WBCA Offensive Plays and Strategies

WBCA Offensive Plays and Strategies

by Women's Basketball Coaches Association

NEW, 280 pages

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About WBCA Offensive Plays and Strategies

Make the most of every possession with WBCA Offensive Plays & Strategies. Inside you’ll find offensive sets, plays, and strategies to match up against any defense, including man-to-man, zone, and the full-court press. 

Only WBCA Offensive Plays & Strategies takes you inside the minds and playbooks of the premier coaches in the game today. You’ll learn their secrets, strategies, and insights on game planning, developing offensive skills, preparing for in-game situations, and breaking down the opponent’s defense and exploiting their weaknesses. 

With 119 plays, including post, perimeter, situational, and quick-scoring plays, you can be confident your players will be prepared for whatever the opponent throws their way. WBCA Offensive Plays & Strategies provides all the information you need to make the right call every time your team has the ball. 

About WBCA

The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) was founded in 1981 with the mission to promote women’s basketball by unifying coaches at all levels to develop a reputable identity for the sport of women’s basketball and to foster and promote the development of the game of basketball as a sport for women and girls.

The WBCA is composed of collegiate, high school, junior high school, club, youth, national, international, and Olympic coaches. The WBCA is committed to servicing its members and helping to develop women’s basketball by providing education, networking opportunities, information and news, and legislative updates. It also serves as the voice of the membership to the NCAA. The WBCA also recognizes dozens of people each year through their 18 awards and is involved in several events and clinics throughout the year, including the WBCA National Convention, which is held in conjunction with the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

Reviews

“WBCA Offensive Plays & Strategies is the one playbook you'll need to break down your opponents’ defenses night in and night out.” -- Geno Auriemma, Connecticut Huskies Head Women's Basketball Coach

"WBCA Offensive Plays & Strategies makes basketball strategy both interesting and understandable. It's a great place to go for anyone who wants to know the game better." --John Akers, Editor of Basketball Times

About Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules. Basketball is one of the world's most popular and widely viewed sport.

A regulation basketball hoop consists of a rim 18 inches (45.7 cm) in diameter and 10 feet (3.05 m) high mounted to a backboard. A team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the hoop during regular play. A field goal scores two points for the shooting team if a player is touching or closer to the hoop than the three-point line, and three points (a "3 pointer") if the player is "outside" the three-point line. The team with more points at the end of the game wins, but additional time (overtime) may be issued when the game ends with a tie. The ball can be advanced on the court by bouncing it while walking or running (dribbling) or passing it to a teammate. It is a violation (traveling) to walk with the ball, carry it, or to double dribble (to hold the ball and then resume dribbling).

Various violations are generally called "fouls". Disruptive physical contact (a personal foul) is penalized, and a free throw is usually awarded to an offensive player if he is fouled while shooting the ball. A technical foul may also be issued when certain infractions occur, most commonly for unsportsmanlike conduct on the part of a player or coach. A technical foul gives the opposing team a free throw.

Basketball has evolved many commonly used techniques of shooting, passing, and dribbling, as well as specialized player positions and offensive and defensive structures (player positioning) and techniques. Typically, the tallest members of a team will play "center", "small forward", or "power forward" positions, while shorter players or those who possess the best ball handling skills and speed play "point guard" or "shooting guard".

While competitive basketball is carefully regulated, numerous variations of basketball have developed for casual play. Competitive basketball is primarily an indoor sport played on carefully marked and maintained basketball courts, but less regulated variations are often played outdoors in both inner city and rural areas.

The strategies also evolve with the game. In the 1990s and early 2000s, teams played with more "isolation". Teams that had one superstar would let one player, usually the point guard or shooting guard, run most of the offense while the other four offensive players get out of his/her way. Nowadays, teams tend to play with more teamwork. The "Center" position has evolved to become more of a taller "Small Forward" position. Since teams play more teamwork, ball movement has evolved with the game, and more jump shots have been taken as a result.

There are two main defensive strategies: zone defense and man-to-man defense. In a zone defense, each player is assigned to guard a specific area of the court. In a man-to-man defense, each defensive player guards a specific opponent. Man-to-man defense is generally preferred at higher levels of competition, as it is intuitively easier to understand and avoids mismatches between players who play different positions. However, zone defenses are sometimes used in particular situations or simply to confuse the offense with an unexpected look.

Offensive plays are more varied, normally involving planned passes and movement by players without the ball. A quick movement by an offensive player without the ball to gain an advantageous position is a cut. A legal attempt by an offensive player to stop an opponent from guarding a teammate, by standing in the defender's way such that the teammate cuts next to him, is a screen or pick. The two plays are combined in the pick and roll, in which a player sets a pick and then "rolls" away from the pick towards the basket. Screens and cuts are very important in offensive plays; these allow the quick passes and teamwork which can lead to a successful basket. Teams almost always have several offensive plays planned to ensure their movement is not predictable. On court, the point guard is usually responsible for indicating which play will occur.

Defensive and offensive structures, and positions, are more emphasized in higher levels in basketball; it is these that a coach normally requests a time-out to discuss.

WBCA Offensive Plays and Strategies