Execute More Effectively Late in the Game
As coaches we all understand that every play and possession of a ball game is important. Though all possessions have an impact on the outcome, executing in the last 2 minutes of a game is of relatively more importance. With the District, Region, and State Tournament coming up, the importance of late-game execution just kicked up another notch. If you do not have your team prepared for these situations it can mean the end of your season. A few key things to think about as you prepare for post season play:
Time and Score
How many players in the heat of the moment are completely in tune with what the score is and how much time remains in the game? This can be the difference between winning and losing a game in the final minutes or seconds. The good news is you can drill different situations in practice to expose your players to the complexities of late game scenarios.
At Morningside College, we practice late-game situations by putting either one or two minutes on the clock. I may start the two teams tied or one team up 3-8 points. Both teams start in the 1-and-1 with a specified number of timeouts remaining; each team’s respective point guard acts as the coach of their team. Not having a coach on the sidelines makes the players have to focus that much more on how much TIME remains and what the SCORE is.
When I asked Ryan Montgomery, Head Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach at Bemidji State University, what they do to prepare for late-game situations he commented, “We take 15-20 minutes to drill late game situations, then we put one minute on the clock and allow our athletes to go live and simulate the decisions and pressure that take place during the final moments of game. We take time discussing every foul, timeout, and possession within that minute. This helps our athlete’s decision making process to be quicker during pressure situations. â€
It must be paying off for the Beavers who have received votes to be ranked nationally in NCAA Division II and are currently 19-7 on the season. Check out their game winning 3-point bucket at the buzzer of last weekend’s game at Southwest Minnesota State University:
Set Plays/Baseline OB’s/Sideline OB’s/Full Court Plays
You never know the exact situation that you will be in at the end of the game, so you need to be prepared for all of them. Solving this problem once again starts in practice. How many coaches have a full court play with 3 seconds on the clock similar to the situation Bemidji State found them in? What about a go-to sideline OB that can either get you a two or three? These plays can be the difference between your team getting a quality look late in the game or not getting a shot at all. It is almost impossible for players to execute a play if they have never practice it before. If you have not done so already, set aside 20 minutes of practice to put these in so your players are comfortable running them late in a ball game. If you already have them in, make sure to review them every 2 weeks. At the college level we often times do our review of these sets on game day shoot around. Be prepared, it could be the difference between attending the state tournament with your team or as a spectator.
Learn from Experience, Be a Student of the Game
As with most things in life the more exposure you have to certain situations the better you will become at them. Go back and analyze the coaching decisions you make during close games. Do you like your strategy? What would you change? How can you improve your execution as a staff? One learning tool that I have found invaluable for late game situations is to watch what other teams do. NBA games are incredibly beneficial for watching side OB plays. Each timeout in the last two minutes of the game allows for the respective team to take the ball out of bounds past the mid-court line on their offensive side of the court. In any close NBA games you can bet you will see multiple side OB plays, each with many options. Have your DVR ready!
Let Players Make Plays
Prepare your team as much as you possibly can, but when it gets down to it put your players in situations where they can make plays. Teach them about time and score, have go-to plays you can rely on in tight situations and be over-prepared as a staff. When the time comes your players will perform.
Late game situations are not an exact science and even with the exact play called you might not succeed. When I proposed this to Coach Montgomery he stated,
“I don’t believe there is a right answer or specific outline to follow for late-game situations. I believe as a coach you have to have a good feel for how the tempo and momentum flows for your team.â€
It also never hurts to be a little lucky……
Brad Schmit
Midwest Elite Basketball
Co-Owner/Co-Founder