Modern Concepts for Bigs
Episode 112 w/ Alex Sarama & Finishing Around the Basket
When the new high school team I coach walks into a gym, we look like a basketball team — we’ve got some real size this year.
That’s a change for me. In two decades of coaching both boys and girls, I’ve rarely had much height. Most of my teams were built around perimeter play, with our top players typically being guards or wings. But this season, the emphasis will shift: we’re going to use our size to our advantage, get the ball inside, and build our offense from there. Expect to see a lot of possessions with two bigs on the floor.
With that in mind, I’ve spent the summer digging into double-big formations and concepts. I also had the chance to explore this topic with Alex Sarama on the latest episode of the Idaho Basketball Coaching Podcast.
As longtime listeners know, Alex has been a great friend of the show. We first connected during the COVID shutdowns and have stayed in touch ever since.
This past season, Alex served as the Director of Player Development for the Cleveland Cavaliers — a team that regularly plays with a frontcourt duo of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. I reached out to him recently to talk about strategies for playing with multiple bigs, and we turned it into a full conversation for the podcast.
There’s a ton of insight in this episode, and I’m grateful to Alex for carving out time to share ideas with coaches. If you would like some more on the conceptual offense and motor learning, visit the 🔗 Transforming Basketball website.
EPISODE #112 BREAKDOWN
1:20 - The impact of motor learning on NBA players
2:55 - Principles of Play & half court efficiency
4:45 - Timeline between player development & in-game transfer
7:05 - Playing with a double-big lineup
12:45 - Cutting as a concept vs. a motion principle
16:10 - Helping bigs develop modern offensive skills
17:45 - Unique spacing opportunities in a double-big lineup
19:40 - The dunker wheel as a concept
20:35 - Being OK with multiple “right” answers
22:10 - Teaching points in a Big-Big on-ball screen
23:35 - Rebounding responsibilities in a Double Big lineup
25:25 - Making rebounding an overriding Principle of Play
27:10 - POP idea: Don’t end drills on the shot
29:05 - Implementing “sacrificial” cuts as a concept
31:00 - What’s next?
⛹️ Finishing Around the Basket
Like a lot of teams, one of our key areas of focus this coming winter will be finishing around the basket. Even with our size, we struggled at times to convert in the paint during summer games.
I’ve got one particularly talented player — a 6-foot-7 forward — who I’ll be working with more closely once summer club season wraps up. The priority for him will be learning to finish through contact and building confidence when he gets near the rim.
For this newsletter, I asked Alex Sarama to share a few ideas on how to help players improve their finishing.
Here’s an exclusive clip from our conversation that is not included in the episode.
I also reached out to Drew Dunlop — another friend of the podcast — for his thoughts on helping players improve their finishing.
(If you’re not familiar with 🔗 Drew or his player development work at The Pro Lane, I highly recommend checking him out.)
Here are some insights he shared:
‘Watch Through The Finish’
The first place is to cue them to “watch through the finish“ on any finish. Get used to having chin to rim and eyes through.
“Chin to Rim & Eyes Through.”
1v1 Situations
Start with 1v1 with the defender at various points on his side - one step behind, shoulder to shoulder, and then one step in front. Get used to watching through vs a defender.
Defender Behind
Defender Shoulder-to-Shoulder
Defender In Front
1v2 Situations
Then start to layer in 1v2 situations where he has one defender behind him and another in help position that rotates over on his first move.
Work through the various starts — on the catch, off a cut, off the dribble etc. with all angles and locations around the paint.
On the Catch
Off the Cut
Off the Dribble
Be sure to check out the episode with Drew.
Finally, here’s a 1v1 In The Pen Drill I used when coaching girls to practice finishing around the basket. We will definitely use this as a development tool with the boys.
➡️ Player can only score in “the pen" —
➡️ On change of possession, the player with ball has dribble into the pen from outside of it
➡️ Continuous play off makes and misses
➡️ The first player to 3 points wins
