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Session Plan · U16 · Team (7 or more) · 60 min

Box Inbounds: Screen the Screener

Why it works

Under your own basket, the defence has to guard four players in a tight box and a passer, with only five seconds of attack to survive. Two screens in a second, with the second set on the first screener's defender, give two defenders one problem they have to solve by talking. If they chase, the cutter is open going to the ball. If they switch, the screener's job isn't done: a screener who seals the defender who just switched onto them (front pivot, defender on their back) is now between that defender and the rim, one bounce pass from a layup. And defences often switch the inbounder's defender onto the first cutter, which leaves the inbounder free the moment they step in. The play doesn't score; the read of what the defence chose does.

The thread through every block

  1. Box set
  2. first screen
  3. screen the screener
  4. defence chases or switches
  5. cutter, sealing screener, or stepping-in inbounder
  6. safety back.

Setup. 10 players, 1 coach, 2 hoops, 6 balls, bibs. Groups at both ends for the early blocks; one hoop for the 5v5 blocks while the other group plays 2v2 off the same inbound (or rests on the 5-second count).

Prints on A4 for the clipboard: diagram on the left, rules on the right, and no block split across a page.

Warm · 6B1 · 8B2 · 10B3 · 10B4 · 10Finisher · 12

Warm-upFive seconds to get it in6 min

AB11232pass in within 5 seconds or it's a turnover
Inbounder plus two receivers against two defenders. One defender guards the inbounder, one guards both receivers. Same at the other hoop.
  • Inbounder under the basket with a defender jumping in front of them; two receivers against one defender. The inbounder has 5 seconds (counted out loud) to get it in. Receivers get open however they like. Score: a catch inside the paint is 2, any catch is 1, a 5-second count or a deflection is a point to the defence.
  • Theme link: this is the problem the box solves. One defender on two receivers is the advantage every screen tries to create.

Block 1The box and the first screen8 min

1AB2312345curl if they chase, pop if they go undersafety goes high on the first move
Box set, no defence. The low player screens up; the cutter curls to the rim (A) or pops to the wing (B); the far high player is the safety; the far low player dives.
  • Adds: the box shape and one screen, with no defence.
  • Box set: two players on the blocks, two at the elbows, inbounder out of bounds beside the backboard. The inbounder slaps the ball to start. Ball-side low player screens up for the ball-side high player, who curls to the rim or pops out to the wing. The far high player goes high as the safety on the first move. The far low player dives to the ball.
  • Run it from both sides of the backboard. After each pass in, the inbounder steps in away from where the ball went.
  • Progress when: every player moves on the slap, and the safety is high before the ball is in.
  • Regress if: the screen and the cut happen at different times. Walk it with the inbounder counting "slap, screen, cut".
  • Cues (questions): "Where were you when the ball was slapped?" "Who's the safety if the ball goes to the corner?"

Block 2Chase or switch?10 min

1AB12233A they chase: cutter open coming to the ballB they switch: screener seals, bounce pass
2v2 plus the inbounder. The far low player screens across; the defence chases or switches. Same at the other hoop.
  • Adds: two live defenders who choose to chase or switch.
  • 2v2 under the basket plus the inbounder. The far low player screens across for the ball-side low player, who comes off it toward the ball. Defenders can chase or switch, and must call it.
    • A — they chase: the cutter is open coming to the ball, or curls to the rim if their defender trails.
    • B — they switch: the screener's job isn't done. They front pivot, seal the defender who switched onto them so that defender is on their back, and step to the rim. The inbounder throws a bounce pass into the space.
  • Rotate after 3 possessions: inbounder → offence → defence → inbounder.
  • Progress when: the inbounder's pass matches what the defence did, without a call from the coach.
  • Regress if: the seal never comes. Defence switches every time for a round, so the screener learns the seal.
  • Cues (questions): "Did they switch or chase?" "After you screened, where was your new defender: in front of you or on your back?"

Water2 min

Block 3Switch off the inbounder10 min

12345112233their inbounder's man jumped the cut: step in
3v3 from the baseline. The inbounder's defender switches onto the cutter, so the inbounder passes out to the popping screener and steps in for the return pass.
  • Adds: the inbounder's defender is live, so the inbounder is now an option too.
  • 3v3 from the baseline. Two attackers on the blocks run the cross screen; the inbounder's defender protects the basket and is allowed to switch onto the cutter. When they do, the screener pops to the ball and the inbounder steps in for the return pass. When they don't, play the screen as Block 2. Live until a score or a stop.
  • Rotate after 3 possessions.
  • Progress when: the inbounder steps in on every possession, and the return pass comes when their defender has left.
  • Regress if: the inbounder stays out after passing. Rule: the inbounder must touch the paint after the pass or it's a turnover.
  • Cues (questions): "Where did your defender go when the ball was in the air?" "Who was guarding the stepping-in inbounder?"

Block 4Full box, read it live10 min

123451122334455every catch is a possible shotdefence: man, switch everything, or zone
5v5. Down screen to the corner, then the far low player screens the screener, who cuts to the rim; the far high player is the safety.
  • Adds: all four spots live, and the defence picks its coverage: man and chase, switch everything, or a zone.
  • 5v5 from the box. The high ball-side player down screens for the low player, who sprints to the corner. The far low player then screens the screener, who cuts to the rim. The far high player is the safety. If nothing's on, the ball goes back out and the possession is live (6 seconds to get a shot).
  • The defence calls its coverage in a quick huddle before each possession, without the offence hearing. Against a zone, the box players flatten out low and the high players look for the lob over the top.
  • 4 possessions each way.
  • Progress when: the offence names the coverage after the first screen.
  • Regress if: passes go to the first option every time, open or not. The first option is taken away for a round: the coach calls it a turnover.
  • Cues (questions): "What did they show on the first screen?" "Which option did that leave?"

FinisherRandom inbounds12 min

1122334455Ccoach calls 'baseline!' mid-playscore off the inbound = 2
Live 5v5. Any time the coach calls 'baseline!', play stops and the team with the ball inbounds from the box.
  • Live 5v5, full court. At any stop in play, or whenever the coach calls "baseline!", the team with the ball sets up the box and inbounds. Nobody knows when it's coming, so the set-up and the call have to be quick.
  • Scoring:
    • Offence, 2 pts: a score within 6 seconds of the inbound pass.
    • Offence, 1 pt: any other score.
    • Defence, 2 pts: a stop on an inbound possession, including a 5-second count.
  • First to 10.

Huddle2 min

  • "What did they do on the second screen, and who did that leave open?" "When did the inbounder get the ball back?"

Coach notes

  • Decision errors vs execution errors:
    • Throwing to the first option when the defence has taken it, or ignoring the sealed screener on a switch, is a decision error. Ask Block 4's question, "What did they show on the first screen?"
    • A screen set too early, or a seal with the defender in front instead of on the back, is an execution error. Back to Block 2 for two reps.
  • Common failure: the screener stops after screening. In this action, every screener is a scorer as soon as their screen lands.
  • Common failure: no safety. A long rebound off a box play gives up a layup the other way; the safety goes high on the slap, every time.
  • Judge the decision, not the outcome. The right pass to a sealed screener who misses the layup was still the right pass.

Sources

SourceUsed for
Basketball Manitoba TAP Training — Box Inbound PlaysBlocks 1 and 4, seal on the switch
John Dore — Special Situations in BasketballMechanism, Block 2 screen the screener, zone option
Mike MacKay — Make Your Practices More Game LikeBlock 3
Chris Oliver — This or That: Ideas to Makeover Your Basketball DrillsFinisher random inbounds
junior.basketball (original)Warm-up, finisher scoring

Related

More session plans, the Session Design guide this format follows, Game-Based Practice for why every plan ends live, and blank session plan templates to write your own.

Unofficial resource. Drills are adapted from recorded coaching clinics and credited to the coaches named in Sources above; anything marked junior.basketball (original) was written for this plan. Not affiliated with or endorsed by those coaches or the organisations that ran the clinics. Full credit to every presenter.