Open Practice: Man-to-Man & Zone Offenses

with Brenda Frese,University of Maryland Head Women's Coach;
2021 AP National Coach of the Year;
2006 National Champions;
4x Big Ten Coach of the Year (2002, 2015, 2019, 2021);
Back-to-Back Final Four appearances (2014-15);
2002 AP National Coach of the Year;
2002 USBWA Women's National Coach of the Year;
2013 ACC Coach of the Year;
2000 MAC Coach of the Year

Brenda Frese, winner of multiple coach of the year honors, brings you into her team's practice and demonstrates the offenses Maryland runs against man-to-man and zone defenses. She includes the drills, read options, and counters needed to effectively run each set.

You'll get an inside look at:

• "Thumbs" man-to-man offense
• "Regular" and "Side" zone offenses
• set plays that utilize ball screens
• post play techniques for creating high efficiency shots
• how Maryland develops their transition offense to attack in advantage situations
• breakdown drills for feeding the post and shooting

All plays and drills are drawn up on a whiteboard and then demonstrated in a live practice setting featuring the Maryland women's basketball team.

3-Out-2-In Set

Learn several new set plays using the 3-out 2-in alignment that will enable you to create a low post option. Though the set is designed to help isolate and free up your center, all players are an option. These sets create a lot of reversal actions, opening up gaps in the defense and keep them off balance. These sets include:

• Power: Uses sequential screening actions to free up shooters or create an advantage for the post in the paint.
• Pass Back: A flex screen and ball reversal to help open up a post on the block.
• Side: Creates a strong side triangle for opportunities to feed the post or a continuous ball screening action to create advantages on the side pick and roll.
• 4 Series: Two different counters to defensive pressure are shown beginning in a 1-4 alignment.

These options can catch overly aggressive defenders on back cuts or use back screens that flow into side ball screens.

After these new sets have been implemented, your players can experiment with different options in each play using half-court offensive scrimmages and full court controlled scrimmage through the "O-D-O" practice segment. Additionally, your players will work on more sets as well as the primary high/low motion offense, which emphasizes post flashes to reverse the ball and isolate a talented post on the block.

Zone Offense

In this offense, posts flash into gaps in the high post or short corner on ball reversals to constantly put pressure on the shifting zone defense. You will also see how "Side Set" can be used against the zone to create movement and scoring opportunities.

Transition Drills

Four transition drills are shown that help train players to score in different advantage situations they'll encounter on fast breaks.

Shooting Drills

Coach Frese includes three additional breakdown drills for feeding the post and shooting. The Feed the Post Drill uses 2-on-2 and 4-on-4 competition to break down the Thumbs offense by showing players how to free up guards on the perimeter with screens and feed the post versus defensive pressure.

This open practice will provide coaches of all levels with a unique opportunity to learn and apply the techniques the Maryland coaching staff uses to install their offensive system early in the season.

160 minutes (2 videos). 2015.