NABC On the Court Open Practice with Dave Paulsen: Skill Development + Practice Drills for Offense & Defense

Dave Paulsen has built successful programs wherever he has been including Williams College, Bucknell, and, most recently, George Mason University. In this open practice video, Coach Paulsen puts together a practice based on a scrimmage from the previous day.

Combination Work

Working on ball screens is vital to Paulsen’s offense. You will see how Coach Paulsen teaches ball screen action from the wing. Using different stations, coaches and players work on delivering game-like passes and taking game-like shots coming of different screens.

Offensive Progression

Eliminating turnovers and bad passes is the focus of a 5-on-0 drill. This teaches players where their teammates will be. The team works on “2” as they go up and down the floor working on all of the options in the offense off ball screens – post, drive, and throwback. Next is 5-on-5 Cut Throat where players work on handling ball pressure within the “2” offense and protecting the ball coming off of ball screens.

Half Court Man to Man Defense

The final segment of practice is where Paulsen works on improving the half-court defense. In Cowboy Competitive, players cut off the lane as an opponent attacks the rim off a ball screen. This 2-on-2 drill is continuous and offers players multiple reps in a short amount of time. Finally, the 5-Man Shell drill puts it all together as players work on both sides of the ball handling defensive pressure and then stopping ball screen drives and cuts on the other end.

This is a great video where you get to see how to use breakdown drills to work on ball screen offense and defense. There are plenty of concepts and teaching points you can use that will benefit your program.