dribbles for a more experienced one. Designed for fastbreak finishing and defending skills, it will help neither the offensive or the defensive players’ development if the offensive player can dribble as much as he wants to get off a shot.
Key Elements:
Do not let the defender get sloppy (i.e. reaching for the ball unnecessarily). If he does, no skill is improved upon during the drill, and it becomes a waste of the players' time.
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