Brad Underwood (8)

Put on the pressure without being reckless! You can apply a lot of pressure and not see an increase in fouls Reduce complexity without compromising its effectiveness A simple, but effective countermeasure that streamlines your ball screen coverage is a good idea. As Brad Underwood has shown many times, good defense can transform a program. Underwood transformed an Illinois basketball team that was ranked 330th nationally in defensive efficiency into a top-ranked defensive team. Underwood did this by changing some key points in his defensive philosophy and teaching his players that vision. This video will show you the drills and principles that are used to create a top-five defensive program. Defensive Principles Any defense must reduce fouls, easy baskets, and open 3-pointers. To guide his team from the bottom up to the top, Coach Underwood needed to focus on just one concept at a given time. He learned from the Milwaukee Bucks, the greatest team in the world. This taught him how to make every game winnable and not foul. As a coach, one of the most important principles to control is your team's communication skills and listening abilities. You can improve your players' listening and communication skills by changing the pick up point or ball screen principles. Your defenders will be able to communicate early, loud, and often so that they can process the screen quickly and move on. Coach Underwood shows you how to use your closeouts and force 3-point shooters to shoot mid-range jumpers instead. Underwood also explains how to use On-Ball Defense to keep your opponent's ball handlers on the one side of the floor. This will allow you to not have to break down or rotate defensively. You can "guard your yard" and keep ball handlers on one side of the floor. Shell Drill You will see Coach Underwood's defensive strategies in action in a 5v5 game. Your players will be taught to remove driving lanes and fill in gaps that can make it difficult to see. Athletes also learn to throw their hands up in contesting a shot, which forces the offense away at the 3-point line. Underwood's approach to defense focuses on closeouts. He walks you through wing drives and middle drives as well as ball screens and post defense. The Shell Drill will teach you how to defend and teach one pass away, as well as side defense. Teaching the flat triangle to players who are only one pass away will change the way they can attack the driving lanes. As they go through Shell Drill, Coach Underwood says that he is always looking for the rhythm in his defense. They have become one of the most respected defensive teams in the country because of this rhythm. It is not easy to teach an old coach new things. You have to modify the way you teach when your team is having trouble defensively. That was the lesson Coach Underwood learned and had to change his defensive strategy. He has helped Illinois return to the championships with his new vision and philosophy. This video is great and shows how you can make small changes to your philosophy to turn around your program! 70 minutes. 2022.

Basketball Practice with Brad Underwood The first part of the second basketball practice video is devoted to the fast-paced offense and the press break. Players warm up with Star Passing, which eventually builds into 5-on-5 and even 5-on-7 scrimmages. Underwood also breaks his players into position groups where they go further in detail on the fundamentals needed to break the press. Coach Underwood shifts to defense and begins with a lecture segment. He shares a wealth of information about his half-court man-to-man. He describes the terminology and teaching points he and his staff use to teach players aggressive denial defense. The basis of his defensive philosophy is the concept of up-the-line, on-the-line denial. No direct passes are to be allowed. As a result, teams must become more one-on-one minded. Basketball Practice - Defending Ball Screens Underwood also goes into his three ways of defending ball screens. Blue forces the dribbler to the baseline away from the ball screen. Red is a hard hedge used to force the dribbler up the sideline on the offense’s right side of the floor. White is used against flat ball screens in the middle of the floor. Full of great content on both offense and defense, Coach Underwood’s video set is a great addition to any coach’s collection! Rent this basketball practice DVD today.

Disrupting Offenses with Pressure Defense Brad Underwood has built a coaching career on pressure defense. The Illinois head coach prefers an on-the-line-up-the-line half-court pressure defense that can stifle opposing offenses. Some of Underwood’s previous teams – Oklahoma State and Stephen F. Austin – have been among the nation’s leaders in steals and turnovers. In this video, Coach Underwood teaches you the principles of his defense including positioning, maintaining denial, and keeping pressure on the opponent when defending ball screens. Even less skilled athletes can succeed in Underwood’s defense if they play with great technique and toughness. Basics of On-Ball Defense The whole goal of Coach Underwood’s pressure defense is to prevent opponents from getting into the offense they want to run. The defense begins by shrinking the floor. Coach Underwood then explains the rules and responsibilities of each player. Defenders are taught when to pick up opponents and how to make them uncomfortable through the entire possession. Pressure vs. Common Offensive Actions Coach Underwood shows you how to maintain pressure against the various actions offenses will run. Learn how to move and adjust denial positions every time the ball moves. Coach Underwood breaks down these concepts into 2-on-2, 3-on-3, and 4-on-4 for better understanding. You will also learn how to deny back cuts, play post defense, and stop dribble penetration by sprinting to midline to play help defense. Coach Underwood will also give you techniques for disrupting screening actions like screen aways, down screens, and baseline screens. To tie it all together, Coach Underwood shows you his shell drill. Players must communicate, jump to the ball, and sprint to help. There is an emphasis on player movement and “doing work early” to keep pressure on the offense. Defending Ball Screens To reduce pressure, the offense will try to use ball screens. Coach Underwood details how his defense attacks ball screens and maintains pressure. You will learn how to trap the dribbler in the corner. You’ll see “X-Action” which helps you defend screeners popping into open space for shots. Coach Underwood also shares his Red, White, and Blue communication system to defend on-ball screens. Coach Underwood’s video is a complete and total defensive system that any team can use to pressure offenses into making mistakes.

Intense Basketball Drills - Training for Toughness – Hard-Nosed, High-Intensity Practice Illinois head coach Brad Underwood has built programs well-known for their toughness and grit. While at Stephen F. Austin and Oklahoma State, Underwood went to four straight NCAA tournaments and garnered a number of Coach of the Year awards. Using the spread motion offense and a high-pressure defense, Underwood-coached teams are tough to beat on any given night. In this intense basketball drills video, you will get an inside look at a full practice at Illinois. Underwood explains how he and his staff install the motion offense as well as the transition defense. Intense Basketball Drills for Defense For Underwood, defense is all about hard work. He presents a number of drills to teach defensive fundamentals like up-the-line and on-the-line defense. Players work to influence the ball to the sideline in 3-Line Closeouts. Here, Underwood teaches players to use a big first step to defend an attacker instead of taking a small false step. To teach Ball Screen Defense, Coach Underwood uses a continuous 2-on-2 drill to teach players to force everything to the left. Underwood’s teams use a hard hedge and ice the ball handler so they can attack dribblers. This forces teams to prepare for multiple types of ball screen defense. Coach Underwood uses the Shell Drill to teach defensive rotation and help-side defense. Starting with 3-on-3, Underwood progresses to 5-on-5 where he teaches baseline rotation, ball screen rotation, and shrinking the court by forcing everything left. To finish up the defensive portion of the video, Coach Underwood goes through his 1-2-2 full-court press. The idea is to force deflections and wear down an opponent’s offense. Underwood sets a goal of 35 deflections per game to force opponents into making bad passes. Intense Basketball Drills for Offense Coach Underwood then takes you through how he puts in the spread motion offense. Through a series of drills, you will see how players master attacking the rim off the ball screen or over-closeout. The Quick 3 Drill is used to stress putting pressure on opposing defenses. The focus is on getting defensive rebounds and then pushing the ball up the floor within seven seconds in an attempt to score. The 2-Man Game drill puts guards and posts working together to get downhill off of a ball screen in the half-court. In 5-on-0, Coach Underwood teaches the flow of the offense and how to work ball reversals. This also puts pressure on opponents. Coach Underwood’s philosophy is to also put pressure on the opponent and he does so by creating a culture of toughness. His teams put the program ahead of themselves and you will see that in this video. With well over two hours of content, you will get an inside look at Underwood’s offensive system as well as how they play tough, hard-nosed defense. Rent this Intense Basketball Drills DVD today.

Spread Offense for Basketball with Brad Underwood Current University of Illinois head coach Brad Underwood opens the doors to two practice sessions so you may get an inside look at his spread offense and how his teams create chaos on defense. Underwood built Stephen F. Austin into a mid-major power not long ago winning multiple coach of the year awards. His success landed him at Oklahoma State and now at Illinois where he is rebuilding the program. Your front row seat to Coach Underwood’s practices come in two discs. The first deals with the Illinois spread offense, skill drills, breakdowns, and controlled scrimmages. The second disc gets into how Underwood’s teams use a half-court pressure man-to-man defense to force opponents to deviate from their game plans. Spread Offense for Basketball Open Practice Coach Underwood teaches his offense from the ground up. He explains the importance of immediate flow from transition to the spread offense. How Underwood does it is by using high intensity game-like situations. In this segment, you will see the following: Drills to teach the spread offense Multiple entries into the spread offense An individual development drill designed for the spread Instruction on how to defeat full- and half-court traps Coach Underwood also reviews the Xs and Os of his practice and how to develop players. You will see a number of drills that work on passing, shooting, and footwork as required by the spread offense. Coach Underwood teaches dribbling attacks for the spread, fighting for position on the perimeter, and much more.  Rent this spread offense for basketball DVD today.

NABC On the Court Open Practice with Brad Underwood: Skill Development, Zone Offense & Transition University of Illinois head coach Brad Underwood opens the doors to one of his early season practices in this instructional video. A two-time Southland Conference Coach of the Year at Stephen F. Austin and the former head coach at Oklahoma State, Underwood shares a wealth of knowledge from individual skills to full team defense. Warmup Skill Work Practice starts with ball handling. Players partner up and work on a variety of moves and passes. Then, it’s on to working on different shots the players will encounter in the flow of the offense. Players work on post moves, pick and rolls, drive and kicks, finishes at the rim, high-low options, and 3-on-0 actions for posts and perimeter players. Zone Offense The next part of the practice is dedicated to zone offense. The Illini work on the passes needed to take down a zone defense. First is the Zone Passing drill then Underwood begins teaching the “10” offense. It is done first in a 5-on-0 scenario before moving to live action against a 2-3 and a 1-3-1. As the practice continues, restrictions are put on the offense as to when they can shoot. Underwood shows the zone play “DePaul” which is a great way to enter the basic zone offense. Rebounding, Transition, and Closeouts Rebounding is of the utmost importance, so the team moves into a rebounding segment with an offensive emphasis. The skill is worked on in the Opposite and Inside drill which starts as a 3-on-3 and moves to a 4-on-4 with transition defense. This then moves the practice right into the Transition Drill. This is a classic drill that puts the defense at a disadvantage. One player must turn and touch the baseline before he can sprint back and help on defense. The final segment practices closeouts. Underwood uses two drills: 3-on-3 Closeouts and Baseline Closeouts. The Illini will go back to the Transition Drill and then end the practice with 100 free throws. You will see an intense practice full of outstanding drills that Underwood uses to create a well-round, tough basketball team. Any opportunity to see a college practice is worth it and this one is a great example to follow.

Spread Offense Basketball When Brad Underwood was the head coach at Stephen F. Austin University in 2013-14, he took the Lumberjacks to the NCAA tournament. His team was the first in school history to ever earn a trip to the Big Dance and finished with a 32-3 record that year. One of the big reasons why was Underwood’s offense, a position-less continuity offense that stresses defenses with a lot of movement. In this video, Coach Underwood shares his version of the spread offense, which has helped Underwood move on to Oklahoma State and then his current stop at Illinois. The offense gives the defense a multitude of different looks and the spacing, passing, and cutting helps create high percentage shots. The Basics of the Spread Offense in Basketball Coach Underwood starts off the presentation by reviewing the positioning of players on the floor and how they are to move once an entry pass is made. Where the entry occurs does not matter as two offensive players will always make hard basket cuts. Should they not get open for a high percentage shot, the offense then goes into a 2-man game. You will see Coach Underwood break down all of the cuts made to execute the offense. Spread Offense Basketball Breakdown Drills The way to ensure success with the spread offense is to stick to a regimen of daily practice drills that teach the skills needed to run the offense and build the habits to run the offense effectively. Players learn to play all the spots in this position-less offense. Drills are broken down into 2-, 3-, and 4-man actions. The drills focus on fast and aggressive cuts. This is the most important element in the offense. The second-most important element, according to Coach Underwood, is the 2-man game. Finally, Coach Underwood addresses the fill players, those that keep the floor properly spaced and balanced placing additional stress on the defense. You’ll also see an element of the dribble drive motion offense that can be used with the spread offense to create favorable matchups and post player looks. If you are looking to score more often with an offense that combines hard cuts, great post play, and an effective 2-man game; this is it. Coach Underwood shares an entire spread offensive package that creates continuity and incorporates the elements of the modern basketball offense. Rent this spread offense basketball DVD today.

Basketball Zone Offense: Sets & Philosophy University of Illinois head coach Brad Underwood shows you how he breaks down zone defense with multiple looks. Using quick, simple actions against zones can force rotations which open gaps in the defense. Watch as Coach Underwood shows you how to attack the zone defense, breaks down the secondary offense off transition against a zone, and shares his different looks against various zone defenses. Different Looks All of the sets in Underwood’s zone offense are interchangeable. Adding cutters and flashing to the high post can mix up traditional sets. Defenses are kept guessing with the cutters and variety of looks. Underwood attacks the soft spots in the zones when the ball reverses. Simple actions force defensive rotations and that can open driving lanes and shooting areas. Zone Passing The Zone Passing Drill is integral part of Underwood’s offense. The drill uses cuts to the elbow, movement to the short corners, and more to force the defense to rotate. Zone Passing is a drill that should be done daily and it only takes a few minutes. The drill works on each of the following skills and concepts: Spacing Passing Finding open areas against a zone defense Building your team’s zone offense Adjusting to your team’s strengths The Zone Passing Drill can help coaches build an entire zone offense with younger players. Coaches with more veteran teams can benefit from learning the different looks and adjustments presented by Coach Underwood. This is an excellent video to help coaches attack zone defenses. Rent this basketball zone offense DVD today.