New motion offense fitting for Wright State
Nov 1, 2006 7:09:31 GMT -5
Post by Raider Country on Nov 1, 2006 7:09:31 GMT -5
New motion offense fitting for Wright State
By Marc Katz
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
FAIRBORN — No matter what he tried to do, Brad Brownell knew it was going to be difficult. When he was named the new coach for Wright State men's basketball during the early summer, reserve players had already started to peel off and leave the Raiders.
With small numbers and players' heights that made it look more like an Industrial League team than one playing Division I basketball, Brownell never hesitated. He decided to teach the "motion" offense.
"It's what I know," said Brownell, an Indiana native who grew up under the Bob Knight influence. "I've not been an exclusive motion coach, but that's what I teach. Now, you also try to adapt to your personnel. You can't just do what you've always done."
Wright State has an exhibition game with the University of Indianapolis, a Division II school, Thursday at the Nutter Center. The regular season begins Nov. 11 at Miami.
"It takes time," Brownell said. "Our style of motion offense is so foreign, it's slow going as far as progressing as a team. Every kid is a freshman in my system."
It is a system, though, where Brownell says teams improve.
"Hopefully, in February," Brownell said, "we won't remember what we did in November."
Three parts are important in motion offenses: the passer, screener and shooter.
"If one of the guys doesn't do it right, it doesn't work," the coach said. "It's reading and understanding. There's a lot of pressure on the kids. There are two or three things you can do on each play.
"In a set offense, if the ball goes to this place, everybody does this. You can work on plays week after week and get them down so you know exactly what you're going to do. But if the other team scouts, it knows exactly what you're going to do, too.
"In the motion, it can be this or this."
Senior DaShaun Wood thinks the new offense fits in with the smallness of the team.
"I love it because I love to run around," Wood said. "It keeps the defense working. When you're small, you don't want the defense to have many breaks."
Wood is the catalyst of the team, an All-Horizon League player at 5-11. He's not going to go over anybody, but he's going to go around most.
"The thing about the motion offense is, everyone has to be on the same page," Wood said. 'If one guy is thinking screen and the other guy is thinking screen, they run into each other. As we progress, we're getting the idea of what to do and when to do it."
www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2006/10/31/ddn110106wsubb.html
By Marc Katz
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
FAIRBORN — No matter what he tried to do, Brad Brownell knew it was going to be difficult. When he was named the new coach for Wright State men's basketball during the early summer, reserve players had already started to peel off and leave the Raiders.
With small numbers and players' heights that made it look more like an Industrial League team than one playing Division I basketball, Brownell never hesitated. He decided to teach the "motion" offense.
"It's what I know," said Brownell, an Indiana native who grew up under the Bob Knight influence. "I've not been an exclusive motion coach, but that's what I teach. Now, you also try to adapt to your personnel. You can't just do what you've always done."
Wright State has an exhibition game with the University of Indianapolis, a Division II school, Thursday at the Nutter Center. The regular season begins Nov. 11 at Miami.
"It takes time," Brownell said. "Our style of motion offense is so foreign, it's slow going as far as progressing as a team. Every kid is a freshman in my system."
It is a system, though, where Brownell says teams improve.
"Hopefully, in February," Brownell said, "we won't remember what we did in November."
Three parts are important in motion offenses: the passer, screener and shooter.
"If one of the guys doesn't do it right, it doesn't work," the coach said. "It's reading and understanding. There's a lot of pressure on the kids. There are two or three things you can do on each play.
"In a set offense, if the ball goes to this place, everybody does this. You can work on plays week after week and get them down so you know exactly what you're going to do. But if the other team scouts, it knows exactly what you're going to do, too.
"In the motion, it can be this or this."
Senior DaShaun Wood thinks the new offense fits in with the smallness of the team.
"I love it because I love to run around," Wood said. "It keeps the defense working. When you're small, you don't want the defense to have many breaks."
Wood is the catalyst of the team, an All-Horizon League player at 5-11. He's not going to go over anybody, but he's going to go around most.
"The thing about the motion offense is, everyone has to be on the same page," Wood said. 'If one guy is thinking screen and the other guy is thinking screen, they run into each other. As we progress, we're getting the idea of what to do and when to do it."
www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2006/10/31/ddn110106wsubb.html