Developing Players' Decision Making by Allison McNeil. A summary of her teaching methods used to develop decision making in basketball is outlined including a list of the key drills, with the time mark to take you right to the drill. This will save you the time of watching the whole video so you can focus your learning.

1. A Summary of
Developing Players’
Decision Making
by Allison McNeill

2. To save you time, here is my summary
of Coach McNeill’s video so you can
watch the specific things that interest
you.
I know sometimes it is difficult to find the
time to search for great content. It is even
more difficult to invest the time to watch
everything you find. One of the advantages
of being a full-time basketball coach is
that I have time. I am always trying to
learn more and stimulate my coaching. In
this video, Coach McNeill is trying to get
players to have more creativity and to
improve their decision making. She argues
that too many players have all the skills
but no decision making ability.

3. Drill: Backscreen into One-on-One with Passer
Penetration Reaction (4:53)
• Only pass to the penetration reaction player if you get in trouble, then re-
space and play.
• Backscreen cutter must get a foot in the key before they can recover with
a closeout.
• It also engages the passer in the action.
Drill: One-on-One Crossscreen with Passer Cut
Reaction (7:25)
• Works on the crossscreen seal action and the reaction off that action.

4. Drill: Sweep/Curl One-on-One Reaction (9:06)
• Start with two lines on the baseline. The offense passes to the coach and
follows their pass to get the ball back for a rip. It then becomes live one-
on-one.
• It can be built up to 4-on-4 penetration reaction reads (13:01). This is an
excellent small-sided games concept.
Coach Oliver Note: The key is to get offensive players to attack the basket to
score rather than to pass. I find many players treat the small-sided games
initially like a drill rather than a game. This is a by-product of our drill
culture in coaching. You will need to encourage players to be free and
creative in their decisionmaking. You will also need to emphasize that the
dribbler’s goal is to score.

5. Drill: Dribble Out Pass to Coach (21:10)
• Two players dribble outside the three-point line on both sides of the court.
The coach shows their hands to one player and that player passes to the
coach. This initiates the rest of the action. Each player gets to shoot.
• You can add defense to make it more challenging and it becomes two
games of one-on-one.
Coach Oliver Note: I have taken this drill and added a player on top instead
of the coach. The third player relocates after their pass. The first shooter
rebounds their ball and passes to this relocating player. Now three players
shoot.

6. Drill: Sideline Start 2-on-1 Reads (26:20)
• This is a variation of a way to get into 2-on-1 advantage situations.
• Some of the key teaching points for 2-on-1 reads are that if the defender’s chest
is in front of you then the offensive player with the ball should pass. If the
defender’s chest is not then the offensive player with the ball should attack the
rim to score.
• You can add defense to make it 3-on-3. The main rule is that the defense cannot
steal the first three passes and it is live on the third catch.
• Add any offensive sequences you use as a coach to work on your player’s
execution of specific actions in your offensive system.
Coach Oliver Note: I think this drill is more effective as a 3-on-3 sequence. It
seems to flow better and provide more realistic game situations. The third catch
also creates an excellent zero seconds situation where the offensive player must
make a quick decision on the catch. If they pause they allow the defense to
recover

7. Drill: 3-on-3 Closeouts (36:20)
• Passes along the baseline into three closeouts.
Coach Oliver Note: This is a common drill which is an excellent small-sided
game situation. We use it to create realistic closeout situations and in some
cases to work against specific opponent actions out of a dynamic
competitive drill. Practice footage of our team using this drill will soon be
up on Basketball Immersion.

8. Drill: Toss Drill (48:40)
• Three in a line, toss out the ball and play 2-on-1.
• Learn to attack first.
• Can use five players to turn it into 3-on-2.
Drill: Four into a Triangle Post Up (57:46)
• This is a unique way to create a post passing triangle as it creates a one-
on-one situation in the post with two passers.

9. My Main Takeaway
The drills use similar concepts to our basketball decision training signals.
The concepts are very adaptable to your specific offensive sequences and
philosophy. They do a good job of creating decision situations. Specifically, I
really liked the Dribble Out Pass to Coach Drill (21:10) when it became two
separate games of one-on-one. This is a good way to mix skill development
with competitive decision making concepts. It also maximizes time-on-task
as more players are involved more quickly in one-on-one games. It is also
chaotic and ugly at times which all serves are purposes as a coach of trying
to get our players to figure out the best decisions in realistic game
situations.

10. TO WATCH THE VIDEO
AND LEARN MORE ABOUT BASKETBALL IMMERSION
CLICK THE BLOG PICTURE