NBA Coaches Playbook - National Basketball Coaches Association

NBA Coaches Playbook

by National Basketball Coaches Association

NEW, 368 pages

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About NBA Coaches Playbook

The Phoenix Suns’ Steve Nash shines in running the break, but how do his teammates know where to go to get open to receive his passes? Orlando’s Dwight Howard is a tremendous talent in the post, but how has he improved and added new dimensions to his game? And how is it that Utah’s Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer run the screen-and-roll as smoothly as Jazz legends John Stockton and Karl Malone did years before?

Coaching. Yes, even in a league loaded with superior athletic talent, the teaching, tactical maneuvers, and strategies provided by NBA coaches are second to none. And as younger, sometimes less mature and less experienced players from all over the world have entered the league, those coaching skills are more diverse and better honed than ever before.

Now NBA Coaches Playbook takes you into the practice sessions and sideline huddles with detailed Xs and Os and more from the game’s best at maximizing performance on the court. Let the likes of Phil Jackson, Mike D’Antoni, Avery Johnson, Stan Van Gundy, George Karl, Eddie Jordan, Mike Dunleavy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and many other head and assistant coaches provide you with new insights to benefit your own team and individual players.

About NBCA

Founded in 1976, the National Basketball Coaches Association membership is a who's who in coaching: Every coach in the league is a member. Through the Celtics-Lakers rivalry in the 1980s, the 1992 Team USA Dream Team, and the unparalleled skill and marketing power of Michael Jordan through the 1990s, the National Basketball Association has become the world's most famous sports league over the past 25 years. Its coaches represent the top instructors and game technicians in the sport. They have mastered not only how to coach the world's top athletes but how to strategize and scheme against other world-class athletes and coaches as well.

Giorgio Gandolfi is editor in chief of FIBA Assist magazine, the primary magazine of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Gandolfi has served as a European consultant for the NBCA and has been a member of the Italian Basketball Federation Coaches Association since 1974. He has authored one book with the NBCA (NBA Coaches Handbook) and two editions of the book with the National Basketball Players Association (Hoops: The Official National Basketball Players Association Guide to Playing Basketball).

Reviews

"NBA Coaches Playbook is exceptional! It covers every facet of basketball, from individual and team drills to strategy and coaching philosophy. I recommend it to basketball coaches at all levels."

Steve Smith
Head Basketball Coach, Oak Hill Academy

"The basketball knowledge and experience available in this book are outstanding! You'll use this fundamental basketball information throughout the season, year after year."

Van Chancellor
Women's Basketball Head Coach, Louisiana State University

"Technical instruction, practice tips, drills, offensive attacks, special plays, and defensive tactics, all from great basketball minds that know what does and doesn't work. NBA Coaches' Playbook is a must-have in any serious coach's library."

Rick Pitino
Men's Basketball Head Coach, University of Louisville

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.

NBA Coaches Playbook