Off-ball Movement Against Help
Coaching Abroad: Dundalk Ravens & 10 Coaching Thoughts
🤔 Thought Starter
⛹️ Off-ball Concepts for Attacking Help
📓 Some Coaching Thoughts
🌍 Coaching Abroad: Dundalk Ravens
🎶 The Playlist
🤔 Thought Starter
“When there is a loss, there is criticism and you have positive and negative critics, but you also have the constructive criticism. This is the one that we have to consider.”
- Mauricio Pochettino
⛹️ Off-ball Concepts for Attacking Help
Decision-making and movement without the ball are crucial elements of the game. In my experience, they're also among the toughest parts of implementing a conceptual offense with younger players. Done well, it leads to advantage 2s and kickout 3s all game. Done poorly, it feels like you're playing 4-on-6 or 3-on-7.
In the second leg of the FIBA Europe Cup semifinal last week, PAOK jumped out to a 20–7 lead over Cholet. Hot shooting fueled the Greek team's early burst, but it wasn’t just luck. PAOK effectively complemented their on-ball actions with simple off-ball cutting concepts to exploit Cholet’s help defense.
The key? When the defense turns its head, the offense should move. In three of the four clips below, you'll see off-ball players relocate the moment their defender looks away. (In the fourth clip, the player used “pre-spacing” to create the advantage without needing to move.)
Of course, “simple” becomes simple only through repetition. Weakside movement —knowing when to hold and when to go — is one of the most common questions coaches ask when exploring a conceptual offense. Clips like these, paired with quality reps, can help players internalize the why and how of effective off-ball movement and punish the help.
📓 10 Coaching Thoughts
It’s been awhile since sharing some coaching notes I’ve collected here and there. Here are some thoughts I’ve written down or come across the last few months.
✅ “When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.”
- Alexander Den Heijer
✅ 3 Fundamental truths of defending the modern pick-and-roll …
There is no single “right way” to do it.
Every team must decide which outcomes they most want to avoid and which they can accept as occupational hazards.
Perfecting one scheme is good. Being capable enough to perform more than one scheme is better. Merging the best elements of each scheme into a strong, yet flexible philosophy is best.
- Mike Prada, Spaced Out
✅ “In return for so much, what shall we give back?”
- City motto of Belfast, Northern Ireland
✅ Before each practice, make what’s about to happen clear and reinforce to the players that they have what it takes to achieve what we are installing.
The ”WWH” guide to practices
What are we going to do?
Why are we going to do it?
How are we going to do it?
- Nick Winkelman, Slappin’ Glass
✅ “Too often, teams default to compliance or groupthink, avoiding friction at the cost of innovation.” Here’s some tips from the Harvard Business Review on how to encourage your coaching staff to disagree constructively.
Set ground rules
Follow a 4-step process: Generate ideas, clarify assumptions, introduce friction through challenges; move forward with the best ideas
Recognize that innovation happens at intersections
Build trust
Assign dissenting roles
Lead with inquiry
Model the behavior
✅ Be better at the things your team does all of the time. Too many coaches focus too much time on being better at things they do occasionally.
- Matt Brase, Slappin’ Glass
✅ “Communication doesn’t take place because you tell somebody something. It takes place when you observe them close and track their ability to follow you. … Communication is a group experience.”
- Alan Alda, “If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face”
✅ The goal is not to win a state championship. The goal is to build a program that can compete for multiple state championships.
There’s a difference between winning a few games and building sustainability.
✅ “Offensively you want to put people in rotations. Defensively, you want to get out … (of) rotations as fast as we can and get it back to even numbers.”
- Jerrod Calhoun
✅ “When in doubt, person before player.”
- Nick Winkelman, Slappin’ Glass
🌍 Coaching Abroad: Dundalk Ravens
Look closely — good basketball shows up in unexpected places.
Before visiting Dundalk, Ireland, last week, my only familiarity with the town was that President Joe Biden had once visited it. As my trip approached, I also learned that Dundalk is located near the border of Northern Ireland. It ended up being our home base for a few nights while we explored Belfast and the surrounding area.
Thanks to Coach Fu Faapito and his wife Triona, I discovered that Dundalk is home to a thriving basketball community. On the night of my visit, I had the opportunity to attend a Ravens U16 & U18 girls’ practice at the Dundalk Sports Centre. I was immediately impressed by Coach Fu and Coach Favour — and equally impressed by the energy and passion the girls had for the game. A shooting contest for a Sandpoint Basketball t-shirt I brought quickly turned into a fiercely competitive battle!
Clubs like the Dundalk Ravens typically get just one night a week to work with their players. Coach Fu, who founded the Ravens in part to mentor at-risk youth, shared how challenging it can be to make the most of a two-hour session. But with nearly 20 years under their belt and a clear set of values, the Ravens have built something special—on and off the court.
“We dream of cultivating a generation of players who carry the spirit of the game with them, whether they’re on the court or out in the world. We aim to see our young hoop enthusiasts evolve into leaders who dribble with confidence, not just in basketball, but in life.”
- DundalkRavens.com
About 30 minutes into practice, Coach Fu asked if I’d work with the guards while he took the posts. I was ready — thanks in part to a lesson learned on my last trip to Ireland. During a visit with the Kenmare Kestrels last fall, I met with Coach John Adams to observe a session. Our wires got crossed, and I unexpectedly found myself leading the U18 boys practice. I managed just fine, but that experience had me better prepared for Dundalk if I was asked to coach.
I jumped in with the guards and focused on perimeter screening actions — specifically flare screens, which were new to most of the players. From there, I built a progression to work through over the next hour. Here’s an outline
Wing-Slot Flare Screen 4v4
Blast Cuts 2v1
Umbrella 4v3 (with a practice clip from my team linked below)
Drive the Nail 4v4
The Ravens players were a joy to coach — engaged, enthusiastic, and extremely coachable. I loved watching them compete in a 5v5 scrimmage to close the session. Like I mentioned, Coach Fu and the rest of the Dundalk coaching staff are doing outstanding work growing the game and developing young players the right way.
🎶 The Playlist
