Offensive Advantage on BLOB Situations (Episode 1)

Hoops College Podcast

Gaining an Offensive Advantage on BLOBs

In the first episode of the Hoops College Coach’s Podcast, we discuss ways for you to get an offensive advantage on a baseline out of bounds play. Sometimes those one or two possessions in the middle of the game can make a big difference in the outcome. Maybe having a good offensive BLOB strategy can help you steal an easy bucket without having to call a timeout. Yes, some out of bounds plays might be better than others. However, sometimes it’s not about the plays you run, but how you teach them or how you disguise them so that the other team can’t predict what you’re going to do.

1. Making use of the time between when the referee blows his whistle and your player touches the ball
   1. How to get the call
      1. You say one thing but your assistant is calling the play through hand signals.
      2. Can your players call their own play in a huddle? If they call it, they might feel more ownership and actually run it better.
   2. Having more than one “play” in an alignment
      1. This could be about teaching your players to read the defense.
      2. It could just be simply about having multiple calls out of one alignment.
      3. One alignment with multiple looks is better than one look out of multiple alignments.
   3. How to control “getting set”
      1. Players should have a sense of urgency to get where they need to be.
      2. The inbound should step out of bounds when they want to, or they should make the referee tell them to.
   4. How to know when to go
      1. Since we have hustled to our spots, we will go when we want to.
      2. We don’t need to smack the ball.
      3. If everyone is watching the inbound, we can go as soon as the in-bounder has the ball.
2. Helping the players be most successful by keeping it simple
   1. Same plays vs. man and zone
   2. Any moment could be a scoring opportunity
      1. Sometimes you don’t even have to run the play because someone is open already.
      2. Are you running the play or are you reading the play?
   3. Sometimes just getting it in is ok.
      1. Do you players know time and score?
      2. Do you have a better chance scoring out of your half court offense?
   4. Crossing the midline
      1. The ball might not be able to change sides of the court, but your players can. Defending players with the ball out of bounds is not a natural thing. When players cross the midline, defenders have more chances to make mistakes.

We would love for you to share how you gain offensive advantages on BLOBs.