• Effective basketball coaching strategies can overcome an opponent’s superior athletic talent
• The best strategies for basketball can extract the most output from your talented players

Ever wonder how your favorite teams were lighting up the basketball scoreboards with ease? Sure, they’ve got talent but it’s all in the strategies. Here are a few of the best.

Some of the best teams in basketball history did not necessarily have the most talented players. Often the best teams are a combination of talented players, sound fundamentals, and good basketball strategies. There have been many instances when a team with a well thought out and executed game plan defeated a team with superior athletic talent.

Several strategies for basketball focus on a coach’s ability to change the tempo of the game to suit his teams playing style. For example, for teams that love to run the fast break it would make sense to use some variation of a pressing defense. A full court or half court press is a great defense to put pressure on the opposing team’s ball handlers in an effort to cause turnovers, which in turn leads to easy fast break points.

To counter a pressing defense coaches will look to develop specific offensive basketball strategies to slow the game down to a more manageable pace for their primary ball handlers. Every coach will tell you it’s difficult to dribble your way through the press. Cutting to the ball and passing are the most effective ways to defeat it. Most often coaches will yell at their point guards to slow it down the offense once they’ve broken the press and are in their half-court set. By controlling the pace and using as much of the shot clock as possible a coach can limit the opposing team’s ability to press.

One of the best ways to effectively shut down an opponent’s dominant post player would be the use of a two three zone. This zone works by positioning two players at each side of the foul line extended while two more players are positioned along the baseline just outside the key. The last player, usually one of the taller players, patrols the middle of the key. By playing this type of defense a team can force the play to the perimeter by double teaming the entry pass into the low post. On the other hand, the best way to counter the two three zone is with effective perimeter shooting.

All of these strategies are designed for full court 5 on 5 game but there is certainly great 3 on 3 basketball strategy you can use whey playing a half court basketball game. The simplest and one of the most effective plays, called the “pick and roll”, can be used for 5 on 5 games as well. Basically, the play involves setting a pick for the ball handler. If the defender tries to fight through the pick then the ball handler is free to shoot a jump shot. If the defender switches off, then the player setting the pick can cut to the basket for a pass, and gain a step or two on his defender in the process.

By effectively using sound basketball strategies a coach can level the playing field against a superior opponent.