John Wooden UCLA Bruins “Indiana” Play by Adam Spinella

Written by Coach Peterman

I have coached at the NCAA Division 2 (Southwestern Oklahoma State University), NAIA (USAO), and JUCO Levels (Blinn College and Carl Albert State College) as well as high school. I just felt that fellow coaches especially young coaches need to constantly work on their “game”. Just like the basketball players that we coach. We as coaches need to improve ourselves. That is my story and why I do this blog.

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Basketball Set Plays

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March 11, 2015

John Wooden UCLA Bruins “Indiana” Play by Adam Spinella

Coach Wooden preached ball movement from side-to-side, making the defense move frequently and never letting the ball settle. With lots of quick passes in 10 to 15 foot gaps, Wooden was a master at designing plays that forced his teams to share the ball. As a counter, many defenses would start to jump passing lanes or make perimeter passing more difficult. When that would occur, Wooden would run “Indiana”, a backdoor set that played through the high post.

ucla bruins

Starting in Wooden’s classic 2-3 High formation, 1 passes to 2 and 2 passes to 4 on a perimeter swing. 5 moves over to the ball-side elbow, looking to set a UCLA screen for 2. Instead of using the screen, 2 pops back and catches the ball on the perimeter. 2 swings to 1, and 4 curls over the top of 5 on a shuffle cut looking for a layup.

ucla bruins

As the ball has quickly swung back to the original side, 4 comes out to the corner off a pin screen from 3. That is a dummy action, as the scoring opportunity happens on the opposite side. 2 darts backdoor after passing to 1. 1 can either throw a lob to 2 directly or hit 5 at the high post and play out of his hands, looking for 2 at the rim.

This play is a great pressure release against teams that are going to shoot passing lanes on the perimeter. If you can get your team to complete the first round of passes to 4 on the wing, everything else opens up: the UCLA pop-back, the shuffle cut opens the high post and 2 will be open on the backdoor. You can see how Coach Wooden packs tons of quick passes into a short amount of time to get a great result. Player movement and ball movement are what get high-quality shots.

Coach Adam Spinella is entering his first season as an Assistant Coach at Culver Academies in Culver, IN. Spinella spent the three years prior as a Student Assistant Coach at Division III Dickinson College. The Dickinson Men’s Team advanced to two NCAA Tournaments and accumulated an overall record of 59-26 (.694) during the three-year span, with the 2013-2014 season ending in the Division III Elite Eight. A native of Bow, New Hampshire, Spinella has a keen interest in X’s and O’s, particularly in professional basketball, and skill development.

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