Fast Break College Basketball

[Elwanda Menhennett]

Abig thanks to Billy Wuczynski, Jim Christian and the Boston College coaching staff for putting together this video edit to share. The different phases of their fast break offense are highlighted in this video.

Running this offense almost exclusively, Pfeiffer led Division I and II in scoring (95.2 points per game) from 2003 to 2005 and won 80 games. Our team also averaged 30 free-throw attempts per game and made 132 more foul shots than our opponents have attempted. We also averaged 14 offensive rebounds per game.

The goals of every offense is to achieve good floor spacing, get the ball inside, put ball handlers in position for good driving angles, draw fouls and find multiple rebounding opportunities. This fast-break system:

On made baskets, we instruct players to quickly inbound the ball. In our system, we name our inbounder prior to the shot, but another option is for the point guard to always inbound and receive a quick return pass.

The inbounder stays behind the ball, at an angle where an easy pass can be made at all times. This provides an easy outlet if the dribbler gets into trouble. The inbounder is always the trailer on made shots. On missed shots or turnovers, we throw an outlet pass or the rebounder takes off on the dribble. Our rule is to get the ball down the floor the fastest way possible without turning it over.

DIAGRAM 2: Skip pass. On this play, after looking to hit the run-to-the-rim player first, the point guard throws a skip pass to the weak-side corner player. As the pass is being thrown, the rim player steps in and seals the post defender. The corner player always looks inside first.

When we do attempt a 3-pointer, we often get wide-open looks. This comes as a result of pushing the ball up the floor, applying pressure, or using the penetrate-and-pitch method of attacking the offensively.

Want to learn how to build your fast break and transition offense step by step?

Don Kelbick's Transition Offense and the Four-Second Fast Break

This DVD shows you how to build your fast break and transition offense step-by-step, so you can easily teach it during practice. It will also show you how to seamlessly transition into your half court offense to keep the defense scrambling. As every great defensive coach will tell you, they play their best defense when they have their 5 players back. This DVD will show you how to take advantage of the defense when they're not set and currently in transition. It also includes many fast break and transition drills that build mentality, aggressiveness, decision-making, and basketball skills. This DVD is 110 minutes long and neatly organized ... (more info)

The contrast of styles among teams is part of what makes college basketball so much fun. There are 347 teams in Division I, and each one plays differently. There isn't one "right" way to play basketball, as teams have success with all sorts of styles.

While there are many aspects to styles of play, tempo is perhaps the most striking. Even among the very best teams in the nation, there are substantial differences in just how much teams look to score on the fast break. For example, the up-tempo Indiana Hoosiers and the more half-court focused Florida Gators have two of the best offenses in college hoops.

There are three different types of transition opportunities that occur in a basketball game. The first and most common type of transition opportunity comes when a team rebounds an opponent's miss. Here, we see large differences in playing styles from team to team, with some teams pushing the tempo after rebounds, while others often choose to walk the ball up the floor. The second type of transition opportunity comes when a team inbounds the ball after their opponent has scored. While it is more difficult to run in these situations, it still happens. The third type of transition chance comes off of a steal. Virtually all teams try to score quickly after steals.

The plot below highlights the differences in how the AP top 10 teams look to push the tempo. It uses data taken from hoop-math.com. Transition opportunities are defined as any shots that occur within the first ten seconds of a possession. The horizontal axis of the figure measures the percentage of initial shots coming after a defensive rebound that occur within the first ten seconds of a possession. The Division-I average for this rate is around 41 percent, which is indicated by a vertical line. The vertical axis, labeled "Opp score transition rate," is the percentage of initial shot attempts after an opponent made basket that occur within the first ten seconds of a possession. The Division-I average for this rate is 14 percent, and this average is indicated by a horizontal line.

Indiana likes to run. The Hoosiers get over half of their initial shots after defensive rebounds within the first ten seconds of a possession, and shoot just under a quarter of their initial attempts early in the possession after an opponent score. At the other extreme in this plot is Miami. Jim Larranaga's team takes only 28 percent of their initial shots after a defensive rebound in transition, and rarely shoots quickly after a made basket by an opponent.

The remaining top 10 teams fall somewhere in the middle between the extremes of Indiana and Miami. For the most part, teams that look to run after a rebound are also more likely to shoot quickly after an opponent make. One exception to this trend is Michigan. The Wolverines aggressively push tempo after a rebound, but seldom shoot quickly after their opponent scores.

What happens on those transition shots is also important. The plot below summarizes how each of the top ten teams do in non-steal transition situations, as well as in situations where they must rely on their half-court offense. To evaluate the shooting percentages in half-court situations, I have included initial shots of a possession that occurred either more than ten seconds into a possession or at any point in a possession after a dead ball turnover. The plot below shows each team's effective field goal percentage in transition and in the half-court. Division I averages are indicated by the horizontal and vertical lines.

Louisville stands out in that figure, with below average effective field goal percentages both in the half-court and in non-steal transition possessions. This figure presents an unfairly negative view of the Louisville offense, but there are a couple of things to keep in mind. First, this figure does not include transition opportunities that come off of steals and Louisville steals the ball a lot. Fourteen percent of Louisville's initial shots are transition attempts after a steal, and Rick Pitino's team has an effective field goal percentage of 72 percent in these situations. Additionally, the Cardinals are also very good at avoiding turnovers and getting offensive rebounds, both of which help the offense, but neither of which directly affect shooting percentages. On the whole, Louisville's offense is good, but the plot above highlights things that the Cardinals do poorly.

Gonzaga is the only top 10 team that actually has a higher effective field goal percentage in half-court situations than it does in non-steal transition possessions. Gonzaga works hard on offense to get the ball inside, with just under a third of their initial shot attempts in half-court situations coming at the rim, compared with the national average of 27 percent. Mark Few's team is smart to get the ball inside, considering that they have made 70 percent of their attempts at the rim this season, which is one of the ten highest shooting percentages at the rim in the nation.

Michigan's offense is great in both half-court and in transition, while teams like Kansas would probably benefit if they could get out and run more. Kansas runs off of rebounds at a rate near the national average. The Kansas defense is so good that a high proportion of their initial shots come after defensive rebounds; 41 percent of Jayhawk initial shots come in possessions after rebounding an opponent miss, compared with a national average of 34 percent. With such a good defense and a relatively high conversion rate in transition, Kansas would likely benefit more by speeding up the tempo than would most other top teams. A great defense combined with an aggressive and successful fast break can be a winning formula -- just ask the 2012 Kentucky Wildcats.

As you watch games the rest of the year, try to keep in mind just how much this battle over tempo affects the outcome of a game. For example, slowing down Indiana's fast break could make a big difference for a team looking to pull an upset. Of course, that is probably easier said than done.

In 42 seasons (1922-64) as the head basketball coach at Western Kentucky, Edgar

Allen Diddle'steams claimed 32 conference championships; played in 11 postseason tournaments; won 20+ games eighteen different times, (including one stretch of ten years in a row); became the first team from the South to participate in the Olympic Trials; and they won an amazing 759 games! When he stepped down in 1964 Diddle had won more games than any coach in NCAA history and today he still ranks fifth on the all-time list. At the time of his death in 1970 over 100 of Diddle's former players were coaching in the high school, college, or professional ranks - an incredible example of the influence that he had on his beloved players. Visitors of the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., can view a display honoring Mr. Diddle, which includes one of the coach's legendary Red Towels, which he developed into a Western tradition.

Most people who knew the coach will tell you that his greatest strength was undoubtedly his amazing ability to motivate his players to perform well beyond their own expectations. Dero Downing, a former Diddle player who later became the second of the coach's team members to become president of WKU, once told of a scolding that he received from the coach, "What makes you think you're such a good basketball player? I found you up there at Horse Cave, just milking a little Jersey cow, and

you're not much better now than you were then, and all you know is what I've taught you." Recalling

the incident, Downing stated, "Then, when you felt the lowest, like you weren't worth killing, he'd pat you on the rear - and you felt like you could beat the world."

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