Creating Space

 

Some common tactical problems that occur in the invasion game of basketball on offense are  maintaing possession of the ball, attacking the basket, creating space in the attack and using space in the attack. Some common tactical probelms that can also occur in basketball while on defense are defending space, defending the basket area and regaining possession of the ball. 

 

In this entry I will focus specifically on the tactical problem of creating space. This tactical problem occurs when an offensive player is trying to make more space available for themselves and/or others on their team in order to create a scoring opportunity.

To overcome the tactical problem of creating space in the game of basketball, a coach and/or instructor could play numerous games that would help players of all levels learn to overcome this common tactical problem.
 

One game that could be played to help players overcome this particular tactical problem is a game called "Keep Off".  

For this game you split your players up into groups of 3. There will be 2 players on offense and 1 player on deffense. Once the players are divided up into teams of 3, designate smaller areas that they will have to play in; for example, the basketball key would be a good size. However, the emphasis is not to try and score a basket in this game, it is for the offense to maintain the possession of the ball for 2 minutes, while the defense is trying to regain possession of the ball. In order for the offensive team to maintain possession of the ball in this game they need to create and utilise open space around the one defender.

A diagram to illustrate what the setup would could look like is as follows:

The x's being the two players trying to keep the ball away from the 1 defender "o".

So questions that you could ask the players after playing this game to help with their understanding of this game are:

1. Who should you pass the ball to?

2. When should you pass the ball?

3. How can the player with out the ball support the player with the ball?

 

A second game that could be played to help players overcome the tactical problem of creating space is a game called "Tag Ball".

For this game you split the students up into groups of 6. There will be 4 students who will be the attackers and 2 students who will be the "taggers" (defenders). This game will be played in one quarter of a basketball court (or half a court of a half court basketball game). The taggers will try to attack the player only when they have the ball. A point is rewarded to the defenders each time the successfully tag the attackers ball during an attempted pass. Each pair of taggers gets 1 minute to see how many tags on the basketball they can achieve.

A diagram to illustrate what the setup would look like is as follows:

The x's being the players who have possession of the ball and are trying not to get the ball tagged by the o's who are the defenders.

Some questions that you could ask the players after playing this game are:

1. What is the best way to pass the ball to other players?

2. What is the best method to achieve the greatest number of tags?

3. How can the interceptor position their body to pressure a passer and reciever into error so that the interceptor can touch the ball?