John Wooden UCLA Offensive Plays by Wes Kosel

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 Offenses | Continuity Offense Plays

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December 8, 2013

John Wooden UCLA Offensive Plays by Wes Kosel

John Wooden won over 600 games while coaching at Indiana State and UCLA and won over 80% of his games. While at UCLA, Wooden led his Bruins to 10 National Championships in a 12 year span, winning 7 National Championships in a row from 1967 to 1973. Not only was John Wooden a great coach, but he was a great player as well. Wooden played at Purdue and was a member of the 1932 Helms National Championship team.

Here are 3 offensive plays from Coach Wooden. All 3 plays start from the same formation, and differ based on the action from the 2 guard. The plays can either be called by the coach, or the 2 guard can determine the play by what cut he makes.

Kentucky: This play starts with a pass from the point guard to the 2 guard to the wing. 2 then cuts around 4 to the short corner. If 2 is open for a hand-off or in the short corner, 4 can pass to 2 for a scoring opportunity. If not, 4 will pass back to 1 and cut to the basket off of a screen from 5. If 4 is not open, 3 will cut to the corner off of a double screen from 5 and 2.

Santa Barbara: This play is very similar to Kentucky, but starts with a UCLA cut from 2 after swinging the ball to the wing. 4 then dribbles back toward 1. 1 back-cuts, and 3 comes off the double screen from 5 and 2.

Indiana: This play has the same initial action getting the ball to the wing, but in this play 2 makes a fake cut to the basket and pops back out to get the ball back from 4. 4 cuts to the basket off of a screen from 5, and 2 can either pass to 4 off the cut or reverse the ball to 1 for a better passing angle. If 4 is not open, 5 will turn back to the ball after setting the screen and will receive a pass from 1. 2 cuts to the wing then makes a strong back-cut to the basket.

I hope you enjoy these 3 plays out of John Wooden’s UCLA Offense.

Wes Kosel is an assistant coach for men’s basketball under Head Coach Tommy Jones at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin, TX. 2013-2014 marks the second year for Kosel at TLU. Prior to arriving at TLU, Kosel served as a student assistant coach under Head Coach Chad Killscrow at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, KS. Kosel has an undergraduate degree in Exercise Science from the University of Kansas, and is pursuing a Master’s degree in Physical Education from the University of Houston. The Bartlesville, OK native is also a NSCA Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), and teaches weight training and aerobic fitness courses at Texas Lutheran. He has coached AAU programs, volunteered with elementary and middle school basketball teams, and has worked basketball camps for various programs including the Houston Rockets, University of Houston, Texas State, and Texas A&M Corpus Christi.

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Click on the pdf link to download the basketball plays: