Vance Walberg at Rocklin 9/29/07

Opening:

• A high school coach, Clovis West…nothing remarkable about the school or the
kids, in 23 years he had 3 Division 1 players.
• Starting in the late 80’s he saw a different successful Division 1 coach every year,
he would go for a week. He noticed the culture, weight room, little things that a
program did….that you can’t get off of notes, clinics, dvds.
• This offense / defense (they go hand in hand) is proven at the high school level
(Clovis West), JC (Fresno City), and Division 1 (Memphis).
• This offense, defense, and substitution mentality neautralizes the opponents
effectiveness….enhances your teams’.
• The offense won’t get you any wins: we win by practicing harder, out hustling the
opponent, defending, depth, rebounding, getting to the foul line, and out of
bounds plays.
• He had 7 guys at the end of last year, said he put basketball back 100 years with
his team’s performance.
Basics:

• Four out One in.

• Two side = right side / Three side = left side
• Blow Out Zone, Breakdown Zone, Drop Zone, Drag Zone, Rack Zone. We need
to use all of these….including drag zone, it clarifies everyone’s movement and
reads.
• 1and 5 are point grds (1 is the better / older pt. grd), tougher to pressure two pg’s.
• 2 and 3 are patient, start w/ inside foot at rim
• 2 and 3 must be locked and loaded, spacing at NBA range.
• 4 must read and stay opposite, cleans everything up.
• Idea is to create the biggest gaps possible for drives.
• Looking to get to the rack zone 1st; “rack zone mentality”
• Drop zone is for players “not good enough to get to rack zone”
• 1 and 5 have complete “rack it” freedom, do anything you want, just make sure
you get to the basket. They are the only ones who can soot pull up 3’s, it helps
them with the rack it if they need to be guarded on the pull up 3.
• 1 can be dead middle when we cross half court, 5 can be left sideline…tougher to
help and gives 1 more options….new and good wrinkle. Maybe use as special.
• Any time we shoot a three with a foot on the line = team runs
• After drag 23 (kick out to three side from the drag zone) passer follows to three
side under the post player, creates bigger gaps.
• “Kick ahead” = pass up the floor, “Kick / Pitch Back” = grd to grd pass, “Kick
Out” = Wing go behind action.
• Pitch Back is 6-8 feet, rack it mentality on pitch back, positive “pitch back” = a
catch past the mid line, rack it % goes up on a pitch back catch past mid line.
 • On a Drag drive on the Two side, the 3 must “find the window” on the Three
Side…locked and loaded at the NBA 3 pt range.
• Positive Kick Out = the higher the kick out is rec’d the better % of success.
• Positive Back Door = The better the spacing the higher the %....rather be higher
than the elbow than lower on drop zone.
• 4 must call “ball” loud and flash to elbow when the drop zone is used.
• Drop zone is a two man game with the wing, remember we want to “rack it
ideally”, 5, 4, 3 are the outlets….if two man game doesn’t work out.
• Kick Back, Drop 23 is a good look…look for back doors after kick backs.

DRILLS (details):

• “Olympic Shooting” details: call for ball, set up at NBA three.

• Drills and hustle make the offense, it all goes together.
• Mentioned “20 minute drill” and “4 min drill” to determine shooters.
• “4 Minute Drill” each basket has a name Worst shooters are in hell, 2nd and 3rd
place shooters are in pergatory, 1st place team is in heaven. He charts every
player, every day. 70% or better are green light, 50-70% can’t shoot if we’re
getting “streaked”, must rack it.
• “4 Minute Drill”: To get to heaven at team has to beat the 1st place team 2 days in
a row or by ten in one day.
• “Scramble” (3 on 2 Teams) details: defenders play parallel, there is no “ball” or
“back”, they start wide to take away kick ahead pass, then pinch middle if the
middle keeps the ball, they force the middle guy to dribble it up.
• “Scramble”: Teams. Ball handler sweeps, blows out, and attacks the side opposite
of who passed him the ball, he hits the wing and spots to shoot 3 at high elbow,
the man who threw the outlet pass sprints to the block…shot pass or three on kick
out from the drive. Play in teams and keep score.
• Win at everything…win win win!
• “Cardinal” Details: Push ups if the ball hits the ground out of the net. Quick
passes! Defense “is in your lane” = pass it…defense is “out of your lane” = rack
it. Defense does not wait for skip pass.
• “Texas 11” details: start ball in the half court line. Half court guy can’t move. 2
on 1 back is same principles as Cardinal offensively. Shoulders and hips square to
the hoop. Stay in your lanes.

Zone Stuff
• Don’t hesitate on 3’s against the zone, make sure to rebound. 3 out of 10 makes
and 4 out of 7 offensive rebounds.
• 4 to the glass.
• Wings are elevated vs zone
• Dribble at is always a back door, never hand off
• Push (Circle) and Wheel are great vs zone, swing it and expoit weak side.
• Alternate sides where offense is initiated, 2 side then 3 side.
• “1 or 5 Fade” (zone special) 1 hits 2, 5 sets fade screen on the top of the zone.
 • “Bump’ – If the zone is a bump zone, call “Bump”. Wing goes to strong side short
corner rather than cutting all the way through. Quick two on one vs the Middle of
the zone
• “2 Set”– 3 out 2 in. Elevated mid post and also short corner action. Hit wing,
wing hit mid post, for quick dump to short corner.
• “22” – Same alignment as “2 set”. Elevated mid post and also short corner action.
Hit wing, wing pass back to point and drift to corner, reverse it and skip to back to
wing for 3 pt shot.
• “52” or “53 – 4 out 1 in. 1 hits 2. 5 screens down on weak side of zone. 2 skips to
3 or goes through mid post to the 3 for a three pt shot.
• His teams shoot 50 threes per game if the are zoned.

Random thoughts by Walberg

Last year he moved the 1 to the middle of the floor and the 5 to the sideline (parallel to
the 3 lane).

2 side
3 side
Drop 2 = drop zone, two man game with 2
Drop 3 = drop zone, two man game with 3
Drop 23 = drop zone, back door to 2, to 3 in the corner
Drop 32 = drop zone, back door to 3, to 2 in the corner
Drag 2 = drive, stop in drag zone, skip to 2
Drag 3 = drive, stop in drag zone, skip to 3
Drag 34 = drive to drag zone, skip to 3, post 4
Drag 24 = drive to drag zone, skip to 2, post 4
Rack it….means Rack it (finish / off the glass).

1 and 5 are drive first shoot second players.

2 and 3 are shoot first drive second players

Emphasized backboard passes or finish on rack it. No bounce passes, direct passes.

On drag zone drives options are trail or skip to window….the same side wing is not an
option unless emergency. Defense will tip it if we try to go to same side wing.

Keep score in every drill, tally all wins in the foul section on the scoreboard, to get actual
credit for the win, winning team must make a free throw.

Live full court is played to 8 by 2’s and 3’s…whoever makes the winning basket also has
to make a free throw…if that player misses the foul shot then the team goes back to 5 or
6 or whatever they had previously and the game resumes. Cream rises to the top, the best
players end up getting the ball, because they have to win on the court and the foul line.
Square shoulders to the basket, get low, attack in a direct line, clip the hip, try to bump
the defender three times per drive. Ref won’t call the first 2, will call the third….or will
get a lay up.

In the breakdown zone, if 1 passes to 5 immediately, reads should be :

If 5 squares up to 1 or dribbles with inside hand…after a reversal from 1, 1 should x cut
and brush screen.
If 5 reverses to 3 and does not dribble we are in “wheel.”
If 5 dribbles toward 3with his outside hand, we are in “circle”.

Calipari was impressed by how much he got out of his kids, didn’t look like much…they
were drilled so much on what they needed to do to be successful and so clear on their
reads that they maximized their potential. Everything is mapped out and drilled home,
kids know what to do in situations, and are taught to be aggressive…it pays off.
Do not take any negative steps on offense, when you have the ball, everything is attack.

We do not hesitate, 3’s are up…if you are open you have to shoot it. If they close too
hard, rack it…simple.

On 3’s….make 3 out of 10, offensive rebound 4 out of 7 misses.

4 to the boards offensively. Best shooter is back on defense, creeps around the 3 pt line
for kick out after rebound, 1 and 5 go to the boards, 1 finds ball as controller in press, and
5 is at the foul line to become gapper.

He sends his 1 and 5 to the boards, right into 2-2-1. His best shooter 2 or 3 gets to the top
of the key as back man…anything that is not square to the rim for a put back, gets passed
the shooter for the 3 pt shot. That shooter also becomes the “taker” in the 2-2-1.

3 or key, midrange jumpers = bench…in games, scrimmages and practice, must be in the
key.

Want to maximize each possession: 60% layups = 1.2 points per pos. / 38% 3 ptr = 1.14
ppp / 76% free throw = 1.4 ppp. Memphis shot 28% from midrange the last two years.
Go back and chart your bad shots over the last season, guarantee they midrandge. We
don’t want bad 3’s, but at least they stretch the defense.

Offense and defense go hand in hand…it is an overall mentality and one suffers without
the other.

Once the 4 man’s defender loses vision, he needs to throw his hands up and prepare to
clean up.

Condition with the ball, 90%. Get better while you get in shape.
Important: in transition 2/3 are at the high x on the wing, in the ½ court they are on the
low x on the wing.

Blood Drills are named that, because we want have blood in our eyes when we attack.