HIGH SCHOOL
COACHING
BASKETBALL
This page intentionally left blank.
HIGH SCHOOL
COACHING
BASKETBALL
Coach Bill Kuchar
with Mike Kuchar, ESPN Magazine
A Complete Guide to Building a Championship Team
Copyright © 2005 by Bill Kuchar. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. Except
as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced
or distributed in any form or by anymeans, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior
written permission of the publisher.
0-07-145856-5
The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: 0-07-143876-9.
All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after every
occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefit of the
trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. Where such designations appear in
this book, they have been printed with initial caps.
McGraw-Hill eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions,
or for use in corporate training programs. For more information, please contact George Hoare, Special
Sales, at or (212) 904-4069.
TERMS OF USE
This is a copyrighted work and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“McGraw-Hill”) and its licensors reserve
all rights in and to the work. Use of this work is subject to these terms. Except as permitted under the
Copyright Act of 1976 and the right to store and retrieve one copy of the work, you may not decompile,
disassemble, reverse engineer, reproduce, modify, create derivative works based upon, transmit,
distribute, disseminate, sell, publish or sublicense the work or any part of it without McGraw-Hill’s prior
consent. You may use the work for your own noncommercial and personal use; any other use of the work

Foreword by Bob Hurley, Sr. ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Key to Diagrams xiv
Chapter 1
Starting from Scratch: Mastering the Basics of Basketball Fundamentals 1
Chapter 2
The Sweetest Sound: Establishing the Mechanics
That Will Lead to Uncanny Accuracy of a Dead-On Jump Shot 7
Chapter 3
Explosive Offense: Running the Double-Motion Offense 17
Chapter 4
Simple-Motion Offense: Running Two Simple-Motion Offenses 23
Chapter 5
Off and Running: Installing the Fast Break and
Full-Court-Press Offenses That Will Get Down Court in a Hurry 25
Chapter 6
Out-of-Bounds and Last-Second Plays: Seventeen Proven
Out-of-Bounds Plays and Last-Second Shots That
Will Score Points and the Only Tap Play You Will Ever Need 35
Chapter 7
Establishing an Offensive System and Identity:
Installing an Offensive Package and Developing Unique
Play-Calling Skills That Will Keep Defenses Off Guard 45
Chapter 8
Defense Wins Championships: Defensive Philosophies
That Turn Average Players into Excellent Defenders 57
CONTENTS
vii
For more information about this title, click here

fundamental base unlike any other team we faced.
As a shooting instructor, Bill is second to none. His
ideas and drills for developing shooters could be read-
ily seen in the great players he mentored, including Jim
Boylan and Gary Witts. The technique and form of a
Bill Kuchar–coached jump shooter was flawless.
Bill’s coaching style has always been player-friendly.
He has developed outstanding players and teams while
ix
forging lifetime friendships and an immeasurable cama-
raderie with the young men he so greatly influenced.
As a young coach in the early 1970s, my goal was to
compete with Bill, and he was the standard I set for
myself and my teams at Saint Anthony’s. He set a very
high standard for his coaching peers to strive for, and I
am obliged to say he has been a personal friend as well
as a mentor to me for the past thirty years.
Bob Hurley, Sr.
Head Coach
St. Anthony’s High School
Jersey City,New Jersey
FOREWORD
Copyright © 2005 by Bill Kuchar. Click here for terms of use.
This page intentionally left blank.
I
recently concluded forty years coaching varsity high
school basketball. Now that my life has gotten a little
quieter, I assumed I would do what all competitors
eventually do—write about their experiences participat-
ing in the game they love and share their knowledge of

other coaches talking about my team. “They have a
great offense, but think how tough they would be if
they had a good pressure defense,” I remember him
saying. It was then I decided that I would force myself
to learn man-to-man defense and become a student of
defensive philosophies.
Everything that has contributed to my success as a
varsity basketball coach is in this book. From the open-
ing tap play to the end of the game, everything is cov-
ered and enhanced. It’s up to you to put it all to use.
The ball is in your court. Enjoy.
PREFACE
Copyright © 2005 by Bill Kuchar. Click here for terms of use.
This page intentionally left blank.
I
owe something to every assistant coach who
worked for me. Therefore, it is necessary to express
particular gratitude to Joe Pope, Pete Romano,
Rich Lee, and Howard McCallen. I would also like to
xiii
give a special thanks to my nephew, Mike Kuchar, an
accomplished writer, who edited, typed, and proofread
the manuscript.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Copyright © 2005 by Bill Kuchar. Click here for terms of use.
Offensive player and position
Player with ball
Dribble
Pass
Movement of player

remember when, during the start of the Cowboys’ train-
ing camp in August, a reporter asked Tony Dorsett, the
star running back,“What did you guys do today in prac-
tice? What did you work on?” Dorsett answered without
hesitation, “Well, Coach Landry taught us the proper
stance and how to hold on to the ball.” Imagine that.
One of the most talented, seasoned players in the league
at that time, and Landry was teaching him things you’re
supposed to learn in Pop Warner. That is what I
admired about the guy. He was a teacher of the basics;
he took nothing for granted. Because he recognized
how important fundamentals are, he made sure he
worked on that aspect of the game.
The same is true in high school athletics. The most
important aspect to teach is fundamentals. Not to
downplay any other part of the game, but this is where
a coach has to keep players sharp. Regardless of the
game you’re playing, it is the “how-to” of organized
sports. As coach, you want to give them a good base of
technical knowledge on how to play the game. It’s
never what you do when executing a play on the court;
it’s how you do it. There is a right way and a wrong
way to do everything, and your job as a coach is to
instruct your players how to do things the right way.
Eventually, you will provide them with excellent habits
and routines that they can carry over to the next level
of play, if they choose to move on. There is no greater
glory than when you have five players on the court at
the same time who are fundamentally sound. Only
good things will happen. You will need those funda-

flash off the pick for the ball or cut to the basket. This
way, the pick is already set up and the player can con-
tinue to make his scoring move once he gets the ball,
without wasting any time.
FREE YOURSELF
It was Celtics-great John Havlicek who said, “Always
move without the ball.” Against pressure on an in-
bounds pass play, we constantly work on the aspect of
“freeing yourself” for the ball. One of the ways we teach
this is to run directly at the defender (nose to nose) and
then cut away to receive the ball instead of moving
directly at the ball when the whistle blows. This tends
to work because the time to react is too short, so the
defender cannot get there in time.
DEFENSIVE FLICK
This is more of a defensive technique when trailing the
offensive ball carrier up the court. What we try to do is
work at attacking the ball from behind. We call it “flick-
ing”because we use the closest hand to the player to flick
the ball away and into the direction of one of our play-
ers. This is a drill that works both defensive reaction and
offensive awareness, so we tend to do it as much as pos-
sible. It actually sharpens our ball-handling skills.
we rarely see well-played, disciplined basketball at that
level. The purity is taken out of the game, and the fun-
damentals take a back seat to how many points are
scored, how many dunks are made, or how many times
a player works his man over on a crossover dribble.
Nowhere do we take into account how many times a
player might have turned the ball over or how many

up with a very simple rule: If the offensive player takes
2COACHING HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
FRONTING
In our first state championship finals, we were a fourteen-
point underdog. The team we were playing had the best
shooting guard in the state of New Jersey. He was averag-
ing close to a ridiculous forty points a game. Among his
other skills, he was known for an outstanding jump shot
and excellent penetration to the hoop. I had an idea. I told
my best defensive player to play three feet from him, and,
as he went up for his jumper, to jump with him with both
hands up. This became known as “fronting.” Our other
players were told that if he faked the shot, to position their
feet and draw a charge. His first four shots were fronted
and were air balls.We were up eight to nothing in the first
two minutes of the game. When this player decided to
fake his shot and drive, we drew three charges in the first
quarter alone. The scheme worked. He wound up fouling
out of the game with five minutes left in the fourth quar-
ter. He scored only twenty points, and we won our first
state title.
BOXING OUT
Boxing out is, without question, the most important
defensive fundamental. Unfortunately, it is also one of
the most overlooked fundamentals. It is vital to get
defensive positioning and not allow second shots. Yet
few teams these days at any level actually box out cor-
rectly. We used to stress this repeatedly. Our first rule is
that when the offensive team shoots, all our players yell
“box” and go after their man. We teach our players to

players who did not come and meet the ball. At prac-
tice the next day, we would tell our players who to look
for on defense to create a steal.
PICK UP ALL OUT-OF-BOUNDS BALLS
This is something of a trick of the trade I picked up in
my years of coaching. When the ball goes out of
bounds on a possession, it is purely a way to confuse
officials who have to make a quick decision but are
unsure which team has possession of the ball. In this
situation, we try to make the decision for them. We
told our players to go to the ball and pick it up as soon
as it goes out of play. It is surprising how many times
officials will grant your team possession. In my forty
years of coaching, I did this plenty of times and was
never issued a warning for doing so.
Starting from Scratch 3
for setting a strong pick. The key is that, while most
players will set a pick directly behind the player in his
blind spot, we teach our players to set the pick halfway
in the direction that the defensive player will turn into.
We try to outsmart our defenders by beating them to
the spot that they will eventually have to reach.
ODDS AND ENDS
A coach should stress thirty other key fundamentals
early in the season:
1. Never leave your man on defense unless the
ball leaves his fingers.
2. When receiving an outlet pass, pivot to avoid
a charge.
3. The rebounder must pivot before passing

middle. Just like most secondary defenders do in foot-
ball, we use the sidelines as an extra defender. Once our
trapping game is set up, we are able to put pressure on
the offense by cornering them, which will usually cause
the opponent to pass the ball erratically.
USING YOUR ELBOW
ON DRIVES TO THE LANE
When on offense, we teach our guards or forwards to
penetrate into the lane for a basket. It makes sense to
drive the opposite elbow up to draw a foul on the
defense. If a player is driving right, his left elbow
should be up, to protect himself and draw the foul.
Likewise, a player’s right elbow should be up when
driving left. Not only will this usually draw contact and
put the player out on the line for an easy two points,
but it will also give him enough protection to get the
ball in the hoop. A minor bump or hit should not pre-
vent a player from making the basket.
SETTING A PICK
Early in the preseason, we teach our players this funda-
mental. The pick is another invaluable trait to have as a
player, enabling teammates to get free to score. We teach
our kids to “get big” on picks. We want their shoulders
square, their heads up, their chests expanded, and their
feet set. As coach, show players how to hold their wrists
to prevent any stray hand movements that may end up
as fouls. Another point to remember is to cover the
groin, preventing the likely cheap shot that often comes
4COACHING HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
12. When playing a rebound on offense, anticipate

site hand protecting the ball, and keep your
elbow up.
28. Speed dribble: Ball should be off to your side,
not in front of you.
29. Change-of-pace dribble: Drag left foot, then
drop left shoulder and accelerate when player
is up and not in a defensive stance.
30. Crossover dribble: Change direction, drag left
foot to prevent striking the ball.
Starting from Scratch 5
This page intentionally left blank.
T
here is no substitute for excellent shooting,
which is why I decided to start this book with
this facet of basketball. There is no question that
good shooting, when executed correctly, is the most
important part of the game. All the successful teams in
this game, at any level—high school, collegiate, or pro-
fessional—have one thing in common—excellent
shooters. But we should realize one simple fact: shooters
aren’t born with “dead-on” jump shots. They develop
them. In fact, it is the only part of the game that you can
practice alone. Although people say, “Practice makes
perfect,” I disagree. In my opinion, “perfect practice”
makes perfect. If you want to become a great shooter,
you must master the fundamentals and basics of shoot-
ing. In this chapter, you will find out all you need to
know about properly shooting a basketball.
All my teams, regardless of their win-loss record,
were among the best shooting teams in the state, based

who threw up a ridiculous, or very low percentage,
shot—except at the end of the half—out of the game
for a couple of minutes. This was a great method of
positive reinforcement. Players quickly learned not to
force a shot again.
Basically, I’ve developed my own ten golden rules of
shooting, and they deal with each of the techniques
that must be mastered to become a great shooter.
1. Position the ball: Your hand should be centered
on the ball, and the ball should be lying in your
palm. If you are a right-handed shooter, your
left hand should be to the side of the ball and
should not interfere with the shot—
THE SWEETEST SOUND
Establishing the Mechanics That
Will Lead to Uncanny Accuracy of a
Dead-On Jump Shot
CHAPTER
2
7
Copyright © 2005 by Bill Kuchar. Click here for terms of use.
2. Position the elbow: Your shooting elbow should
always be close to your body and under the ball.
If your elbow is away from your body, your
follow-through will not point to the basket, and
you could block the vision of your right eye
(fig. 2.4). In Figure 2.5, the ball is blocking the
vision of the right eye and the follow-through
will not point to the basket. These are common
mistakes among inexperienced shooters.

Figure 2.6 Correct
Figure 2.8 Correct
Figure 2.5 Wrong