Run and Gun Basketball

New Season

2008-10-22T10:40:00.001-07:00

Hey all,

Just checking in to get this blog going again as we approach the 2008-2009 Season. For me the system is about to finally take hold at Henry Ford as I will carry 13 players into the first semester and we begin this journey Nov 5th.

I will add my best PG in the second semester and that should allow us to be better in the league than the non-league.

Looking forward to hearing from all and seeing how Grinnell does with his best 3 players now seniors.

Bob Belf
Henry Ford CC
Dearborn MI

Records

2007-12-11T07:19:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Grinnell for getting to a 7-1 first semester start. Along the way they have set some new records along the way, namely David Arseneault setting a record for number of assists in a game at 34. It seems that it has many fans and media in an uproar as it is "premeditated" or not "team oriented" or anything else that can be derogatory to this accomplishment.

Once again the System is creating waves as it challenges the ordinary established way to play. The pioneers always take the arrows.

Bob

October Clinic in Grinnell

2007-08-19T23:11:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder and a little advice to all of you run and gunners...Go to the clinic at Grinnell this October!

The only real way to get a good understanding of the system is to be able to watch and talk to Coach Arsenault. He is very open and sharing and the clinic, with his players, will be great. The added bonus of also having Coach Smith on board makes this a can't miss. We, at Marina HS, feel so fortunate to have an open line of communication with these coaches and would not have been able to get the understanding and feel for the system to lead the country with a new National record for 3 pointers made this past season without their help and consultation.

It is not an easy trek to Grinnell, but an important one for all of us. Put it on the calendar and I hope to see you all there and put faces to names.

Roger Holmes
Head Basketball Coach
Marina High School
Huntington Beach, CA
www.marinabasketball.com
vikingbasketball@msn.com

Summer Observations...

2007-07-09T10:35:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy summer thus far and we have participated in and watched a TON of basketball. Here are just some random things that i have noticed and thought could create some interesting discussion:

1. The modified time formats of summer games can be really, really maddening. Sometimes I wonder if these tournaments/leagues intent is to help teams prepare for the upcoming season or is it just a money making deal. Certainly, I understand the need to fundraise...but running clock 40 minute basketball games are not very useful, especially in our style of play. I mean, I know it is important to be on time, stay on schedule and/or fit in as many games into a day as you can, but are tournaments really making that much more money by going to this modified format...heck, last year we played in a tournament where the clock would run during time-outs...and no, I'm not joking.

I can see a tourney having 7 minute stop clock quarters or 14 minute stop clock halves, but these weird formats i.e. 2 quarters 8 minute stop clock, 2 quarters 9 minute running clock, is really silly. We hosted a summer tourney last year and played regulation games and found that games moved along much quicker than we thought they would. I can understand the modified format for lower levels, but to me, the modified summer formats for Varsity games make very little sense.

2. Since I'm whining, I might as well continue...hey summer league and summer tournament directors...try getting competent individuals to work the clock and score books. There is nothing worse than watching the clock continue to run during a time-out during a 40 minute running clock game...or having the scorekeepers at the table short you on time outs, POINTS, and/or give the wrong players/team fouls. I don't expect perfection, but I also believe it is an unwise practice to simply have lower level players(or other unqualified personnel) handle these duties, even if they save the tourney a few bucks.

Especially in a situation where a scorekeeper's error effects the game...it is tough sell to our players. We try to have them take these summer games seriously, but if the tournament personnel does a poor job of handling their responsibilities, it sends a mixed message.

3. One last vent...officials...not necessarily how they are calling games(although I think there is room for improvement there)...but I don't like their approach to summer games. I realize they are probably not getting paid all that much and they are doing a bunch of games in a short period of time...but c'mon, at least get up and down the floor and ACT like you are interested in doing your job. It really goes back to my 2nd observation...we as coaches are trying to maximize our players effort and intensity...but when officials aren't doing the same, it is really frustrating.

I understand that summer basketball is a bit more informal than the regular season...but still, especially for those who are doing "the system" or some other form of extreme fast break basketball, the typical format of summer leagues and tournaments are not the most ideal.

What is the solution? Simple...run our own tourney. Which is what we intend to do...unfortunately we could not make it work this year because of MASSIVE renovations to our gym. We did it last year and it was terrific...we made some $$$, the tourney was well organized and we played full regulation games...can't wait until next summer when we can do it again(maybe more than once).

System Beauty

2007-07-01T21:39:00.000-07:00

Just an update on Marina's progress for Spring/Summer.

Venturing into our second year with the "system" we are very pleased with the progress that our guys have made so far. We do have 8 returners and that has certainly helped. There are several players switching positions, so we have had an adjustment period.

This past weekend, we played some good, well coached clubs that gave us concern going in. Our kids played better each game and grew quite a bit.

Our "new' kids have had to learn how to play at the pace needed to be successful in the system. They thought they knew what playing hard was, but really had no idea. Over the course of this tournament, I am hoping they got it. Guys were flying all over the court and we were creating havoc from tip to final buzzer. We finished the tourney 4-1 and are 11-2 for the summer season.

In coaching the system, for the first time especially, I truly believe things must be kept simple and you must, as a staff, quit trying to "coach" your team to victory. You must hammer home the numbers and get your players to buy into that. You must create turnovers and your kids must flood the offensive boards. This tournament, we hammered the offensive boards at an incredible 52.5% clip. Size? We have two inexperienced players that are 6'5 and that is it. We are almost all under 5'10 with a couple of 6'1, 6'2 guys.

Your players must go for it and drop just about all of the "traditional" ways of thinking and playing. If you, as coaches, don't change your approach...your players have no chance to do the "system" in a way for it to be successful. In fact, you can't do the "system" unless you let your kids play with the abandon that they need to for it to work. There are various approaches to fast break basketball and they are all interesting and have their merits. The "system", for me, is a dedication to the Grinnell style and approach. That dedication must include players and coaches that are going to do every thing that they can to do it the way Grinnell does it. If you say you are doing Grinnell on offense with the LMU press, you ARE NOT doing the "system" in my opinion. Certainly, you must do what fits your team best to get your numbers. Redlands did some things slightly different from Grinnell, but the over-all attitude and style of play was very similar. They were a system team through and through. We copied Grinnell in every way that we could. To me, it was the only way for us to go. If we were going to do it, we were going to do it!

If you truly go for it "system" style, your players will have so much fun and create some incredible moments. If you do a little here and a little there, your players will get stuck in the middle and be frustrated and confused. Like Mr. Miyagi says: "Walk down road...Walk left side, safe...walk right side, safe. Walk middle, sooner or later...squish like grape." Here, system, same thing. Either you system do "yes" or system do "no." You system do "guess so," squish like grape.

Roger Holmes
Marina Basketball
www.marinabasketball.com
vikingbasketball@msn.com

Confessions of a System Newbie, Entry #4

2007-06-21T14:14:00.000-07:00

One of my biggest concerns in transitioning to THE SYSTEM has been the implementation of a full-court defense. Defense was not our strongest suit last year as we were largely passive, sticking mostly to a very, very conservative quarter-court 3-2 zone. We had few steals and created little opportunity with our defense.

I remember discussing THE SYSTEM with a coach from another school who shall remain nameless. He was very familiar with THE SYSTEM and criticized it because he believes too much in the importance of defense. I felt perplexed by this comment and still do. In my perspective, THE SYSTEM is driven by defense. The spastic, frenetic chaos of full-court defense is what creates the pace and opportunity that is necessary for SYSTEM success.

I’ve spent many hours researching various presses and half-court sets in preparation for this summer’s transition to THE SYSTEM. But, I believe it may be for little use at this point. I’ve come to quickly learn that less is more in THE SYSTEM at this stage in our progression. Teaching full-court defense has never been a strength of mine, but Coach Holmes and Coach McCanna swiftly and effectively alleviated my instructional fears in a mini-clinic at our school last month.

Coach Holmes was queried by one of our players as to the nature of THE SYSTEM defense as he was introducing the early concepts to our team.

“Is it zone or man-to-man?” she asked.

Coach Holmes cleverly replied, “Yes.”

That bit of humor taught me a lot. My hours of defensive research were erased with the introduction of one word. Chaos.

Coach Holmes went on to explain that chaos is the biggest defensive asset that can be had. Simply put, chaos is good for THE SYSTEM. And, I can teach chaos. Very well. We don’t implement a full court defense to slow the game down; we do it to speed the game up. In emphasizing high risk and high reward gambles with our defensive pressure, we don’t have to worry about getting beat on defense. Getting beat is strangely good for us. It keeps the opposition running up and down the court. And yes, it still feels funny saying that.

Not to say that we don’t work on various defensive concepts. We work quite a bit on defensive positioning, trapping and rotating. We work on chasing and back-taps. We want our girls to recognize opportunities that may lead to the opposition turning over the ball. We stress the importance of trapping “tall and wide” and want the girls to invite lob passes for the purpose of interception. Most important, however, is that we want the ball always moving to the basket to maintain pace.

We have a full and half-court defensive set, but they are mostly for positioning purposes. We want to always trap with the two closest people to the ball. I am also working on some minor modifications, but the simple, primary concepts remain fully intact.

None of these concepts are new. None of them are eye-popping revelations. A difficult part in all of it has been getting the girls to play hard all of the time and to maximize effort with each shift. Getting them to abandon conservatism on defense. To commit on traps without hesitation. To recognize and act on an opportunity to gamble. To anticipate the behavior and options of the opposition.

The sincerely hardest part of it is listening to some groans from the fans when we give up a few layups in the process. It has been tempting to abandon the press, more out of the uninformed perception it creates with the fans than anything else. However, I have to fight it…which has become easier and easier.

I know, however, that some ugly times will meet up with us in game situations when our shots are off and things just aren’t clicking. Then again, that would happen regardless of whether or not we use THE SYSTEM. It’s all a process. We still have a very long way to go, but the seeds are planted. I’m sure that I’m missing something, but it’ll come along the way.

The Lady Scots have a tournament this weekend in Palm Springs. We'll be short a couple of starters which will create an opportunity for some others to step in and step up. I can't wait. But more important, the girls can't wait.

- Zack Delmont, Head Coach of the Rim of the World Fighting Lady Scots of Lake Arrowhead, California

Confessions of a System Newbie, Entry #3

2007-06-15T15:10:00.000-07:00

Excuse me while I kiss the sky! Because I am still in a purple haze after Rim of the World’s SYSTEM debut on Wednesday night. The Lady Scots played hard, aggressive basketball in a doubleheader against two teams that had winning records during the previous season. In fact, one of the teams was an amazing 30-3.

So, let's get to it...

To set the stage and provide a snapshot of my mental health at the time, our first game was bumped up upon our arrival. We walked thru the door and were asked to play…in more or less five minutes although we were still short a few key players. So rushed were we that we did not get a shoot-around. We didn’t even start the game with our second shift’s point guard! Rest assured that these issues were not very successful in alleviating my anxiety as we prepped for our first battle.

Of course, we were quickly down 12-0. The other team was much bigger than us with multiple girls around six feet tall. Our tallest isn’t tall at 5’9”. We are really a team of all guards. Our opponent didn’t have any trouble getting layups…but that soon changed. By the middle of the second half—there’s a running clock in summer—the other team was exhausted and couldn’t make shots under the basket consistently. Their passing became sloppy and our press became more effective. They were becoming frustrated with our frenetic full-court defense. One of their players even swung at one of our girls after a unintentional hard foul. Crazy. We closed the gap quickly and had a chance to win with less than ten seconds as one of our girls was fouled. She missed the front end of a one-on-one so we unfortunately lost by one. Only one! We didn’t meet any of our goals--it's tough with a running clock--although we were close on three-point attempts and turnovers forced. Nonetheless, I couldn't be more pleased with our first effort.

Our second game, which I thought would be more difficult as I thought our players would be exhausted, was played with the same intensity and a bit more comfort and confidence by the girls. Of note, the opponent had two starters at about 6’2” which didn’t excite me too much. Regardless, the girls never quit putting pressure on the ball and creating chaos. We trapped and did a lot of chasing. We achieved steals at a better pace than the first game. By the second half, our opponent's players were cramping up and leaving the game. They were beat. We traded baskets often—our threes, their twos. I can’t believe how often these teams missed shots under the basket due to fatigue. We ended up winning by one in overtime. We nearly met our goals for turnovers forced and 20 more shots than the opponent. We did meet our goal for threes attempted.

The night was incredibly exciting with our interceptor stealing the ball from the other team with two seconds to go as we were up by one. The girls huddled, screamed and cheered. Our fans were maniacal. It was mayhem. Everyone was sooooooo happy and energetic—that’s what it’s really all about. Those are, after all, the main things that I want the girls to experience.

Now, I don’t want to mislead you and have you believe that everything was rosy. Our implementation of THE SYSTEM is an evolving process. Our passing was not acceptable. We have to better hit our shooters on the chin with every pass. Our shooters’ timing was thrown off often with poor passes. We missed waaaaaaaaay too many free throws. I expect that we’ll miss many due to fatigue, but our percentage was still unacceptable. Also, we turned over the ball too much. I think this will improve as the girls become more comfortable with THE SYSTEM. Our offensive rebounding was poor, and we definitely need to find more two point field goal attempts, too. Our penetration into the paint was inconsistent. Too much hesitation when receiving the ball. We need to either shoot or get into the paint for a layup or a drive & kick when we get the ball.

That said, there were so many positive things to talk about that the girls are addicted to THE SYSTEM. Both games were played on OUR terms. The team is united and truly believes in what we’re doing. They are focused on our TEAM goals, not individual stats. They are confident and enthusiastic. The concepts of THE SYSTEM are so simple to latch on to. They’re so concrete. Easily comprehensible.

Yes, we still have a lot of work to do. However, there is much optimism in the program…and it’s only June. We have areas we’ll work to improve over the next few weeks. Besides the before-mentioned, our pace needs to be even quicker. We need to be more effective in forcing our opponent up the floor with every possession to maintain pace. Our offense needs to be getting the ball up the court faster to effectively take advantage of transition. So much to do.

I look forward to all of the hard work we'll put in. Every moment is a joy.

Despite all of my anxiety and stress leading up to this game, it’s still good to be the coach of the Lady Scots after our SYSTEM debut. In fact, it’s even better. Thank goodness my nerves didn’t get the best of me.

- Zack Delmont, Head Coach of the Rim of the World Fighting Lady Scots of Lake Arrowhead, California

Portland Run & Gun Clinic Video and T-Shirts Available...

2007-06-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

Those interested in still purchasing the Portland Run & Gun Clinic DVD's, please contact Mike Costello at mike_costello@ddouglas.k12.or.us for further information.

The Clinic DVD's are $30 and the T-Shirts are $12.

Confessions of a System Newbie, Entry #2

2007-06-10T20:35:00.000-07:00

I am truly blessed to have so many successful coaches who have made themselves so easily accessible and are willingly to openly discuss THE SYSTEM. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of interacting with Coach Holmes, Coach McCanna or Master Smith (The guy is amazing.), they are gentlemen in every sense of the word. Their players are better for it, too. What they do involves more than basketball. Not to sound corny, but they are making this world a better place.

Now, I coach high school girls--teenagers. I love them to death. I consider myself the luckiest guy in the world. That being said, please allow me to explain what THE SYSTEM has done in a very short time.

My first season, which was this school year, was riddled with drama, arguments, back-biting, etc. The program had been down for many years. It was longing for leadership and a vision. Without going into details, many of which are not unique to many teams, please believe me when I say that it was rough. We eventually persevered, but there were some difficult times. I think all of the players learned some very valuable life lessons. Many of them, however, I wish that the girls did not have to learn in a basketball context on my watch.

The Lady Scots are set to begin summer league play on Wednesday night, and there is no drama on our team. Of course, I am scared out of my mind. But, I am the only one that appears to be. Parents and players are thoroughly excited and optimistic. I am told that the program has not had this kind of enthusiasm in many years. Much of that can be attributed to the leadership and vision that THE SYSTEM has given us.

Coach Belf--I could read that guy talk for hours--talked about this, too, in his recent post. What Coach Belf mentioned regarding his players' joy in running THE SYSTEM is incredibly rewarding. I can attest to this truism. I've had many parents come to me expressing how excited their daughters are about playing within THE SYSTEM. So, the rewards are...well...very rewarding.

THE SYSTEM appears to have alleviated many issues with our squad. I don't anticipate that it's a temporary fix, either. Players are focused on basketball and are truly collaborating on what they hope to become a successful endeavor. Coach Arsenault has discussed the infusion of joy and excitement that THE SYSTEM created when he was inventing it in the 90s. There are many reasons for this enthusiasm, but I believe part of it has to do with THE SYSTEM providing every player with a more concrete role and allowing each of them to focus on her strengths more successfully. Playing time is no longer an issue for our girls. They all play. It's also easier to hide players' weaknesses in THE SYSTEM than it is in traditional quarter-court basketball.

That said, I am still anxious as the Lady Scots prepare to embark on our summer journey. We have a lot of work to do over the summer. Some of the girls are still following their shots, something that is forbidden within THE SYSTEM. However, girls are beginning to consistently think "DEEP" and rotate to the top of the key so that our offensive rebounders can feed them for a second attempt...40% of the time, our goal in THE FORMULA TO SUCCESS. We still aren't crashing the boards with the ferocity that I'd like. We'll get there in time. So many old habits to break.

Still have a long ways to go, however. And, my nerves will continue to make their presence known as well. But whatever the challenge, WE ARE UNITED!

See you next time...

- Zack Delmont, Head Coach of the Rim of the World Fighting Lady Scots of Lake Arrowhead, California

Coach Smith Drops in on the Vikings

2007-06-07T08:56:00.000-07:00

Marina, in the midst of winding down their Spring practices, had the great honor of having Coach Gary Smith drop in on their practice Wednesday, June 6th. The focus of this "mini-clinic" was the press and Coach Smith helped the Marina make some tweaks and adjustments to the kind of pressure Marina plans to put on its opponents this season.

Coach Smith has this infectious energy and passion for coaching that is immediately present. He made a real connection with the Marina kids and the hour and 20 minutes Coach Smith worked with the boy's couldn't have been more productive. If you haven't watched Coach Smith in action and you are committed to extreme fast break basketball, it is a MUST to see him speak, coach and/or just get a chance to exchange emails with him. He has so much too offer and his success certainly speaks for itself. There is probably not a more innovative coach in the country in terms of having been able to succeed in both a slow-down defensive style of play and a extreme fast break style.

We can't thank Coach Smith enough for the time has given to our program and we certainly hope to continue that relationship. We'd also like to wish Coach Smith all the best in his travels to Grinnell College this year. It is a scary thought to think Coach Arseneault and Coach Smith will be sharing the same bench...I'm guessing there will be a lot of D-III coaches in the Midwest losing sleep over that prospect.

If you have any questions and any of the specific details of the clinic, feel free to post a comment and we can discuss it.

Starting the System

2007-06-05T06:40:00.002-07:00

It is easy for us that have been running the system for any length of time to advise others to give it a try. Those that run this are passionate about the style of play, but those that are looking at attempting it find it a daunting exercise to totally change their thinking as to how to play. Some things need to be settled in a coaches mind before they can come to the dark side.

I try to tell coaches some of the pratfalls you may face as you try to get traction with the system. First of all if you hit the ground running and have success it will be very easy. If you do not have those changing moments then it will be the outside influences facing your players that will dictate their effort. This system is based on effort in every phase of the game. PERIOD. If you do not get it then you will struggle to make it work.

Before you implement anything to your players, I suggest you educate your Athletic Director and possibly the Principal (depending on how involved they are) as to what you are going to do. They will not understand it so great detail is not necessary, but they will be supportive longer. Each team gets this at different times as the learning curve can be steep and a little time to develop it is always good.

I have used the substitution pattern as a selling feature to my administration. As a teacher in the classroom you can't just teach to 8 people and while you sit the others in chairs against the wall for the entire class period. The gym is your classroom and they are all involved. As for number of players on your team, I would keep only the players you are comfortable playing. This does not mean you need to play them equal amounts of PT, but they are all playing.

As you introduce this to your squad you need to be sure your best two players are on board. Chances are the first year your better players returning will have their playing time reduced and will resent this. A constant reminder that production will increase with less minutes is important.

I believe, along with every coach that has implemented the System, that you need to adopt each part of the system to achieve the desired outcomes. The things that coaches perceive they will struggle with before they begin are not the areas that will give you trouble. The subbing and layups bother parents. Players love the subbing and understand the 3 for 2 and that is erased early. Fatigue and the ability to play on through mistakes will be the factors that you need to hurdle. Every thing that happens is needs to be sold as an opportunity to press. Each group is on the floor for such a short time that they tend to learn to forget just as quickly. Coaches early seem worried that their team can't shoot or are not athletic enough or even are a poor rebounding team. As you attempt this you will find that shooting percentages are irrelevant in the overall scheme. Nobody can shoot 10%, but you can counter an "off" night. You will find that athleticism is not really a key to if you are a good pressing team, but rather we are looking to create constant pace. Anticipation of what is happening next is the real ingredient. And rebounding....this is strictly position but also knowing where the shots are being taken and when. This is why the 3 is critical. It spreads the defense and assists the rebounding. My leading offensive rebounder is a 5' 5" kid that understands how to get position.

To finish, I had a parent that was a constant complainer about how we played to the AD (never to me = nice protocol). Finally when he did whine to me I asked him if he has ever asked his daughter about it. Answer? No, he hadn't. Next day he apologized to me as he found out his kid loved it and was embarrassed at his demeanor. By putting ownership back to the players will go a long way in loving the system.

I think we are ready to install.....

Confessions of a System Newbie, Entry #1

2007-06-02T18:01:00.000-07:00

My hope is that this post and the ones to follow will provide a sort of window into the mind of a coach implementing THE SYSTEM for the first time. Allow me to provide a little information about my situation and program. I am the varsity girls head coach at Rim of the World High School in Lake Arrowhead, California. I have recently completed my first season as head coach and eagerly await the start of my second. Our program has been down for some time. We were 0-8 in league play before I took the reins. We managed a humble 4-4 mark in league play this season, mostly thanks to solid 3-point shooting. Our overall record was 11-15. Heading into next season, we are incredibly undersized, our tallest returning girl is 5'8", the next tallest is 5'7". After that, the dropoff is disturbing. However, what we lack in size, we makeup in speed. I offer this information as a context for other coaches who may be in a similar situation.

THE SYSTEM has intrigued me since I first discovered it only a few months ago. As I neared the end of my first season as head coach, I had learned that we were a decent 3-point shooting team and had good speed with a solid bench providing quality depth. I knew that we were losing all of our size as our post players were seniors. It was at that moment I deciced that we would pursue becoming a run & gun team at season's end in preparation for 2007-08. I googled "run & gun" and discovered an article at D3 Hoops mentioning Coach David Arsenault, Coach Bob Belf and Coach Gary Smith at the Univesity of Redlands. Being that Redlands is a mere half hour from me, I promptly sent him an email and took a few road trips down the mountain to see extreme fast break b-ball at its best.

I took my team on a field trip to watch the Redlands boys play so that the girls could have a framework with which they could better understand my vision under THE SYSTEM. Coach Smith put me in contact with Coach Belf which was a much needed interaction and reality check. I say this b/c the prospect of implementing the system is risky for coaches. It's radical, extreme and unconventional. Coach Belf bluntly informed me that I needed the support of my players and athletic director for implementation of THE SYSTEM to be successul. People are easily frsutrated with break away layups, not to mention the seemingly chaotic substitution pattern and reliance on 3-point shooting. Basketball purists balk at the notion of dishing the ball back out to the arc on an offensive rebound. They also ask, "How can giving up layups be good for the team?" Well, if you're visiting this blog, you know the answers and reasons for these issues. But, the basketball lay person does not.

I promptly began conducting positive public relations with all of the folks that I value that are involved with my program--my assistants, volunteers, parents, the principal and athletic director. The players, however, were my most targeted. I figured that if the players were positive and understood the strategy, positive repurcussions would stem from that. So far, so good.

We have been hitting THE SYSTEM hard the last couple of months with support from Coach Smith but also Coach Holmes and Coach McCanna. I would be lying if I didn't say that I was anxious about our prospects as we prepare for the summer. Do I worry a tad that people may think I'm an idiot? Of course, I do. And yes, I probably am. That doesn't diminish the value of THE SYSTEM, however. I believe in THE SYSTEM, and mostly everyone around me knows what we're trying to do and support it. I've made sure of that. I've put them in contact with folks and articles that provide THE SYSTEM with credibility. Nonetheless, I'm a little nervous. We've introduced and utilized much of THE SYSTEM in spring play, but it remains largely unpolished. We'll get it looking shiny and new very quickly. I believe our family and friends support what we're trying to accomplish. This summer will be a challenging learning experience for us and I'm eager to get it underway.

However, when presented with the slight fear that I mentioned earlier, I must provide the following context: Would our team be successful playing more conventional half-court basketball? I am certain that I know the answer which gives me great faith in THE SYSTEM and my players. They are loving what we are doing. No one is complaining about playing time. Everyone is involved. And every player is believing in what we're doing.

I believe the before-mentioned steps and actions have been an essential and necessary process in our on-going transition to THE SYSTEM.

With these issues behind us, we can now better focus on the nuts & bolts of THE SYSTEM. My nerves are still troubling me a bit. I'd be lying if I didn't admit it. Until those first few games are behind us in the next few weeks, I suppose that I'll still be anxious.

- Zack Delmont, Head Coach of the Rim of the World Fighting Lady Scots of Lake Arrowhead, California

There is More than One Way to Skin a Cat

2007-05-29T09:27:00.000-07:00

As coaches research the possibility of moving to an Extreme Fast Break system, they are usually confronted with a dilemma... what direction do I go, LMU or Grinnell? Well, what it really boils down to is research and personal preference.

Locating the available materials and resources will ultimately help guide your decision to go in the Grinnell or LMU direction. Certainly, after digesting the those materials you may feel one system is a better fit than the other. From my perspective, Grinnell's style made the most sense because we had a lot of access to Grinnell materials and sources, which made our transition easier.

That is not to say that Grinnell is a better system than LMU...I couldn't really say because I've never really gotten into the nuts and bolts of the LMU system. I know there are some similarities b/w Grinnell and LMU, but there are also some major differences as well.

One of the goals I want for this blog is to cater to any and all variations of Extreme Fast Break Basketball. Since my familiarity lies with the Grinnell system, I'm hoping we can get some contributors to add content from non-Grinnell system styles of Extreme Fast Break Basketball. If you are interested in being a contributor, please leave a message (that includes your email) in the comment section of this post. I really hope to get a nice cross-section of discussion on this blog.

Inmates Running the Asylum?

2007-05-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

One of the most difficult aspects of coaching in an Extreme Fast Break system is having to relinquish control to your players. As coaches, our natural instinct is to over-analyze, micromanage and out think ourselves on almost every possession in practices and in games. In a Extreme Fast Break environment, a coach really needs to do the exact opposite.

Basically, Extreme Fast Break basketball is about one thing...pace. Creating pace is the most crucial component we are after and the less the players have to think, the more they can just focus on putting forth all their energy into playing every second as hard as they possibly can. As coaches, the more responsibility we give our players to remember specific plays or presses in certain situations, in my opinion, will impede the players ability to play at an all out pace.

Really, simplicity is one of the most interesting things about Extreme Fast Basketball. Having the players focus on just a few responsibilities on both offense and defense frees them up to just play at a break-neck speed. From my experience, if we tried to force our players to execute a bunch of different presses based on different situations during the game, we would have really struggled in staying aggressive. Even if you are lucky enough to coach the smartest kids in the world, I don't think it is worth sacrificing all out effort in order to press a certain way just because your opponent missed a shot, turned the ball over or made a basket.

Does this mean you should press the same way during the game or only run your fast break system one way to keep things simple? Heck no. Certainly, adding some tweaks here or emphasizing a certain rotation there is necessary. But as a rule of thumb, I really think you need to go with a less is more approach, ESPECIALLY if you are in the early stages of implementing the system.

Just keep your focus on creating an extreme pace of play and achieving your desired goals. The numbers will tell you if your achieving your desired pace. More times than not, the reason your team is not achieving your desired goals is because of effort...making the press or fast break system more complex will likely not make a difference. Getting your kids to play all out is the key a vast majority of the time. The simpler you keep it, the better off the kids will be.

Mini-Clinic at Rim of the World HS

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Marina High School's Coach Roger Holmes and his staff made the trip up to Lake Arrowhead, CA last week to assist the Rim of the World Girls get more comfortable running the system. It turned out to be a very productive day as the Rim Girl's seemed to really grasp the concepts and drills that Coach Holmes shared with them.

Certainly, the transition was made easier by Coach Delmont, Head Varsity Coach of the Rim Girl's and his staff. Coach Delmont has tried to incorporate some of the system ideas during the Spring League, but have not been able to fully jump in due to lack of player numbers(many girls were involved in Spring sports). On this day however, Coach Delmont had a full squad of Girls and they really did a GREAT job in terms of picking up the nuances of the system.

The highlight of the day was a simulated game(for only 1 quarter) where the Rim Varsity competed against one of their lower-level teams. Even though there was a decided talent advantage for the Varsity, they finally got a chance to see how the system really works...stats were kept, the girls where subbed in shifts and they pressed like mad.

The final results of the scrimmage were outstanding, they met all of their goals(by a large margin in some cases). Even though there were only 30 people in the gym, it sounded like 1,000. The energy the girls displayed was tremendous. There is no doubt that if the Rim Girls can bottle that energy up and play like that on a game in game out basis, they will have a great season. The girls and coaches were sponges and as they get more comfortable with the little things, the sky is the limit.

As an aside, it is great to see fellow system coaches willing to share their knowledge and experiences to better those who are just starting out with this craziness. Certainly, in Marina's case, if it weren't for the time that Coach David Arseneault and Coach Gary Smith spent working with the coaching staff, it would have been difficult to achieve the success they did this past year.

So in that spirit, if any *system newbies* need any assistance, please don't hesitate to ask. We can't promise any one day clinics...that is based on location, time and other factors...but at the very least we will answer every question, provide any related video and/or doing anything else to help you make the adjustment to Extreme Fast Break Basketball.

Are we giving up too many layups in our press? How much is too much?

2007-05-14T11:51:00.000-07:00

One of the most common concerns of coaches interested in or starting off with extreme fast break basketball is giving opponents too many easy layups. In the Run and Gun Yahoo Group Doug Porter, Head Women's Coach at Olivet Nazarene University, discussed the issue of giving up too many layups in the press. Here's some of what Doug had to say:

Two points:
1) The stat you need to focus on, first of all, is forced turnovers. If you aren't meeting that goal regularly, then you are probably not being aggressive enough in your press. Remember you are playing an extreme system here, and must create some TO's to counter the high FG% of your opponent. BUT also remember that your own offensive production will be higher as a result of this aggressive defense, which creates more open court shots and ORB's for you (and, surprisingly, a lower offensive TO% when you get good at it). You're comment was exactly on target: you must "give to get!" But you must learn to give INTELLIGENTLY.

Maybe you or your players are too afraid of going all out? In any case, the dirty little secret is I don't like giving up layups either, but the WRONG way to address that problem in the system is to pull back and play a safer press.

2) The right way to address the "problem" of layups (at least this has been the path we've taken) is to work on the following aspects of your press:

a) Play different presses (all aggressive!) to limit the breakaway 3/2 and 2/1 opportunities by your opponent. Examples: Faceguard the throw-in and stay on the ball (i.e. use a SUPER-aggressive press); OR Faceguard the throw-in and move "Off" the inbounder to help on denial and get a quicker trap; OR Faceguard and move "Back" behind the front line with your on ball defender to put an extra body in position to contain breakaways and/or help the safety; OR Totally allow the throwin vs 3-up or 4-up to prevent the quick backdoor pass behind your defenders; OR Delay the trap until 3/4 court or � court (what Coach Smith at Redlands calls "Stay"). Which one to use? Whichever one that works at the time vs. that particular opponent's press attack.

b) Drill on "chasing" opponents after they get by the front line of your press. You'll be surprised at how much players can help you out if they just bust their tails to get back to "back-tap" the dribbler and/or help out your out-numbered safety.

c) Drill on 2/1 and 3/2 situations (especially 2/1) until those safeties can react and read better. The instinct for when to come up for a steal or fall back to protect the rim is not easy to develop, but it's critical. So is the skill of knowing when to try and draw the charge vs. going for the block vs. getting out of the way! Our safeties were terrible early in the year at this (thus, our 6-10 record pre-Christmas) but by our conference tourney finals they were excellent, drawing 5 charges.

Thanks to Coach Porter for his insight on this issue...certainly, if you would like to continue or add to this discussion, post a comment.

Those planning to implement the Run in Gun for next season...

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we would certainly love to hear from you. As you can see, we have included links the various teams that we know are playing extreme fast break basketball. If you are going to the extreme fastbreak style of play, please leave a comment in the post with your school name, location and web address. We will add your team to our ever growing links page. This will be a great way for our community to track each teams progress throughout the year.

Also, if you are interested in having the ability to author posts on this blog, please leave a comment or shoot me an email and I can set it up.

Good luck in all of your spring and summer activities!!!

Marina's Shift Spreadsheet for the '06-'07 season...

2007-05-12T15:45:00.000-07:00

One of the most useful tools we as a coaching staff utilized during the season was our year to date shift spreadsheet. Over the course of our 27 game season, we amassed nearly 900 shifts. Every one of those shifts were logged by minutes played and given a plus/minus based on the scoreboard.

The net benefit of this worksheet was it allowed us the ability to look at shift times per group and compare those to the plus/minus numbers. One of our challenges as a coaching staff was to gauge shift length as it relates to optimum productivity. Converting what Grinnell and Redlands did in terms of shift times was a tough thing to determine. Because we were playing 20% less than the college guys/gals do(on a smaller court no less) we thought it may behoove us to keep shifts in the 1:15-1:20 range.

What we discovered was, the shifts that were closer to a minute in length ended up being our most productive shifts. Certainly, there were some longer shifts that resulted in good plus/minus numbers but on the whole, it was patently clear...the shorter the shift the better off we were.

Without the benefit of tracking the shifts, we as a staff may not have been able to make the necessary adjustments to our shift lengths. If we decided not the track our shifts, we may never have fully understood the relationship between shift length and our optimum productivity. Really, the adjustment only amounted to 10-15 seconds, but it made a HUGE difference.

As you are trying to implement the system and working on your shifts, give some serious thought to developing a method to track your teams shifts in order to maximize your teams productivity. I've attached our '06-'07 Shift Spreadsheet for your review.

06-07 Marina Shift Plus Minus Chart

It might look a little like chinese at first...but it is pretty simple. I tried to include as much info in the spreadsheet as a I could. The headers are pretty straight forward...OB indicates "on the ball", UP indicates "right and left flanks"(note there are 2 UP's...the first UP on the spreadsheet is ALWAYS the PG), INT indicates "interceptor" and DEEP indicates "deep man on the press". The number underneath the position headers is the players #.

Click the comments link at the end of this post if you would like post any questions or discuss this issue further.

Welcome to the Run and Gun Basketball Blog...

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It is our hope that this blog will help those with an affinity for Run & Gun Basketball to stay on top of the latest that our community has to offer. This Blog can be used both as a discussion and a informational forum.

We hope to promote any relevant Run & Gun Events that are upcoming. We also plan on keeping a tabs on all the teams that are currently implementing a form of Run & Gun Basketball.

What makes this Blog great is that not only can we post information, it allows for us to have discussions without leaving this Blog. Basically this is a one stop shop on the internet for all of your Run & Gun needs.

We look forward to adding more relevant content which will include videos, pictures and podcasts which should making this blogging experience a valuable one.

Thanks for your support and don't forget...when in doubt, shoot it!!!