Nate Oats (2)

Gap Defense Basketball Nate Oats has been successful everywhere he has been. Most recently, Oats won back-to-back MAC championships and Coach of the Year Awards in taking the University of Buffalo to the NCAA tournament’s Round of 32. Now the head coach at Alabama, Oats looks to continue his success as one of the game’s best at getting his programs to compete at a high level year after year. Oats’ belief in his gap man-to-man defense forces opponents to take rushed and contested shots. What you will see in this video are a number of drills designed to help players understand “being in the gap” and how to produce lockdown defenses season after season. Build Up Drills for Gap Defense Oats starts practice with a 1-on-1 open court defensive drill where players learn to “guard their yard.” This simple idea is a key to Oats gap defense. Players work to get stops and earn points for their teams. Defenders are dropped into the lane line and must work to keep their opponent in front of them. This helps set the tone for practice. Eventually, more players are added to the drill creating a full-court 3-on-3 situation. Players defend the ball when they’re on it and others are help defenders that must maintain their gaps and take away easy passes and deny transition 3-point attempts. Ball Screen Defense Defending the ball screen offense is paramount in today’s modern game. Oats presents a series of drills that build the foundation for his teams in defending ball screens. In 4-on-4 and 5-on-5 half-court situations, players learn proper rotations and how to defend ball handlers who are trying to get to the paint. You will also see a super competitive 2-on-2 drill where players break out and compete at different baskets around the gym. Players try to get stops on defense and earn points. At the end, the teams with the most points on offense and defense are the winners. Scramble and Full Court Defense The 5-on-4 Scramble Drill starts in the half court where the defense must deny the offense an easy basket within 10 seconds. The defense then transitions to offense making for a great two-way drill where you can teach on both defense and offense. Defenders must continually try to keep their opponents in front of them and get back into help position. The video concludes with a 5-on-5 segment. It is live game action playing to a certain point total. Players must focus on getting stops on defense and pushing the ball in transition. This is just one of many ways that Coach Oats creates competition in practice. Each drill has a purpose, a focus, and an emphasis on being in gaps to prevent easy scores. If you are looking to change the way you play defense, this 73-minute video is for you. Rent this gap defense for basketball DVD today.

Dribble Drive Offense Not long ago, University of Alabama head coach Nate Oats was a high school head coach in Michigan. In this video, he showcases some of the shooting and dribble drive offense drills that have helped his teams compete on a high level. He turned the University of Buffalo into a MAC power (three tournament titles) using a fast, relentless style of offense. His video will help you teach your players how to use quick decision making skills to play fast and keep opponents on their toes. Disadvantage Shooting Players at high levels must have the ability to attack closeouts and defensive rotations. In 2-on-1 into 3-on-2 Shooting, the offense is put in an advantage situation where they must read the defense and be shot ready. The defender picks a player to close out to force them to react. The drill builds to 3-on-2 Shooting and finally 4-on-3 Live where players can attack the over-closeout and hit the open player. Transition Shooting Coach Oats demonstrates a series of transition drills designed to help players make decisions on both offense and defense. In Cincinnati 1-on-1, offensive players attack the basket going downhill in seven seconds or less. The defense must decide how to level out the attack. In the Cardinal Drill, players continue working on getting downhill on offense, but they are put into a 2-on-1 situation where they learn to make quick passes to open teammates that turn into easy baskets. Blood Series Blood Series is one of Coach Oats’ staples. It teaches players to read defenses in game-like situations. The drills are tailored to the dribble drive offense and have helped some of the best programs create scoring opportunities by learning how to attack gaps and get into the lane. Slot Reads is a drill where players hunt for the paint and try to get an easy score. Players create gaps and driving angles by multiple drives into the paint. Corner Reads is a drill where players attack the baseline and learn to read the baseline defender. Wing Reads gets players between the top two defenders to create havoc on the defense once in the paint. Coach Oats’ drills will help you develop a complete offense that attacks defenses. Players will enjoy attacking defenses as they hunt for what the defense gives them. Rent this dribble drive offense