John Wooden's UCLA Offense - John Wooden and Swen Nater

John Wooden's UCLA Offense

by John Wooden and Swen Nater

NEW, 240 pages plus DVD

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About John Wooden's UCLA Offense

John Wooden’s legacy as the best basketball coach of all time results not only from his unparalleled championship-winning record but also from his brilliance as a tactician and teacher. In John Wooden’s UCLA Offense, Coach Wooden reconfirms his instructional genius in an unprecedented inside look at the offensive system that made his teams impossible to defend, including many never-before-published play options and insights.

This richly detailed book and DVD presentation features the famous high-post and high-low attacks, many special play options, sideline and under-the-basket in-bound plays, and press-breaking tactics. This package gives you much more than just the standard Xs and Os. You’ll gain insights on each facet of offensive play, the fundamentals for success as an individual and team on the offensive end, and the strategic nuances and teaching points that result in consistent, precise execution.

Featuring principles used in today’s popular motion and triangle offenses, John Wooden’s UCLA Offense is still as potent and unstoppable today as it was during the Bruins’ dynasty years. Whether you wish to add only certain options and plays, or want to incorporate the entire package into your offensive arsenal, every facet and step in the process is provided. Score big with this special chance to learn the game from a legend, and see your team’s offensive productivity rise to new heights.

About John Wooden

John Wooden is simply the most successful basketball coach in the history of the sport. In his 40 years as a head coach, Wooden compiled an unparalleled 885-203 overall career win-loss record (.813). Wooden's UCLA teams registered 620 wins and only 147 losses, won a record 10 NCAA championships, and achieved one of the most amazing winning streaks in all of sports with 38 straight NCAA tournament victories. His Bruin teams also set the all-time NCAA record by winning 88 straight games over four seasons, including consecutive 30-0 seasons in 1971-72 and 1972-73.

As a high school basketball player at Martinsville, Indiana, Wooden won all-state honors three consecutive years. At Purdue University, he won letters in basketball and baseball his freshman year and later earned All-American honors as a guard on the basketball team from 1930 to 1932. He captained Purdue's basketball teams of 1931 and 1932 and led the Boilermakers to two Big Ten titles and the 1932 national championship.

Wooden was the first person to be inducted into the National Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and coach. In 1999, ESPN named Wooden the Greatest Basketball Coach of All Time. He was also named The Sporting News Sports Man of the Year in 1970 and Sports Illustrated Sports Man of the year in 1973.

About Swen Nater

Swen Nater was a UCLA player under Wooden and the first and only college player in history to be drafted in the first round of the NBA draft without ever having started a college game. Despite this fact, Nater went on to a 12-year professional career spanning three leagues: the American Basketball Association (ABA), National Basketball Association (NBA), and Italian League. He was the ABA Rookie of the Year, and he is the only player in the history of professional basketball to lead all three leagues in rebounding.

After his playing career, Nater served as athletic director for 9 years at Christian Heritage College, where he also coached the basketball team to a national title. Currently, Nater is an assistant sporting goods buyer for Costco Wholesale, and he resides in the small town of Enumclaw, Washington, with his wife, Marlene.

Reviews

"As the great teacher he is, Coach Wooden provides not only the “what” but also the “how” and the “why” of UCLA's legendary offensive attack. This book and DVD clearly detail the high post and high-low offenses as well as special plays and concepts that produced 10 NCAA Division I national championship teams."
Pat Summitt
University of Tennessee head coach, first women's coach to reach 800 victories

"John Wooden's UCLA Offense is a must for coaches seeking to broaden and deepen their knowledge of the game. This book and DVD provide a special opportunity to learn from two of the game's best teachers."
Pete Newell
Coach of Olympic, NCAA, and NIT championship teams

"John Wooden's UCLA Offense is truly much more than a textbook and DVD. Like Einstein and Newton, Coach Wooden was able to take a sophisticated theory and present it in its simplest, most useful form. In that way, his revelations about the components, continuity, flexibility, and creativity of the offense provide coaches with a tool akin to what the wheel and light bulb offered people in previous eras. Coach Wooden and Swen Nater ensure that you'll have everything you'll need to enlighten your offensive attack and get it rolling better than ever!"
Bill Walton
Basketball Hall of Fame

"John Wooden's UCLA Offense reminds me of just how meticulous the greatest basketball coach of all time was in teaching the game and devising winning tactics. Even more valuable than the detailed Xs and Os are the many insights offered by the coach throughout the book and DVD. Learn from the best to teach and coach your best."
Tom Izzo
Michigan State University head coach

About Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules. Basketball is one of the world's most popular and widely viewed sport.

A regulation basketball hoop consists of a rim 18 inches (45.7 cm) in diameter and 10 feet (3.05 m) high mounted to a backboard. A team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the hoop during regular play. A field goal scores two points for the shooting team if a player is touching or closer to the hoop than the three-point line, and three points (a "3 pointer") if the player is "outside" the three-point line. The team with more points at the end of the game wins, but additional time (overtime) may be issued when the game ends with a tie. The ball can be advanced on the court by bouncing it while walking or running (dribbling) or passing it to a teammate. It is a violation (traveling) to walk with the ball, carry it, or to double dribble (to hold the ball and then resume dribbling).

Various violations are generally called "fouls". Disruptive physical contact (a personal foul) is penalized, and a free throw is usually awarded to an offensive player if he is fouled while shooting the ball. A technical foul may also be issued when certain infractions occur, most commonly for unsportsmanlike conduct on the part of a player or coach. A technical foul gives the opposing team a free throw.

Basketball has evolved many commonly used techniques of shooting, passing, and dribbling, as well as specialized player positions and offensive and defensive structures (player positioning) and techniques. Typically, the tallest members of a team will play "center", "small forward", or "power forward" positions, while shorter players or those who possess the best ball handling skills and speed play "point guard" or "shooting guard".

While competitive basketball is carefully regulated, numerous variations of basketball have developed for casual play. Competitive basketball is primarily an indoor sport played on carefully marked and maintained basketball courts, but less regulated variations are often played outdoors in both inner city and rural areas.

The strategies also evolve with the game. In the 1990s and early 2000s, teams played with more "isolation". Teams that had one superstar would let one player, usually the point guard or shooting guard, run most of the offense while the other four offensive players get out of his/her way. Nowadays, teams tend to play with more teamwork. The "Center" position has evolved to become more of a taller "Small Forward" position. Since teams play more teamwork, ball movement has evolved with the game, and more jump shots have been taken as a result.

There are two main defensive strategies: zone defense and man-to-man defense. In a zone defense, each player is assigned to guard a specific area of the court. In a man-to-man defense, each defensive player guards a specific opponent. Man-to-man defense is generally preferred at higher levels of competition, as it is intuitively easier to understand and avoids mismatches between players who play different positions. However, zone defenses are sometimes used in particular situations or simply to confuse the offense with an unexpected look.

Offensive plays are more varied, normally involving planned passes and movement by players without the ball. A quick movement by an offensive player without the ball to gain an advantageous position is a cut. A legal attempt by an offensive player to stop an opponent from guarding a teammate, by standing in the defender's way such that the teammate cuts next to him, is a screen or pick. The two plays are combined in the pick and roll, in which a player sets a pick and then "rolls" away from the pick towards the basket. Screens and cuts are very important in offensive plays; these allow the quick passes and teamwork which can lead to a successful basket. Teams almost always have several offensive plays planned to ensure their movement is not predictable. On court, the point guard is usually responsible for indicating which play will occur.

Defensive and offensive structures, and positions, are more emphasized in higher levels in basketball; it is these that a coach normally requests a time-out to discuss.

John Wooden's UCLA Offense