Hubie Brown Playbook For Success

Do the kids like your style of play?
Do people want to watch your style of play?
Are you developing your young talent with the style of play?
What are you doing with your style for players 8,9,10,11,12?
Are you a coach who only wins with talent?
Or are you a coach that can compete with young talent
inexperienced talent
because you are a teacher
because you come with a positive attidude
because you are going to work and give you kids a chance to win every night.
There are guys who win a lot of games with talent every year and have no rings because they lose when the talent level is equal.
Can you win with the kids? That is the test.

Practice Breakdown  |  Hubie Brown Playbook
6 shooting drills: every single shot in the 6 drills comes out of our offense because I do not waste time.
If you are only doing 1 and 2 shooting drills I guarantee they get bored.

Try to do two shooting drills in a 10 minute segment, but don’t repeat the drills from one practice to the next.
Why practice shots that you don’t get in games? How beneficial are your shooting drills
Try to limit your drills from 2-5 minutes. Why? Intensity. They will give you intensity when they know how long they are going.
Kids get upset when you said you were going to do this drill for 5 minutes and 20 minutes later they are still in the same drill.
Early on I made a mistake. “I did too many drills”

Length of practice. If I go 5 minutes over that time. I take 1000 dollars and put it into the players party fund.
If I go over that means that I was disorganized. If I go overtime in practice I leave them not giving me 100%.
When I say 1 hr. 30 minutes they know we are done in 1hr 30 minutes.

Shooting Drills  |  Hubie Brown Playbook
In our practice every day. We have a ten minute shooting segment and a ten minute defensive segment.
In that 10 minute segment we have 10 drills.
We do 5 a day for 2 minutes each.
So we don’t repeat the same drills the next day. Now 10 minutes of offensive drills.
He did not give the drills, but emphasized not having too many drills.

Fast Break Drills  |  Hubie Brown Playbook

Next a fifteen minute fast break block.
3 tight, 3 wide, 3 straight, 4 on 0, 5 on 0. 2 on 1. 3 on 2.
Then we do our secondary break. 4 on 3. 5 on 4.
Because playing fast is difficult. You must have rules.
When you have a young or less experienced team you must be able to score in the open floor.
When you’re fast-breaking against the powerhouses in your league do you have the secondary break because you have mismatches in your transition game?
If you set up they are going to dominate you.

Putting Together an Offense:
Spacing should be the first thought (against man or zone).
Will you allow a team to trap you and on the other side of the floor have 2 guys play 3?

IF the offense keeps the ball on one side the defense only needs to cover 2/3 of the court. But when the ball comes into the middle they have to play sideline to sideline.
How many guys do you send to the offensive boards?
If I have less talent than I must take more shots in order to win?
How do you do this?
Offensive rebounding.
Do you have transition defense if you don’t get the offensive shot?
Can your center and the 2 forwards get to the board from your offense?
Can you get to the foul line against man to man or zone?
If I get fouls on against a more talented team. The sub that comes in has much less talent and the talent level becomes more equal.
How do you get to the line?
Have a post game or a penetration game.
You do not need a post up game to get to the foul line.
Is your offense able to run a play from the opposite side?
Can you start your offense with a ball reversal or a dribble?

Rebounding  |  Hubie Brown Playbook
Anytime our center shoots.
Every time the shot goes up the guards need to be at mid-court to stop the transition.
When a forward shoots inside the paint he can get on the glass.
If a forward takes a 3 he must move out to half court to stop transition. When you take a jumper outside the paint 80% are coming out on the other side.
If a guard shoots whether it is a layup he must get back to half court or back to the press.
9 out of 10 second shots are within 8 to 10 feet and that is when you get fouled.
You get fouled more times on a second shot than you do on the first shot.

Give me the biggest game you lost last year.
Do those 3 players up front play the full 32 minutes?

High Percentage Shots  |  Hubie Brown Playbook
Can you get high percentage shots for your two best players in their sweet spot?
We chart our shooting drills to find out where they shoot best from.
Left side of the court.
Middle of the court.
Right side of the court.
Because all players only shoot well in 2 of the 3 areas.
Coaches must be aware of what areas are high % for shooters.
Knowing this helps at the end of games.
Offense Principles
#1 Can I reverse the ball
#2 Is there a short pass and a long pass. You need to be able to take a short pass and a long pass.

Last second Plays
The alignment is a con.

When you put in your offense you need 3 things
Staggered Screens
Back Screens
Dribble handoffs. If the offense breaks off, weave the ball. Any dribble handoff dribble at the defender, jump stop and hand off because now you force them to switch.

Fast Break  |  Hubie Brown Playbook
What’s the percentage for you in the fast break?
If you get 60% of your scores on the fast break that’s big.

If you don’t do this think about doing it. Every timeout when the ball was in the backcourt.
Never move way from the ball. Come to the ball until he stops you. Put your forearm in his chest call for ball. Never let a gimmick defense hurt you. Don’t come over half-court and back it out.

When Facing a 1-3-1 Trap  |  Hubie Brown Playbook
The guards should be in tight and in line with the circle at half court.
Guard without the ball never be ahead of the guard with the ball because if they trap him he can’t see you.
Always trail so if they trap he can reverse the ball.
Ball hits the 5 at high post. Post turns and faces.
The four who was at the other elbow dives to the front of the rim.
Against zone coverages, always hit your man in front of the basket because the guy plays behind him. If you don’t get it. Go to the first hash in the lane.
On the first pass the shooter on the block busts to the corner.
What moves do you teach in the post?
Up and under.
Drop step.
Sikma.
One bounce jump hook.
If he can catch the ball that deep he will get fouled or make it.
If he shoots a fade away we can only score 2. If the player goes to the basket and attacks there is a chance for 2 plus 1. Have the player under the basket drop-step and hook to draw the foul.
If the pass from high post goes to the corner he busts to the first hash. One thing you can’t do is hold the ball.
If pass to high post is not there and ball is reversed to guard. Guard takes to dribbles attacking the top of the key and jump stops.
The center then backs up and the 3 goes to the corner.
On the dribble the 4 drops to the first hash.
The guard with the ball has 3 options, corner for jumper 5 above the block or 4 cutting to basket. If he passes to 5 it is a 2 on 1 with the back of the zone. The jumper in the corner is always open.
The Lakers adjusted by dropping back and covering the corner with a man, the center with a man, and the 4 with a man. This is where the shooting drill comes in. The guard has practiced everyday taking two dribbles and shooting. The 2 must be your second or first best shooter. Any time your center catches the ball he needs to turn inside.

The Zone Attack  |  Hubie Brown Playbook

Starts out in a 1-4 High Set
Must get a high percentage shot
You want your best shooter shooting from his best area
You want to be able to reverse th ball
Get to the foul line.
Can your zone attack get you on the foul line?
Can you get to the offensive boards?
Can you get high percentage shots?
Guards, always make the zone play you.
When you hit the wing on either side you must go high-low.
Anytime you leave an area it must be replaced. When ball hits the low post.High post x cuts and 3 fills for skip pass.
If ball is passed to the wing. Posts go high low. And then the ball is passed to the high post. Low post ducks in. If low post isn’t there reverse the ball by way of pg. or skip pass & have the player follow his pass. This creates a passing lane.
If ball is thrown to one of the high post. Opposite posts x cuts to front of the rim. Wings go to the corner. Pg. goes opposite of post.
Our first postup is right in the middle of the lane.

A great offense will start in one direction and then go the other way.

On the dribble entry.

Pg guard attacks the zone then goes off either side. Post Screens (Still in the 1-4 High Set)
We’ll say if goes off the right side. The post screen the top of the zone.
Pg comes off the screen to score as he penetrates the 2 drifts to the corner and the opposite post flashes to the middle of the lane.
If the defense goes out with the wing it is a seal inside.
If they stay home if is a shot for 3.
If neither are open the screener replaces at the top of the key opposite of the screen. Ball is reversed he then drives the bottom of the zone and the 3 drifts to the corner and makes the bottom defender guard two playes.
Never pass the ball from behind a screen because you are not a threat.
When you come off a screen come off to score. After a screen, the screen must open and replace.

The Box and One  |  Hubie Brown Playbook
Always start behind the backboard because usually the defender will let you go either way.
Use the back of the zone to run off screens. Use the other defenders as screeners
Whenever you play against a zone for the defense to play you. Force them to stop the ball.

The Triangle and Two  |  Hubie Brown Playbook
Take the two who are being triangled and send them to the block.
You have four defenders below the box. If you don’t play it, why not?
Players that are being defended by the triangle Don’t pick up the ball unless the defender stops you.
Try to use plays that are not complicated.

Full Court Press  |  Hubie Brown Playbook
Playing changing defense to change temp and hide people.

Shooting Drill
As the player makes the curl have the passer hit him on the inside shoulder.
How you catch the ball will determine how quick of a shooter you are.

Final Thoughts
I want to make sure that my coaching staff is organized in our daily lesson plans and that all the players understand that we are not going to waste time.
Don’t take anything unless you can teach it.
When you win a game do you thank the kids? In high school and college the coaches win the games and the players lose them. In the pros Hubie says it’s opposite.

If your team of young kids overachieves you as the coach get all the credit.

The kids must know that it is we, never I. Early on I took the credit.

When we win I am fanatical. I shake every guy’s hand. Not everyone is going to look you in the eye.

They want you to love them.

If you had a great year what did you do for your assistants?

Did you write your assistant a note, take them to dinner? How do you reward your assistants and their family?

Just don’t be a coach. Be a coaches coach. Don’t cheat them one day out of teaching them to play.

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

Hubie Brown Playbook For Success