Tom Izzo Gun Shooting Drills

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 Coaching | Basketball Drills

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May 6, 2014

Tom Izzo Gun Shooting Drills

Tom Izzo is well known for his team’s tough, physical play and hard nose mentality in the game of basketball. One of the things I like about Coach Izzo is that he makes his drills, even shooting drills with the gun, more difficult with more than one player involved. There is very little standing around and very few players standing in lines waiting for their chance in the drill.

The first of the Tom Izzo Gun Shooting Drills uses four players. The first ball kicked out is a shot for the first player. The second ball is caught and the player uses a dribble penetration to the lane and a kick to the player at the top of the key. A defender is beside the gun and sprints to the shooter at the top of the key. As the defender approaches and ball is swung to the shooter that is relocating to the wing/corner. The defender then sprints to the shooter. The defender helps both the passer and shooter to develop game speed reaction to their opponent.

The second of the Tom Izzo Gun Shooting Drills is 5 man shooting and can involve up to five players or four players and a coach as a passer. This drill is similar to the previous drill in that a defender is used to contest the shooter and put pressure for the release of the shot. The passer will alternate passing from one side to the other. While the ball is being passed away from one side that offensive player relocates along the three point line in the opposite direction and the defense returns to the lane for another closeout. Defensive players should never attempt to block the shot as this may risk injury, have players develop good habits of staying on their feet and getting a hand up in the face of the shooter.

We have a new basketball coaching contributor in Mark Chapman He is doing an excellent job in providing basketball coaching clinic notes, basketball drills, and basketball plays. He is the Head Boy’s Basketball Coach at Hamilton Township High School in Columbus, Ohio. I think that you will enjoy the Tom Izzo Gun Shooting Drills that Coach Chapman gave us.