-We try to gain an advantage at the three point line by creating situations offensively by using it and by taking it away defensively.

↑What is the best way to do this offensively? At my level, get better shooters. At the high school level, get your shooters better.

-A 4 that can shoot it creates so many offensive opportunities for your team (side note: this was a point that was reiterated by 3-4 coaches over the weekend)

-Four ways we try to get open threes   |  Billy Donovan Utilizing the Three Point Shot vs. Man and Zone

            1. Transition- push hard for early threes.

            2. Dribble Penetration- drive and kick opportunities.

            3. Post Kickouts- passing out of double-teams followed by ball reversal.

4. Offensive Rebounds- best time for open threes. Bigs feel that they’re entitled to shoot the ball off of an o-board, but this is a great time to find a shooter sprinting to spot up in an open area.

-The more you force the defense to closeout on you, the greater chance you have of getting to the paint. So, your thinking offensively should be “how do I create closeout opportunities?”

-Loves the flat ball screen because defense has to go so deep under them to get through and because if the ball screen is overplayed, it is so easy to switch the angle to catch the defense.

-Wants to keep the ball in the “alley” (middle of the court between the two elbows) because it prevents teams from establishing helpside.

Transition ideas  |  Billy Donovan Utilizing the Three Point Shot vs. Man and Zone

-A team changing from offense to defense is one of the most difficult things in basketball. Exploit this!

-On a miss, free-for-all, score as quickly as possible.

-On a make, we want the ball the inbounded as quickly as possible by whichever big is closest to the ball and we want the ball advanced up the floor as quickly as possible as well. In UF’s practices, ball isn’t across half court in 3 seconds it is an automatic turnover.

-No set lanes, he wants his players to play. He asks his wings to run their lanes as wide as possible and sprint up the floor. If the two happen to be on the same side, it’s the 2^nd player’s responsibility to call “push” and send the first wing through to the other side.

-Random ball screens: If our first big down the court is behind the ball or not in position to get the ball in the low post in transition, it’s an automatic flat ball screen for strongside wing (trailing big can run in to set a double).

Drills  |  Billy Donovan Utilizing the Three Point Shot vs. Man and Zone

-LMU :35 Drill:

            Goal is to score 5 layups in 35 seconds. Drill begins with 5 players rotating in a circle. The ball is scored by a coach and the players sprint to transition. Progression: 1. Advance pass to wing 2. Advance pass to opposite wing 3. Over the top pass to big rim running 4. Pass to trailing big followed by a drive/wide pindown by trailing big followed by a seal 5. Ball screen for point guard by trailing big for layup:

“Flat”  1 advances to 2 and runs through. The ball is reversed to 3 as 5 runs to set a flat ball screen on wing.

With a non-shooting 4, on the weakside of the court while this ball screen is occurring, 4 will sprint to the short corner and be prepared for a dump pass from 3 on penetration as 2 lifts. With a shooting 4, 2 will set a flare for 4.

“Dribble”  |  Billy Donovan Utilizing the Three Point Shot vs. Man and Zone

1 passes to trailing 4 who executes a dribble-handoff with 3. 4 fades to corner, 5 sprints to a ballscreen (emphasized the importance of sprinting to ball screens and creating a situation where the defense is late on its show) and 2 sets a flare for 1.

“Double”   |  Billy Donovan Utilizing the Three Point Shot vs. Man and Zone

Play can be run with either 1 or 2 being the ball handler. Diagram shows 1 sending 2 backdoor, but play can be run with 1 and 2 executing a dribble hand-off.

“Down”  |  Billy Donovan Utilizing the Three Point Shot vs. Man and Zone

Trailing big sets a wide pin-down for 3 who receives a pass from 1. 5 sets a back screen for 1 (who goes through to the corner) and then steps up to set a ball screen for 3 who attacks the middle of the floor.

“Down Out” is the same play, but 4 heads to the corner after the pin-down and 1 runs the fill on the ball screen (circling up behind the ball screen in accordance with 5’s roll

-Zone work  |  Billy Donovan Utilizing the Three Point Shot vs. Man and Zone

1 dribbles down right side of court and receives a ball screen from 4 stepping out of high post, causing the other top defender to step in. 2 is running a baseline cut (with 5 screening the middle defender) as this is going on and on 1’s kick to 2, x3 is left to cover both 3 on the wing and 2 on the baseline.

Lob play versus zone: ball is advanced to 2, but he swings it to the top and 1 reverses the ball to 3. 4 flashes to the high post, causing x5 to step up, while 5 runs and sets a back screen for 2. 3 should be your passes while 2 should be your best athlete.

-BLOB play versus 2-3 zone for three: 5 sets a diagnol for 4 who sprints to ballside block as 5 rolls to weakside block. The key though is 2 who kicks out to corner and will be left unguarded by the 2-3 zone as the middle defender will protect against 4’s cut and the weakside guy will cover 5’s roll.

Three Point Shooting Drills  |  Billy Donovan Utilizing the Three Point Shot vs. Man and Zone

-Wave Drill: 4 lines of 3 players underneath basket on the baseline with every player in the middle line starting with a ball. The first group will begin the drill with the player in the middle of the lane passing the ball to the man to his right who passes it back to the middle who throws it to the player to his left. When he crosses halfcourt he begins dribbling and the two wings spot up at the three point line. He delivers a chest pass to either side with the opposite guard getting the rebounder and the passer filling the rebounder’s line. They now form 3 lines on the baseline underneath that hoop. The next group would have started going as soon as the first group passed halfcourt and so forth with the 3^rd group. They continue with this for 2 minutes with the goal being 20 makes.

-Flood Drill: Similar to the last one, but now there are 3 lines of 2 players under both baskets on a court. On coach’s go, the middle player dribbles the ball up the right lane line with his right hand before throwing ahead to one of the wings running with him for a spot-up three. Both sides go at the same time so make sure you designate which side is running outside and which side is running inside on the perimeter lanes. The next group goes as soon as the previous crosses halfcourt.

-Detroit Shooting: 3 lines underneath one basket with a ball in the hands of the first person in the middle lane and the 2^nd person in each of the perimeter lines. The first three will proceed down the court via a 3-man weave. Down at the other end will be 2 players, one in each corner, with one ball each. The 3-man weave will finish with a layup, but the other two players will receive passes from the 2 corner players who then join the player who shot the layup in a 3-man weave back the other way. Continuous.

Click on the pdf link to download the basketball coaching clinic notes:

Billy Donovan Utilizing the Three Point Shot vs. Man and Zone