Joe Haefner | Breakthrough Basketball

The 2-3 Zone That Forces Turnovers Most coaches think a 2-3 zone is passive - something you use to protect the paint. But what if your zone defense could attack instead of react? In this video, we’ll show you how Coach Mike Tartara’s Lockdown 2-3 Zone Defense (on sale through Sunday) transforms the traditional zone into a turnover-creating machine, using the same principles that Merrimack College used to become one of the best defensive programs in Division I basketball. breakthroughbasketball.com/p… The stats don’t lie: - Since going to the 2-3 zone 5 years ago, Coach Tartara’s program has consistently set school records for steals. - Merrimack annually ranks as one of the top turnover-forcing teams in Men’s D1 college basketball. Coach Tartara’s Cuyahoga Heights teams averaged 250+ steals per season after switching to this system - proof that you can win more games while playing zone defense that pressures opponents instead of sitting back. Then, watch Merrimack College execute the same rotations at the D1 level -showing how these high school principles produce elite-level results.

Use This Drill to Sharpen Your 2-3 Zone Reactions Want your team to move with purpose in a zone — instead of just chasing the ball? The Side-Top-Side Drill is one of the best ways to build tempo, spacing, and flow in your 2-3 Zone. It teaches: -Proper ball movement across the top and wings -Timing & communication between guards and wings -How to disrupt offensive rhythm through precision and pressure This clip comes straight from our upcoming video: Lockdown 2-3 Zone Defense with Coach Mike Tartara. This defense is 30% off NOW: breakthroughbasketball.com/p… Coaches - have you used this type of drill before? What's worked best for you to teach rotations and timing in a zone?

Eliminate open 3s with the High & Wide 2-3 Zone Defense. Most coaches avoid the 2-3 zone because they’re afraid of giving up open threes. Coach Mike Tartara’s version flips that. His guards play high and wide, so shooters never get clean looks. Since switching to it, his teams have: • Held opponents to 28.7% from 3 • Gone 92-33 (up from a 53% win rate to 74%) • Racked up 250+ steals in 3 of the last 4 seasons Simple to install before your first game, even without D-1 size. 30% off through Sunday at midnight. Get it for $69 (reg. $99): zurl.co/lSbc9

Develop Better Finishing and Decision Making With This Fast Break Drill Here's a great 2v1 drill to improve ball handling, passing, scoring, and decision making out of fast break advantage situations from the Youth Coaching System with Jim Huber. 🔗 breakthroughbasketball.com/p… Even though these are youth players in the video, it's great for all ages! I actually got this drill from longtime college coach Don Kelbick. Drill Tips: -Attack and Think Lay Up! We got this drill from Don Kelbick and we teach the same mentality. You want to force the ball handler to attack and try to get a lay up. The only reason they pass is that the defender stops the ball. Personally, I’m okay if the initial ball handler takes some bad shots. I think having an assertive, attacking mentality will create more good things than bad. This mentality will eventually lead to more open passes for his teammate, because the defense will realize that they have to commit and stop the ball. - 1 or 2 Pass Limit You could even add a pass limit of 1 or 2. That way, it’s more game like and they’re not going too slow. - Add a Countdown You could also introduce a time limit. If I see going too slow, I usually start saying, “3, 2, 1… “ and make a buzzer sound at zero. The kids actually enjoy it. - Make It 2v2 With a Trailing Defender It's also fun to add a trailing defender as another progression. You would simply add a 4th line somewhere in the middle of the floor. So you’d put a cone a little bit further in the middle of the court, so the trailing defender comes into the play a second or two later. - Change Offense and Defense Lines I also will switch up which lines are defense and offense, so players experience attacking the basket from all angles in transition. Give this drill a try and let us know what you think!

1v1 Dematha Finishing Drill Here is a great drill to improve your ability to make lay ups around the basket against a live defender! This is a video clip from the Youth Basketball Coaching System with Jim Huber (60% off Today Only). 🔗 breakthroughbasketball.com/p…

Inside the Youth Coaching System With Jim Huber (Full Walkthrough) Ever wonder what’s actually inside the Youth Coaching System? Mark Brase walks you through all of it in this 8-minute tour: - 64 ready-to-run practice plans (beginner and intermediate, 60 and 90 minutes) - Skill development videos for ball handling, passing, finishing and shooting - Team offense and defense, taught one layer at a time - A full live practice with Coach Huber’s 6th grade team - The Ball Handling & Footwork Workouts app your players can use at home Every drill has its own video, so you always know what to teach next and how to teach it. This week, the Youth Coaching System is 60% off, and every order includes a free year of the workouts app for up to 15 of your players. >>> See the full system: breakthroughbasketball.com/p…

Work on ball toughness, pivoting & protecting the ball with your #youthbasketball team using this 1 V 1 Face Up Drill. Get 14 MORE FREE Youth Basketball Drills: youtu.be/Cm34CsIixC4 Get the Youth Coaching System (60% off): breakthroughbasketball.com/p… #youthbasketballdrills #youthcoaching

Stop Missing Lay Ups With 1v1 Dematha Finishing Here is a great drill to improve your ability to make lay ups around the basket against a live defender! This is a video clip from the Youth Basketball Coaching System with Jim Huber (60% off this week only). 🔗 zurl.co/youth-coaching

Coaches: Is it easier to build a successful pressing system at a smaller school than at a bigger school? What has your experience been? High school enrollment (Grades 9-12): - Small: Under 500 students - Medium: 500–999 - Large: 1,000+

Use This Perimeter Move To Blow By Aggressive Defenders Coach Don Kelbick goes over This drop step move from The Attack & Counter System. This is great to use against aggressive defenders, especially the ones that overplay the passing lane. 1 - The drop step move takes you away from the defender so they can't easily cut you off. You use the defender's aggressiveness to put them in an even worse position to stop you. 2 - By immediately going to the drop step move, it creates more separation from the defense. That's because it gives both the on ball defender and help defense less time to recover. Thus, opening up driving lanes and scoring opportunities for you and your teammates. ⏰ Today's the last day: $100 off The Attack & Counter Skill Development System ($199 → $99) — the full system this move comes from. Ends tonight. 👉 zurl.co/BZQvu

The NEW Triple Threat - One of the Best Ways To Improve Shooting and Confidence! Let me know what you think of it after you watch the video and read the text below…this is from The Attack & Counter Skill Development System. When Don Kelbick first introduced this “Attack & Counter” concept to our newsletter subscribers in 2009, we got a lot of pushback. However, over the last 15 years, you’ve seen HOF coaches like Jay Wright and John Boeheim say similar things like “Think shot on the catch.” When you first read the "Shoot. Shoot. Shoot." mentality, you might think it sounds a bit crazy. I know that I did. But after I saw Don teach it and saw how much it improved my players, I thought it was genius. After using it for over 15 years, I would not teach any other way now. The players I’ve trained and coached are just better. They're more confident and more assertive…. And more importantly, more effective! This is an example of how you can introduce it to your players and it also helps clear up some misunderstandings if you have any: After introducing the new triple threat, you can ask them, "What happens to your feet when you think shot?" After a few player responses, you can say, "Yeah. You aggressively face the basket. You turn as fast as you can under control." After that, you can ask "Now, why is this important?" This is usually where you might lose them. If you're lucky, you might have a few players that figure it out. So if they don't answer in a 5 seconds, you can say to them, "If you turn slowly, it allows the defense to get set and you lose your initial advantage." "If you aggressively turn and face the basket like you're going to shoot the ball, it puts pressure on the defense. If they do NOT sprint out to defend and it is a good shot for you, you can shoot the ball." "Now by thinking 'Shot. Shot. Shot' and getting into your shooting position as quickly as possible, the defense has to cover more ground to contest your shot. Now the defense has to rush out and defend you. If the defense is flying at you at a fast speed, you have the advantage because their momentum is coming towards you and it will make it difficult for them to guard the drive." Next, I'll ask them, "If you Think Shot, what happens to your eyes?" Most groups usually get this one right away, "Your eyes are looking at the hoop." "Yes. And when they're looking at the hoop, this does a couple of things for you. Eyes are one of the greatest weapons for fakes and the defense might jump and create a driving or passing lane for you." "Two, if your eyes are up, you can see what?" "Yeah. You can see the whole floor. You can see the defense. You can see your teammates." "Now should you still think 'Shot. Shot. Shot' if you are outside of your shooting range?" "Absolutely! Even if you would never shoot the ball because it is a poor shot for you, just by looking like you are going to shoot the ball will put more pressure on the defense and pull them out of position. Defenders instinctually will fly out of position if you look like you're going to shoot the ball… even if you're a terrible shooter from that spot." As you can see, this mentality can be a great tool to instantly make your players and your team better at offense. Let us know your thoughts below! 🏀 This week only: $100 off The Attack & Counter Skill Development System ($199 → $99). Ends Sunday, October 4th: zurl.co/ayD1U

Change Gears And Control The Court With These Ball Handling Drills Nobody gets better by staying comfortable. NBA Skills trainer coach Don Kelbick goes over inside out dribbling from The Attack & Counter System. These moves and coaching tips are essential for beating any defender. “You beat people with your feet, you separate with the ball.” $100 off The Attack & Counter Skill Development System this week ($199 → $99): zurl.co/r5ArY

One Of The Best Warm Up Drills That You Can Do - Improves: Dribbling, Shooting, Footwork, and Finishing. NBA Skills trainer Coach Don Kelbick takes you through one of the best warm up drills that you can use at the beginning of a workout or practice. It develops ball handling, footwork, finishing, and shooting. And it progressively warms up your body for more high intensity work. That way, you're less likely to get injured. There are a lot of little things that go unnoticed in this drill that are really important. We explain them to you below the video. But first, you need to watch the video which is from The Attack & Counter Skill Development System to understand. Also, it's great for all levels of players. If you're a beginner, you can work on basic dribbling progressions. If you're a high-level player, you can work on advanced dribble combinations and finishing moves. It also improves first step speed and reduces injuries! $100 off The Attack & Counter Skill Development System this week ($199 → $99). Ends Sunday, 10/4: zurl.co/lfq8w

The Area NBA Players Know To Attack (And You Should, Too) What is the first help defense principle that almost every coach teaches their players? The one that comes to mind for me is “jump to the ball.” In 20 years of coaching, I’ve heard that countless times. Jumping to the ball simply means that on every pass, all defenders should move (jump) towards the direction of the ball. That shrinks driving lanes and puts defensive players in position to help. Does that mean driving isn’t an option? No! It just means you need to know which road to take. For that answer, listen to NBA Trainer & creator of the Attack And Counter Skill Development System Don Kelbick talk about a simple but powerful concept on how to better attack the defense off the catch. zurl.co/YqQnz

Most people are probably going to think I’m nuts, but this actually played a role in where my family moved this past August. We were deciding between a few small towns in Eastern Iowa, and one of the things I kept coming back to was something most people probably wouldn’t put very high on their list: Access to a gym. One of the towns we really liked had a community center right next to the middle school and high school... And only about a half mile from some of the houses we were considering. That mattered to me. Growing up, I had a community center not too far from school, and I went there all the time after school to play basketball. I didn’t start organized basketball until sixth grade. I didn’t play club summer basketball. I basically played during the season every year... And then spent a lot of time just playing pickup basketball with friends. I was a point guard, and coaches always considered decision-making one of my strengths. Looking back, I think a lot of that came from those hours in the gym. No coach telling us exactly what to do. No drill dictating the solution. We just played. We experimented. We tried things that didn’t work. We figured things out. We played against older kids, younger kids, different styles and different types of athletes. And we played other sports too, which I believe helped develop even more pattern recognition and problem-solving ability. There’s obviously tremendous value in organized basketball, good coaching and skill development. But I also think kids need environments where they can simply play. That’s becoming harder to find. So, yes, when we were deciding where to live, having a community center close enough that my kids could eventually walk or bike over and play on their own actually factored into the decision. Maybe that sounds crazy. But I wanted them to have the opportunity to experience a little bit of what helped me fall in love with the game... And learn how to play it.

Great roadmap for players on offense from @coachcascio