Players Playbook- 10 Tasks for Off-Season

Here are 10 tasks for players for the off-season. 

1- Listen, Listen, Listen- Listen to your coaches. Understand what they want. Ask questions. Players who build relationships with their coach have greater success. Despite what outside voices may say- your coach wants you to succeed. 

2- Communicate with Teammates- Off the court, talk and get to know your teammates. 

In practice, give teammates praise and constructive advice. 

During summer games, develop the habit of talking or huddling quickly in deadballs. Ideally this would be the point guard but it can be any player. Describe a simple action that you will start the next possession. Even if you are a free lance kind of team. Share by saying, “Let’s start next possession with a dribble hand off.” Obviously the more actions that you have names for, the easier it is. You are still a “free lance” team but have your team start each possession with a particular action. This will create variety but it also might be the way to get preferred players touches.

3- Range, Range, Range- Between now and the start of basketball, make yourself into a three point shooter. It takes commitment and it takes repetitions. There are numerous stories of NBA and WNBA players who were not three point shooters in college or early in their pro careers who in one off-season made themselves into three point shooters. You consider yourself a basketball players and can’t shoot threes? You are not putting in enough time shooting. 

4- Draw Contact, Don’t Avoid Contact- SGA with Oklahoma City is the master of this technique. When you get a defender on your hip, don’t go away, lean into them. 

5- Simple Finishes- Consistently in the WNBA and NBA smaller guards are able to finish on drives vs bigger defender by reaching out and shooting the ball underhand, out ahead of them. The underhand, reaching layup should be in all players toolbox.

6- Three Point Shooters, Back Up Farther- Obviously all players need to have an awareness of the three point arc. There is nothing worse than a shooter shooting with their toe 3 inches over the line. So obviously, you want to shoot close to the line. BUT…. If you are a decent three point shooter, let’s say in games you can shoot 35%, sometimes you need to back up. 

A three attempt that is 3-5 feet off the arc where the shooter has space and has time may be a better shot than one on the arc where a defender is coming to challenge the shot and coming to rush the shot. 

So if you feel like you are a decent shooter on the arc, become a decent shooter 3-5 feet off the arc. It will only make you harder to guard.

If you watch the NBA and WNBA, there may not be a lot of players who shoot logo threes like Curry and Clark, but you will see there are a fair number of players who are shooting threes with space off the arc.

7- Develop Backdoor Ability- As a passer coming down the floor, work on a backdoor bounce pass to a wing. As a wing, work on the backdoor cut. If you run dribble hand offs, work on the cutter planting and going back door and passing the ball off the dribble. It is not the traditional backdoor but work on the fake hand offs and drives. 

8- Develop your screening ability- Does your coach have names for different types of screens- ghost, slips, brush, short rolls, hot stove, pop, etc. Even if it is in a driveway, get mom/dad/little sister/brother as passer and a chair as defender you screen. Work on these screens and learn how to score off each of them. Next season be able to say to your coach, “Is it ok on this play if sometimes I use this type of screen?” Use the off-season to not only add to your game but maybe add to your team’s game.

Handle Ball Screen Defense- Do you have a plan for how you handle what each defense does to defend ball screens?  What do you as a player do if the defense switches, blitz’s, hard hedge, drop coverage, etc. You can practice each of these things in the off-season with no defense. Put a chair out there and attack an imaginary defense. 

9- Do More- In the off-season, don’t just do what your coach organizes for you. Work out in your driveway or go to the Y. Become a better ball handler. Become a better shooter. Become a stronger and better athlete. 

10- TEAM>me- Show your teammates and show your coaches that you are all in with your team. Great players are great teammates.