with Nate Oats,
University of Buffalo Head Coach;
2018 MAC Coach of the Year; 2018 NABC District Coach of the Year;
2x MAC Tournament Champions (2016, 2018); 2013 State Class A Championship (Romulus HS, MI)
Nate Oats has quickly progressed through the coaching ranks, going from coaching a high school state championship team to becoming the head coach at the University of Buffalo in a span of just three years. Along the way, one of his staples has been scoring early and often in transition. In this video, Coach Oats details many of the transition drills and strategies that he uses to get his athletes to compete with an attacking mindset, make better decisions on the court, and play fast.
Transition Philosophy
Beginning with his transition philosophy, Oats covers his five non-negotiables for transition offense and defense:
- Ball Pressure
- Sprint Back
- Stay in a Good Stance
- Communicate
- Rebounding
Paying mind to all of these will lead to stops on the defensive end and allow your team to push the ball in transition and play at a faster pace.
Transition Drills
Starting with his Texas Series, Coach Oats demonstrates how his team build its break, beginning with a non-traditional 1-on-2 drill. Once players get to one end of the floor, they have seven seconds to get back as the offense pushes back 2-on-1. From there, Oats demonstrates how to build into 2-on-2, 3-on-3, and 4-on-4 play.
In the Blood Series, players compete 2-on-2 and work on reading the defense. Guards look to read the help defense while post players read and react to how the defense pushes the ball handlers. From 2-on-2, you can build into 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 going back and forth.
The Hubie Break drill works on building the rebounding component of transition offense and defense. Players work on getting their butt to the sideline and peeking up the floor. As the ball is pushed, athletes hunt for their shot, doing their best to get to the rim and create layup opportunities.
Coach Oats gives you a variety of transition drills that you can use to build both your offense and defense, which helps optimize practice time. This video will give you the tools you need to help your players understand how the game should be played in the open floor, which will in turn create more scoring opportunities for your offense.
73 minutes. 2019.