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Most offensive schemes are designed to get one extra foot of space to your best player or to force a defender to make a choice.

Teaching spacing and more importantly, developing your players' inner sense about it- is critical for your team’s success.

Baker Dunleavy has a great sense of this.  

Baker Dunleavy was just hired last week as the General Manager for Villanova basketball.

Having learned the game from a 17-year NBA Head Coach Mike Dunleavy, his father and having refined his coaching style as an assistant coach with Vilanova under coach Jay Wright - where he helped lead the Wildcats to a National Championship victory in 2016. That Vilanova team is known as one of the best spacing and cutting basketball teams in college basketball history

Players may understand spacing, but during the flow of the game, do they remember it?

Coaches always ask: “How do I teach spacing?”

Coach Dunleavy believes that it's our job as a coach to get the players to believe and buy-in to spacing. 

Here are 3 Spacing Drills used by Coach Dunleavy: 

#1 - Drive and Space 2nd Cut Drill

By attacking the paint and reading the help defenders you can enhance your spacing and scoring opportunities.

The Drive and Space 2nd Cut Drill is designed to train the offensive players to attack the paint middle and be able to read what the defense is doing.

In the drill the ball handler is looking to:

1. Score
2. Look Opposite
3. Fill Behind

This drill is designed to work on your players' footwork, most importantly their ability to jump stop in the paint and while looking to make the correct read against the defense. 

Link: 2nd Cut Drill

#2 - Step Drill

The step drill is designed to maintain proper spacing off a step-up ball screen. 

The ball handler is looking to attack the paint to score.

The off-ball players are looking to fill behind and in the spaces -and make themselves visible to the ball handler. 

The goal of the ball handler remains to look to score, look opposite or look for the fill behind. 

If the ball handler hits opposite then that puts the defense in a closeout situation. 

That player then has the same options - attack the paint and play off the 3 rules.

Link: Step Drill

#3 - Snake Drill

As ball screen defense has advanced, refusals and re-screens have become an essential part of a team’s offense.

Another important development has been the ability of players to control pace during these situations through effective use of the snake dribble- keeping a defender on their back and approaching the next line of defense. This creates an opportune time to re-space to an advantage.

Coach Dunleavy uses this drill to teach the off-ball offensive players to read and re-space depending on what the ball handler does with the basketball.

The ballhandler uses the snake dribble and the drive direction changes.

The off-ball players work on their reads, find the open area and make sure to get into the vision off the ball-handler. 

Link: Snake Drill

These 3 drills will give you a foundation on how to properly teach the concept of spacing.

As Chuck Daly famously said: “Spacing is Offense. Offense is Spacing.” 

Coach Dunleavy’s clinic will give you a breakdown of these basic principles of spacing, how to react on dribble penetration, as well as the spacing principles of ball screens.

Never get out-coached,

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