(Rental)-Offensive Drills & Strategies

Open Practice: Offensive Drills and Strategies

Discover a diverse, adaptable offense that will take your team to the next level in this video from University of Central Oklahoma head Bob Hoffman. Coach Hoffman focuses on-ball screen offense, quick hitters, set plays, and more using live practice footage and whiteboard sessions. Coach Hoffman is the former head coach at Mercer University who took the Bears to their first-ever NCAA tournament back in 2014.

Before hitting the court, Coach Hoffman discusses the keys to his offense. One very simple key is keeping plays simple but adaptable in both setup and execution. This makes it easy for your players but difficult for defenses to defend you.

Another element of Hoffman’s defensive philosophy is a belief in fast tempo secondary transition. He draws up a few quick hitters from his version of the Carolina Break. These actions are used depending upon what the defense does and then easily flow right into the offense if an immediate scoring chance is not available.

Next, Coach Hoffman shares two box set plays used to score off of a delayed screen. Both plays use early screening action and can adapt into any Horns set you would like to run.

Dead ball situations are ones that Hoffman believes are scoring opportunities. You don’t just work to get the ball inbounds, but you use the play as a direct attempt to score. Coach Hoffman draws up two baseline inbounds plays to attack either man or zone defenses.

On the practice floor, Hoffman’s players run their ball screen offense in a 5-on-0 format in both full- and half-court segments. They begin in transition and then run through several series of their early offense. “Double” is one such series where both posts set a double screen for the point guard in transition. The play is simple but confuses the help defense, which must decide which player has the ball handler and the roll player.

“Chin” is another series that uses a down screen to free up a post to run into a high-ball screen without a help defender. Coach Hoffman also shows you how to flow into early ball screens in your transition offense along with variations.

The practice setting also reveals a number of other aspects of Hoffman’s offensive system. You will see four baseline inbounds plays that use stagger screens and screen-the-screener actions. There is also a segment where Hoffman’s players practice against a 1-2-2 zone using “Muscle” and “Muscle Runner” set plays. Both overload the defense and create post-ups with a high-ball screen and quick reversal to a corner shooter.

Coach Hoffman’s presentation is a culmination of 25-plus years of coaching offense. It’s a diverse and adaptable strategy that players can learn easily and keeps opposing defenses guessing.