Transition offense is the offense when a team is going from defense to offense during a change of possession. The change of possession could be a turnover, rebound or after a made basket. Most teams that rely on their transition offense are trying to get the ball down the court as quickly as possible and get a shot up in as short of a time frame as possible. This focus on speed helps to prevent the defense from getting setup which should aid in getting good shots.
Teams are now starting to use transition to start the offense movement. The ability to go straight from fast-break to offense has the same effect on defense. The defense is still playing fast due to sprinting back but are never given any time to relax because the offense is going straight into their offense. Offensively the ability to keep pressure on the defense will create breakdowns in the defense. As a coach, the better you can teach your team to go from transition to offense, the more good shots you will get. This will also keep the defense from ever getting a moments rest because you are never setting up in spots on offense. So the defense is always guarding.
The transition game has the ability to morph into just about anything you as a coach want it to be except if you are running a slow methodical offense. It may be as simple as having each player run to a certain spot on the floor. It may be having offensive spots and the players fill those spots with no regard to who fills the spot or what position fills the spot. This type of philosophy normally only works if the players are interchangeable. It can even be a hybrid between the two. If you have a center, then they may always run to the basket and the other 4 players fill in spots around the 3-point circle.
I always like to have a player be a rim runner. A rim runner runs straight down the floor to the basket. If you can get a player to sprint every time down the floor, there is a good chance of getting a basket or two from the sprint every game. There will be one or two times a game where a defense gets lazy and does not sprint back and the rim runner can get out in front of everybody and get a wide open layup.
I am a big proponent on coaching and adjusting the game plan and philosophy to your players. One year my point guard was my best player and best scorer. So I adjusting my transition to open the middle of floor and give them as much space as possible. Everybody including the rim runner was only allowed to run down the floor within about 5-7 from the sideline. Imagine drawing a line down the floor from the baseline 3 point line all the way down the floor. This little alley on the outside is where everybody except the point guard ran down the floor. This open space gave him the ability to go score every possession without the need of a set offense. This gave our team an advantage by giving the best player on the team the ability to be the best player.
Another team we had two really good wing players. That year our transition was to have those two out wide and everybody else ran down the middle of the floor. Imagine drawing the lane lines straight down the floor. The two wings were outside and the other three players stayed inside the lane area going down the floor. This allowed the ball to get passed up to the wings with open space on the outside for them to attack either the baseline or the elbow. We were able to get a bunch of layups because the defense would be in the middle and as we threw the ball up the sideline, the defense ran out which lead to a bunch drives straight around the closeouts. If we did not get layups then we were able to get kick outs to the backside wing. So the two best players were constantly attacking with the ball or catching a kick out for a wide open 3. My advice is to try and tailor your transition offense to get the ball into your best players hand in open space.
Against a zone defense, the transition offense is the best solution to the defense. If you can get out in front of the defense and score before the defense has time to get down the floor and setup in their zone defense then you can attack the weak spots. If one defensive player is slow getting back on defense then their zone is open and that is where a good shot can come from. Speed in transition is your best weapon against a zone defense.
For my transition offense, I designate a spot where each player is supposed to go. I like this the best because it gives structure to the transition game. It also gives a knowledge of where their teammates are going to be. So if the ball handler gets in trouble then they know where their teammates are going to be so they know where to look for help. This knowledge of spacing also leads to quicker passes when attacking because they know where the backside players are going to be. These quick passes create quick scoring opportunities. I try not to give much structure after where they are to go. This gives them the freedom to be basketball players so they are playing free and loose. For me, this gives just the right balance of structure vs freedom for the players to be the most successful.
