2021 Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year;
2x Southwest Athletic Conference (SWAC) Regular Season Champions (2019 & 2020);
SWAC Tournament Championship 2019;
3x SWAC Coach of the Year (2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021);Player Development is a critical component for building a players’ scoring, passing and ball handling abilities. These traits, while often seen as fundamental basketball skills, are often overlooked when it comes to the difference between a player having confidence in his or her ability or not trusting their skills in key moments of a tight game.
Byron Smith is known as a ‘program building coach’ and has helped to successfully reshape the culture and confidence of Prairie View A&M.
In this video, viewers get an inside look at the drills that Smith uses every day to build his players confidence and help them have fun on the offensive end.
Defensive Concepts, Player Development
Coach Smith, known for having tough-minded, hard-nose defensive teams, begins this instructional video by discussing and showcasing his daily emphasis on the defensive end of the floor.
Smith explains his defensive philosophy of taking away what an opponent wants to do. By doing so, your opponents will have to go to their secondary actions and counters out of necessity. As a result, it will take them longer to prepare to play you.
Coach Smith goes into detail on the importance of defensive intensity and describes how he gets his players to ‘fly around and defend like their hair is on fire.’ By utilizing this type of frenetic, intense defensive approach, it will appear to opponents as if there are no open looks and they’ll rush their offense – which often leads to mistakes or momentum-changing turnovers.
Smith transitions to an informative section on player development and explains how keeping drills simple helps to build confidence in your players – explaining that sometimes, you have to stick to the basics to get the most out of your team.
In a highly valuable player-development section, Coach Smith takes you through several ball-handling drills that pushes players out of their comfort zone, forcing them to make mistakes and ultimately, see progress in subsequent reps.
In ‘Ball Handling Stations,’ Smith uses stationary ball handling to help players get a feel for the ball and pushes their pace of play, which helps to increase their reaction time in games.In ‘3-Spot Ball Handling,’ players are required to move at game-like speed to incorporate key ball handling moves, such as a retreat dribble and helps to build their confidence and improves their weak hand dribbling. In ‘Passing and Dribbling’,players combine their ball handling moves and are required to execute a variety of passes to their partner. This helps players learn to play at a fast pace and be able to pass and catch on the fly; Coach Smith calls this “one of the lost arts” in today’s game.
Exchange Actions
Next, Coach Smith showcases a valuable section that puts players' skills to the test in the half court. Using a 5-on-0 set up, he demonstrates 6 different ‘Exchange Actions’ that help players to improve and that you can use to build your half-court offense. From hitting the post player rolling off of the dribble handoff, to throwing the ball back to your point guard, to having your post player run out and screen a ball reversal pass – these are all simple and effective actions that will get your players driving into the paint, as well as work to improve their passing, catching, and building their ball-handling confidence!
Smith is a coach renowned for his ability to develop players. As he puts it, ‘Developing your players is one of the most important aspects a coach can do. It builds trust in your relationship between you and your players and it builds their confidence on the floor.’ Whether you are looking for ways to take drills and apply skill development or just looking for ways to push your players' passing and catching within your half-court offense, this is a must-have video to add to your instructional coaching library!
Coach Review: 5 Out Of 5 Stars.‘The way Coach Smith keeps his skill development drills simple is valuable for coaches at all levels! The exchange actions he covers are easy to install and offer great ways to incorporate his methods for player development!’
68 minutes. 2022.