Category: Coach Vic's Instruction and Advice
Type: Philosophy
SET SYMMETRY
The information in the tip, Offensive Sets, in the coaching category, serves as an introduction to this tip.
Set Symmetry
Set symmetry tells players where the positions of a set are located on the court and the relative distances separating one position from another. For example, in the diagram of the front-court set in the tip, Offensive Sets, each of the two guard positions (#'s 1,2) straddles a line extending from each side of the key. Each of the two forward positions (#'s 3, 4) straddles a line extending at a 45 degree angle from the spot where the basket joins the backboard. However, the distance between each position and the basket may vary, depending, for example, on the effective shooting range of the players.
In this offensive set, the post position (#5) is located at the side of the key between the block and the bottom of the restraining circle. You will note that the #5 position is located on the ball-side (the #1 guard has the ball). In this set, the ball-side positions are #'s 1, 3, and 5. The off-side positions are #'s 2 and 4. The location of the ball determines the names of the positions. Consequently, should the player #1 execute a pass to a teammate moving to occupy the off-side guard position, the positions would flip-flop, that is the ball-side positions would now be in the right half of the court. This particular information is part of another aspect of developing a conceptual approach to coaching, Team-related Cues.
There is another position near the basket, the sweet spot. It is where, for example, after receiving a pass while ending a penetrating cut, a player can execute a dunk or a lay-up without dribbling.
Maintaining Set Symmetry
One of the tasks players have on offense is to maintain set symmetry for each set, whether back-court, mid-court, front-court, or full-court. The most effective way to do this is to avoid no-man's land. This is the space which separates one position from another. For example, no-man's land is the space between any one of the four perimeter positions and the sweet spot; or the spaces separating the four perimeter positions from each other. These are spaces which a player passes through from one position another. A player should never end a dribble nor receive a pass while in it.
The Benefits of Maintaining Set Symmetry
Because each player knows where teammates will be, everyone is able to pay attention to their opponents, that is read where they are and what they are doing. The player with the ball can become a more effective passer by being able to read the defender guarding the player to whom he/she is initiating a pass. A player executing, for example, a penetrating cut will be able to read the defence while in no-man's land, knowing he/she will not receive a pass while in it. And, because distances among positions are relatively constant, the cutter to the sweet spot and the ball arriving simultaneously should become more the rule, rather than the exception.
Submitted by: Vic Pruden
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