3v3: The Greatest Teaching Tool

The greatest teaching tool in the game of basketball is not a prop, or yelling at your players when they make a mistake, it is 3v3.

Should you implement 3v3 within the framework of your team when the game is played 5v5? YES! The added benefits of 3v3 gameplay are through the roof, but I will only highlight a few throughout this piece. Basketball IQ is becoming more of an issue in our game than every before, and coaches are not holding players accountable for their lack of understanding of the game. Players have been conditioned to play game after game after game without the proper breakdown of why you should do __________ or what the specific reads are when ________ happens. To combat this glaring issue, say hello to 3v3.

If you have not yet read the book, The Talent Code, I highly suggest you do so. I read it last spring and it made perfect sense and facilitated in the way I started to develop a team. I grew up playing soccer, along with basketball, participating in futsol leagues during the winter in between season. Daniel Coyle, author of The Talent Code, went to Brazil to study why Brazilian’s are the highest skilled and for the most part, most talented country in the world at soccer. One could argue many reasons why, but what he discovered was genius.

The 3v3 model gets players more touches, and opportunities that they may not get within the old school model of playing 5v5 during practice. These opportunities are essentially a skill development phase of your practice because guys that wouldn’t necessarily receive the reps in a standard practice model will get these extra reps, which will assist in improving your bench. Along with developing your offensive skills, 3v3 gives the added bonus of 1v1 defense. There is a lot more space for players to operate and you cannot hide poor ball containment or help side rotations.

Concepts such as court awareness, spacing, passing, moving without the ball and screening are all prevalent. Basketball IQ is a problem among youth players all the way to the college level. From this model you can begin the basic grassroots fundamentals of the game such as passing, catching, cutting, and screening away from the ball. One of the biggest issues with youth players is that on the catch their first instinct is to dribble, you have the ability to enforce and instill the proper habits within a 3v3 model. Making sure players slow down, catch and face before they do anything is vital in their development. Also, within this framework you must incorporate spacing and how players should move to create proper spacing. Once they have the ability to master spacing, they will be able to translate it to a 5v5 setting.

I worked the University of Virginia ‘s basketball camp this past summer and had the luxury to watch their practices after camp. It was summer time so these sessions only last for 1 hour, but were highly intense and utilized small sided, build up drills to keep everyone involved. The basic practice model was simple, but after a certain drill they would play 2 games of 3v3 on side courts, which are significantly smaller than a regular court basically just the width of the court. The rules of the game were they had a 15 second shot clock, and implemented their mover blocker offensive scheme, which designates a screener (big man) and movers (perimeter players). As the team would come down the court the big is automatically setting an off ball screen and they play from there. This model gives everyone a chance with the ball in their hands, and learning how to make proper reads, which will translate into a 5v5 setting.

If you look at the NBA, whether you want to believe it or not, majority of the players are from the inner city. Why are inner city kids so good compared to others? One reason is that inner city kids play all the time, small-sided games in the neighborhood, without coaches, parents, or adult influences around, forcing them to figure things out on the fly. Kids want to have fun, and they want the opportunity to have the ball in their hands. Put players in small-sided 3v3 games, you can adjust the rules, but watch your team develop right before your eyes. You will start to question why you haven’t played 3v3 games before, guaranteed.