Basketball, Multiple Offense and Defense

I coached a camp this past summer in which a few coaches were discussing this book and referred to it as "The Holy Grail" of basketball books. To any coach looking for new perspectives and strategies, I would strongly recommend this book. You may not be able to use everything, and some of the information is a bit dated, but it prompted a million ideas of my own, and helped me plan out some fresh drills, plays, and defenses for my team.

I have always been a fan of Roy Williams who knows well the system of Dean Smith. So, by default, I am a fan of Coach Smith. Previous reviews have aptly explained the features of the book but I wanted to focus on an aspect that directly led to my team winning more games over the past two years. Described in the book is a statistical chart that Smith used to check his team's productivity taking into account the results of possessions. Every time your shooting percentage is high and your free throw attempts are high, you win. (obviously) But the chart comares your success to the opponent. Even in a win by 4 points, my team's productivity was less than the opponent. Tournovers were too high. We were giving away possessions. I presented this information to the players and they could see with their own eyes the data. We "threw away" possessions that didn't yeild shots. Players can be told about taking care of the ball; players can watch their mistakes on game film. But this formula rating their points per possession seemed to drive the message home. (by the way, the second time we faced the team be beat by 4, we won by 20 and had 2 turnovers. Their focus was so much higher)

I have been thoroughly impressed with this book. I coach my daughter's junior high team and had spent countless hours on the Internet looking for the perfect site to give me coaching insite. Since this book arrived in the mail, I have not been to any other resource. This book intuitively guides you on how to reach kids of all ages. The emphasis placed on an unselfish brand of basketball will tell you everything you need to know about why this man was so successful coaching college basketball. Each chapter is a valuable lesson on the game with the first half dedicated to offense and the latter portion to defense. Each section has a "how to teach" and "how to drill" every concept covered. He also explains what will be easy to pick up and what will be difficult to master for kids at all levels. His knowledge comes not only from coaching the great Tar Heel teams but from running annual camps geared towards teaching kids 10 and up. I wish he was still holding these camps because I would want my daughter or son to experience his instruction. If you're about to take on the challenge of coaching junior high basketball (boys or girls), do yourself a favor, read and re-read this book; it will give you confidence you're doing things the right way. It is excellently written by the legend himself.

This book is a must for all coaches. It explains the Carolina system. Which history has proven has been a good system. The book explains alot. It answers questions that you have not even thought of yet. The special section by Bob Spear of the Air Force Academy was wonderful. It explained the shuffle offense to perfection. If you are a coach and looking for an offense to run, read this section on the shuffle. You will like this offense and all the variations that are well explained in this section. The one thing that could be explained more is the famed Carolina 4 corners. They could have discussed it more, and given more examples of how it works. That is the only negative of the book. The motion offense and it's rules are explained in great detail. If you are looking for a zone offense, take a look at the triple post offense. The different defenses are explained very well. Smith's famous run and jump defenses are diagrammed and explained in great detail, along with their other defenses This book shows you how you can set up your style for your team. I am constantly referring back to this book during the season.

I coach a high school team and this book has become my bible. Everything contained within this book is helpful. The sections on Man to man pressure defense is excellent. We have adopted the Shuffle Offense for our half court offense this season. Whenever I have some free time I read and re-read this book and everytime I pick up something new. This is a must have for the serious basketball coach.