Fast Break

The fast break is the most widely used system today in basketball. There are almost as many variations of the fast break as there are teams using it, but the objective is always the same. Advance the ball into offensive territory before the defense has a chance to get organized. It is also of prime importance to get the ball into the offensive area with the number of offensive players outnumbering the defensive players. This, of course, usually results in an unmolested basket.

Frank Keeney, former Rhode Island State basketball coach, came up with the "race-horse" style of play in the mid-forties, that was the fastest of the fast breaks. His teams ran so fast they gave you a cold going by! Keeney was fortunate in having personnel who were exceedingly fast and could shoot well. During the 1946 season, when average scoring for college teams was in the 60's, Rhode Island State averaged eighty-three points per game for the entire season. Over a 5 yr. period Rhode Island State won 80% of its games and its All-American center Ernie Calverly was 5' 10". It was ironic that in the finals of the National Invitational Tourney, they should meet another fast breaking team in the U. of Kentucky and have Kentucky control the ball on them, and win 46-45.

"Firehouse," or "Racehorse" basketball has no set system.

When you get the ball, all five men take off fast for the offensive end of the floor. When they get there, they fire the ball up, and race back on defense. They run, and keep on running; hoping, and often succeeding in running a team right off the floor. The system has some merit, as can be observed in two of the four finalists in the1960 Illinois High School Basketball Tournament. Stephen Decatur High, of Decatur, Illinois, the ultimate fourth place finisher, and Marshall High School, of Chicago, Illinois, the State Champion, both used "firehouse" basketball, and quite successfully, as their records indicate. Both teams had exceptionally fast boys, and wonderful shooters. Both teams appeared to have a disorganized running and dribbling attack, but tremendous speed, and shooting, compensated for this. Opponents often so anxious not to look bad against the fast break, would hustle back on defense too soon, and give up the rebound. This just contributed to the "race-horse" team's success.

I feel that a little of the "racehorse" system is worthwhile, however, I advocate a little more control. I feel that the fast break, when properly used, will result in numerous easy baskets which will often completely demoralize a team that actually may have superior talent. The fast break must be organized, and it must be continually practiced to be completely effective. Without proper practice, it can develop into a helter-skelter offense that will just get you into trouble.   

I use what has become known as the "Controlled Fast Break." Following every recovery of the ball, we immediately attempt the fast break. We try and emphasize the short pass, but on occasions when we have a man out ahead of the defense we will throw the long pass, which results in an easy basket. This pass must be used sparingly, however, for several reasons. The two big disadvantages of the long pass are as follows: One, it is a difficult pass to throw with any accuracy. Most players when throwing the long pass have a tendency to curve the ball, and throw it away from the intended receiver. It is also a tough pass for the receiver to handle at full speed. Two, and most important, the fast break is a team offense. If you have one man breaking before your team gets possession of the ball, he immediately becomes branded by his teammates, and fans, as a "half-court Charley." A fellow who is always looking for the "bunny," intent on increasing his point total, completely disregarding his defensive responsibilities. If a boy continually starts leaving early, we caution him to stay back, until we gain possession of the ball. Here are two examples of a successful fast break. In the first picture Stan Albeck #12, is successfully completing a "scoop shot" after Bob Peterson #30, gave him a perfect bounce pass from the free throw line. Stan played on my very fine Fort Ord, California, team. Today, Stan is coach at Northern Michigan College, Marquette, Michigan.



Another of my fine Ft. Ord players, and now a star for the professional Chicago Zephers Andy Johnson #27 dunks one off the fast break. These "shots" usually "don't come out."

I feel the dribble has its place in the fast break, if it is used properly. I have a little slogan that makes the boy a little more aware of his dribbling habits. I say, "Too much dribbling is just like too much candy, it makes me sick." Most of the time, a boy needs to hear the slogan only once, to get the point. Many times however, a rebounder will get the ball in such a position that he has no alternative but to begin an immediate dribble. We want the man in the middle of the floor to always have the ball on the dribble when he gets into the front court. He then keeps the ball, and regulates his speed, so that the "wings" on the side can flare out across the floor and be ready to receive the ball when it is passed. / never want our middle man to advance the ball past the free throw line, unless he does not have a defensive man in front of him. I have another slogan that covers this. I call this our eleventh commandment, "Thou shall not cross the free throw line." Make your stop at the free throw line, and make the defensive man commit himself. If he comes up to take you, this should free one of the "wings," for an easy pass, if they have advanced properly. If the defensive man retreats to pick up the wing man, shoot the short jump shot from the free-throw line. In this day of the great jump shooters, this is a very good percentage shot. Even if the shot is missed, we have the wings coming in as crashing rebounders, and a possible follow shot.

FAST BREAK DRILLS

To successfully execute the fast break, the players must all be in excellent physical condition. I believe in putting the fast break pressure on the defensive team, and keeping it on, until we run them to death. To do this, we must be in better physical condition than our opponents.


Early-season-workouts are designed to condition the boys for full-game, full-court, running-condition, and ball handling. I have all of the basketball players not out for football, go out for the Cross Country team. This gives the boys an opportunity to get in shape before the season opens and cuts down on the practice time that must be spent in conditioning when you get into the gym. For those of you who do not have Cross Country, I have included a conditioning program that has been successful.

There are five elements to stress and perfect before your fast break will become an effective weapon. These five elements are (1) rebounding, (2) outlet passing, (3) filling the fast break lanes, (4) setting up the defense for the scoring pass, and (5) the successful layup.

I have drills that I stress in practice, which effectively teach each of the above mentioned elements. We practice them in our drills each session until the boys do them instinctively.

END OF THE FAST BREAK

Drilling on making the layup during practice. The player has released the ball at the height of his leap. Stress the high jump, not the broad jump on the layup.


Game pictures

1. Here is the fast break bucket being made during the game. The shooter has executed a beautiful high jump, and has released the ball at the height of his jump. (Pages 54 & 55)
   
   
2. Here is the successful execution of a reverse layup by Bobby Pounds off the fast break. The defensive man has taken an unsuccessful "swipe" at the ball instead of attempting a
   
   block on the shot. (Page 55)
   FAST BREAK TIPS

The majority of fast breaks develop from rebounds, so the first thing to teach is good positioning.

The most difficult thing to teach a rebounder is the importance of "blocking out" the offensive man. Players have a tendency to forget their man, and crash the boards. You may also have a "half court Charley" who forgets his man, and is sneaking down court looking for the long pass.

I attempt to stress the following rules to our players when teaching proper rebounding principles.

1. When your man takes a shot, give him one second of your attention. He is the easiest man to block out. Don't watch the ball.
2. All men make a half turn when shot is taken, and watch your man. Swivel with him. I call this our "swivel chair" position. Assume a "spread eagle" position and turn with short, quick steps.
3. If your man gets the inside position under the basket, force him under the net.
4. Use two hands on rebounds.

A very helpful drill which I use to improve rebounding in our pre-season practice is the drill shown in the following diagram.

Rebounding

Boxing out.

The near man in the dark shirt has achieved his position, while his teammate is fighting to keep his man boxed out. The attention is being given to the man and not the ball.
Under game conditions #30, Bob Peterson, has his man blocked off the boards, while #28, Jerry Pease, has successfully rebounded the missed shot.

FAST   BREAK DRILL  #1
2 Lines With OutletPass


A attempts the shot and #2 and #3 attempt to screen their respective opponents from the board and get the rebound. If #2 or #3 are successful in gaining the rebound, they throw a quick outlet pass out to a wing man, while being harassed by their opponent.


FAST BREAK  DRILL #2
3 Lines

This is another drill to teach blocking out. A shoots and the #'s attempt to block out their opponents and obtain the rebound. The men rotate positions after each attempt; the defensive rebounders go to the end of the line and the offensive rebounders take their places.

FAST BREAK  DRILL #3
1 On 1

The objective of this drill is to teach the boy how to block out an opponent, and jackknife away with the rebound, from a crashing rebound position.
A shoots, and both boys break for the basket, attempting to get position, and the rebound. Players go to the end of the line when finished, and next two compete.

FAST BREAK DRILL #4

This drill teaches the player to get the outlet pass away quickly. A attempts the shot, while 2 screens B-l and takes the rebound. 1 breaks to wing position for outlet pass, from 2, who is being harrassed by B-l. Players rotate lines clockwise.

We have already taught the fundamentals of the passes necessary, so we are only interested in the speed, and ability of the player to get the pass to the outlet man. You may expect the players to make many hurried, poorly directed passes early in these drills, but don't be too critical in the early stages of practice. Accuracy will come through drill, and it is imperative they get rid of the ball quickly.

REBOUNDING

Start of the Fast Break

The rebound is being taken by the wing man at the top of the picture. His teammates are holding their positions until they are certain the wing man has secured possession.

Fast Break Explosion

Now that it is apparent that the wing man has secured the rebound, and is in the process of throwing the outlet pass to the guard, the wing man under the basket explodes into action, and becomes the outside wing man on the fast break. The center and the man who rebounded the ball become the trailers.

FAST BREAK

Now that we have developed the fast break in the back court by stressing the rebounding and outlet pass drills, we are ready to develop the third phase, that of filling the fast break lanes.

I often refer to our fast break as an "Opportunity Fast Break." I mean, that anyone can fill any of the lanes in the break if the opportunity presents itself. Of course, we would like to have our two fastest boys and best drivers on the wing positions, and our best ball handler, and best dribbler, as the middle man. Many times however, the fast break will be initiated when our men are in such a position so as to render this impossible, so we simply tell them, just fill a lane if you get there first.

We drill for this by setting up our fast break shell. When the rebound is secured the three lanes fill quickly, and we run the break only past half court. I stress making certain the middle man has the ball as he reaches mid-court.

 FAST BREAK SHELL

In this diagram, No. 4 gets the rebound,  and  quickly throws the outlet pass to No. 2, who is breaking to the side of the court. No. 2 throws a quick pass to No. 3 who becomes the middle man on the break. No. 5 breaks for the wing position as soon as he is certain No. 4 has recovered the rebound. No. 6 and No. 4 are the trailers on the fast break.

FAST BREAK SHELL

In this diagram, No. 5 gets the rebound and quickly throws the outlet pass to No. 3, who is breaking to side of court to meet the pass. No. 3 throws the ball to No. 2, who becomes the middle man on the break. No. 4 breaks
for the wing position as soon as he is sure No. 5 has recovered the rebound. No. 5 and No. 6 are the trailers on the fast break. The trailers should stay about one-third of the way in from the side of the court.

FAST  BREAK  SHELL
  

In this diagram, No. 2 got the long rebound, and quickly passed to No. 3 who became the middle man. No. 4, and No. 5 quickly flared out, and became the wings. No. 2, and No. 6 become the trailers. If No. 6 would flare out and find himself in front of No. 5, then No. 6 would become the wing, and No. 5 would veer in and become a trailer. No. 2 might also flare out and become a wing, and then No. 4 would be the trailer. Stress the importance of filling the lane as quickly as possible.   

FAST BREAK—STRAIGHT LINE BREAK

You can set up various rebounding situations, and practice the outlet pass until you are certain the players have grasped the fundamentals; then progress to the full court break and set up the fourth element I have mentioned, that of setting up the defense for the successful scoring pass. The following diagrams are the drills you can use to teach this skill.

Set up three lanes, and start at half court, with the ball in the middle of the court. The middle man may pass to one of the wings and receive a return pass, or simply dribble the ball to the free throw lane, letting the wings keep slightly ahead of him. When the middle man reaches the free throw lane, he looks one way, and passes to the opposite side wing man. You can practice without a defense until the men grasp the scoring pass properly. As three men complete the drill, they run off the end of the court, and three more start the drill. Interchange lines so that every man gets an opportunity to act as the middle man in the fast break. As the boys gain sharpness in passing, a defensive man is added, and later on a second defensive man is added. You can give added incentive to the defense by making the same two boys stay on defense until they stop a scoring play, then two others take their place.

Remember to stress to the middle man on the break, that he must make the defensive man commit himself. If the defensive man retreats to stop the pass to a wing, jump shoot over him. If he comes up to challenge the dribble, pass by him.

Now you may add the trailer option to your scoring pass drills.
 
STRAIGHT LINE FAST BREAK—TRAILER OPTION

In this drill you again start at mid-court, and assume a three-on-three situation develops. You have the middle man pass to one of the wings, and break to the side away from the ball. This opens up a path for the trailer following. Stress to the opposite side trailer, that he must stay back for defensive purposes.
 

STRAIGHT LINE FAST BREAK—MIDDLE MAN PIVOT
Here is another drill you may use to teach the scoring pass when you run into a three-on-three situation. Rather than hold up play to set up your offense, have the middle man stop, and reverse pivot, handing the ball off to the following trailer. If the trailer is closely guarded, he merely veers to the side and sets a rear pick on the defensive man guarding the wing. This enables the wing to roll off the pick and receive a probable scoring pass.
 
FAST BREAK—DRIVING LAYUP DRILLS

Even after securing the pass, the wing men still have a tremendous job to do, and, of course, that is to get the ball through the hoop. We spend hours working on driving layups, before we get into the season, and our drills have paid off in key baskets by our drivers when very closely guarded. I try to assimilate actual game conditions while working on this important phase of the fast break, and the following diagrams are the drills you can use to teach this.
I feel this is a very fine drill to teach the boys how to shoot layups under close guarding conditions. I encourage the defensive man to hustle hard, and make a lot of noise in an attempt to distract the shooter.
Driving Lay up Drill—Both ends of the floor may be utilized for this drill. The players in the X line are the dribblers, and the O line players are the defense. Player X in line 1, starts a fast left-handed dribble toward the basket, and after one step head start, the defensive man chases him attempting to use his right hand to block the shot. As soon as they finish, the X player in line 2 starts a right hand rapid dribble, with the defensive O player in close pursuit, attempting to block the shot with his left hand. Players rotate lines, so they get practice driving from both sides. Both ends can work the drill at the same time. Players change from X to O line after each layup attempt.

 

FAST BREAK ON OPPONENTS SUCCESSFUL
FREE THROW ATTEMPT

I have found that our opponents make six out of ten free throws. I have also found that of the four they miss, we are successful in recovering 2.5 of the rebounded misses. This means that we get the ball 85% of the time after our opponents have a free throw attempt. We line up in the following manner on our opponents free throw attempts and plan on getting the outlet pass away quickly enough so that we get a "3 on 2" situation.

On the fast break after a successful free throw attempt by our opponents, we have 2 tap the ball out of bounds on a diagonal as it goes through the basket. We tell 3 that he had better be there to get it. If, of course, 3 is slow in getting to the ball, or if he fumbles it, the fast break opportunity is missed. If 3 does get the ball, he passes quickly out to 4, who is breaking into the ball. 6 has quickly cut across, and receives a short pass from 4. Meanwhile 5 has blocked out the shooter, then gone to the center of the floor, for the pass from 6. Sometimes the pass can be made directly from 4 to 5. 2 and 6 are the wings, and 3 and 4 become the trailers.

You can normally work this to the other side of the floor the second half, so the defense can't anticipate the outlet pass, and intercept the throw in.
FAST BREAK SHELL

Here now, is the fast break in its entirety. We practice on the break at least 15 minutes each day.

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