Coaches,

I had the chance to listen to Tom Izzo speak about special situations.  I thought that he did a great job with discussing special situations in basketball games and want to share them with you.

Coach Izzo believes that you can’t ever rest on your laurels.  That everyone in the basketball program must do their job with an emphasis on excellence.  It goes for the coaches, players, managers, secretaries, and training staff as well.

Here are some key point for Special Situations:

Timeouts: He doesn’t burn them in the first half, but saves them for the second half when they are vital.  If your team isn’t repsonding to what you might want to happen on the floor then it can be necessary.

Strategy: Some teams will play you differently than others during the course of the game or they might change their basketball strategy.  Coach Tom Izzo will call a timeout for adjustments in a basketball game.

Last Second Situations: These are vital. Coach Izzo believes that you must excute down to the last second to win in close situations.  He thinks that NBA coaches do a great job of running things after a timeout.  This is a very important concept!

Out of Bounds Plays: The first thing that Coach Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans do is to get the ball inbounds, but they don’t back it up to run offense.  As they inbound, they start to run a set. The person that is inbounding the ball is usually running off a screen down low or popping out on the weakside for a return pass to shoot or pentrate.

Coach Tom Izzo also told the crowd that he believes if he sees a team running something on film that he likes, then he will use it and give them credit.  Coach Izzo also commented on how he is a big football fan and sees special situations in basketball as vital to your team’s success.  A game can come down to a few points and execution in special situations like baseline out of bounds plays and after time-out plays can put you in the win column.

He works on getting opportunities off his own free throw misses.  The guys on the blocks are active, not just conceding a defensive rebound.  If they get one point during a game off a miss free throw then that guy is a bonus for our team.  It brings energy to the players.

On his baseline out of bound plays and sideline out of bounds plays, they get the ball in and set hard screens.  They are trying to get the ball in the hands of the player who will get a good shot or get it in the hands of the player that will take a good shot.

They run their inbound plays on the baseline to spread the floor with four players at the foul line extended well spread out. The player at the elbow retreats as if to get a long pass then quickly cuts to the basket for a quick inbounds pass.  This works well against teams that pressure the inbounds.

Against teams that run zone defense on the out of bounds plays, they have great success against them.  They inbound to a guard who looks to the low post and drop it inside for a post player to make a power move.

Coach Tom Izzo also believes that “Plays do not always matter.  It is how you coach your team. Coach your team to go 100mph.  Selling what you teach is important!”

Proper excecution of special situations during the season can give you 5 to 6 extra wins a year if you work on it.  It can come down to your being in the playoffs or not.

Coach Peterman