(Rental)-Building Your Offensive Philosophy Through Individual Skill Development

Doug Bruno: Building Your Offensive Philosophy Through Individual Skill Development

Building a successful basketball program requires the ability to develop players. Developing players demands that how coaches teach be just as important as what they teach. DePaul women’s basketball coach Doug Bruno, Conference USA’s Coach of the Decade, shares with you the foundation around which you can build a winning coaching philosophy in this video.

Coach Bruno, who has over 650 career wins and 16 straight trips to the NCAA tournament (2003-18), is highly regarded for his ability to teach and develop players. Year-in and year-out, Bruno’s teams are among the highest-rated in the country. Get an inside look at his methods in this video.

Building a Complete Basketball Player

Coach Bruno takes some time to explain how you can develop players through daily skill development. That development is not just physical; it is also emotional and mental. Coach Bruno believes a dynamic and complete basketball player must have the following ingredients:

• A love of competition
• Ball handling skills when under pressure
• Attention to footwork
• Well-versed in all aspects of offense including moving with or without the ball, on the bounce, in triple threat, and in the post
• Great eyes and vision
• The ability to listen and be coachable to develop basketball IQ

Teaching Method

Players are only as good as what their coaches have taught them. It is important that coaches become great teachers of the game and give players a chance to flourish. Players must understand what is being asked of them every day in practice. Coach Bruno explains how starting slow and building through demonstration, imitation, and repetition can create the perfect learning environment for players to develop their optimal skills.

Offense and Drills

Coach Bruno shares with you some of his favorite drills including one that starts in a triple threat situation. He teaches players to use a shot fake and attack an open gap. He then builds on that adding crossover footwork and executing a change of direction.

Coach Bruno also emphasizes play without the ball. He demonstrates how to get open using a V-cut or a backdoor cut for an easy layup. These individual drills build the foundation that becomes the 1-4 offensive system with scoring options off of a hand off, fake hand off, square up and attack and split-slip option.

Developing players early in the season will help them be ready for the end-of-season stretch run. Coach Bruno has had much success in individual development as evidenced by his 16 straight trips to the NCAA tournament. His offensive philosophy is something that coaches at any level will appreciate and find applicable to use with their programs.