Dan D'Antoni (2)

Developing Players for a Free-Flowing Offensive System Marshall University head coach Dan D’Antoni is building a winner and is doing so with a commitment to developing players. He led Marshall to its first NCAA tournament bid since 1987 in 2018 and attributes that to his player development. In this video, Coach D’Antoni dives deep into his philosophy of player development. Player Development Philosophies For D’Antoni, who is the brother of Houston Rockets coach Mike, player development begins with recruiting the right kids. He likes to recruit high-character kids and then develop them by setting a standard of excellence and by holding them accountable. What D’Antoni believes is important in the development of his players are the following: Being a positive coach Refusing to pigeonhole players into predetermined roles Teaching beyond the fundamentals A dedication to strength training and conditioning Development Drills After discussing his philosophy of player development, D’Antoni then demonstrates a number of drills that can help players expand their talents. It all begins with a warmup where players are challenged to get out of their comfort zone with a variety of difficult finishes at the rim. The trademark D’Antoni offense is based upon the idea of positionless basketball and the pick and roll. Coach D’Antoni breaks down how to teach the pick and roll starting with a two-man demonstration and then progressing to include movement by other players off the ball. Coach D’Antoni continues the pick and roll discussion adding how to look for attack angles, how to execute proper roll technique, and how to continue the offense after the initial pick and roll. D’Antoni reviews the pick and roll in a half-court set and when finished goes into how to incorporate the pick and roll into the transition game. This developing players video takes a holistic approach to improving player performance. It starts with high-character players that give great effort in improving their range of skills. For coaches looking to add some new wrinkles to the development of their players, Coach D’Antoni’s presentation will challenge you. Rent this developing players DVD today.

Tips and Drills to Build a 5-Out Organized Chaos Offense Dan D’Antoni, brother of Houston Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni, helped create the “Seven Seconds or Less” style of basketball and he offers tips and drills in this video. The head coach at Marshall University now, D’Antoni has guided the Thundering Herd to a Conference USA tournament title (2018) and the 2019 CIT championship. In this video, D’Antoni shows you his positionless basketball that he calls “Hillbilly Ball” which creates countless scoring opportunities. Organizing the Chaos A huge part of “organized chaos” is shooting. D’Antoni’s teams do much more shooting that programs that play conventional styles of basketball. Drill No. 1 is a two-minute drill that gets players to run the floor and shoot transition 3-pointers. The idea is to make 20 3-pointers in two minutes. The next drill is Long Arm Layups, which is used to teach penetrators how to attack the basket while being forced to change hands. Without gathering the ball, the dribbler must shoot a long arm layup off the bounce. Other finishes are also demonstrated. Player Development In order to play D’Antoni’s positionless style, players must develop a versatile skill set. There are times when five point guards will be on the floor, which D’Antoni traces back to former NBA head coach Rick Adelman. Adelman once said, “If you get in trouble, go small; and if that doesn’t work go smaller.” One of the big drills D’Antoni uses is the Step-Back Drill. Here, players learn to step back behind the 3-point line when penetration is taken away. Variations of the drill are also shown. Part of D’Antoni’s player development is the use of the two-man game on the perimeter. Players drive with the idea of getting a player open in the corner. D’Antoni then adds a third player to the mix in the post. The organized chaos now has a post element. NBA Actions The final part of the presentation includes two basic NBA actions: 21 and the pick and roll. Having spent time as an NBA assistant, D’Antoni likes 21, which is a transition attack. A well-executed pick and roll is one of the hardest actions to defend in basketball. D’Antoni reviews both as well as several options off of them. This a great look at modern basketball offense. If you are looking to create chaos, add this video to your library today!