Basic Basketball Drills:
The Pass and Break

One of those basic basketball drills that does triple duty - good practice for fast break dribbling, finishing the break, and conditioning - the Pass and Break drill isn't difficult, but it works. It's quick, so you'll be able to have the entire team get several runs through this drill in just a few minutes. I favor a fast break style of play, so if I notice my players are getting slow, I'll throw drills like this at them to get their mindset back on track.

Instructions to Players

Here's what players need to focus on:

Fast break - no jogging
The player not handling the ball - #2 in the diagram - needs to sprint as fast as he can to get down the court ahead of the ball carrier and be in position when the pass comes to him
Neither player can drift before the pass is made - i.e., player #2 can't toss an easy pass to #1 and then start sprinting, and player #1 can't start moving down court until he has the ball

How this Basic Basketball Drill Works

Players line up in two lines - scorers under the basket, ball carriers about foul line height at the wing
The first player in the scoring line - #2 - executes a hard chest pass to the first player in the other line - #1
Immediately upon releasing the ball, #2 starts sprinting behind #1 and down the court
As soon as he catches the ball, #1 speed dribbles down court as fast as he can
At the top of the key, #1 pulls up and bounce passes the ball to #1, who has started angling in to the basket at the 3 point line
The same thing is happening on the other side of the court, going in the opposite direction
After the basket is made, players go to the end of the lines, switching positions for their next run down the court

Basic Basketball Drill - pass and break

This is a quick drill, with players running hard the entire time. It's good practice for fast break control, and it's also a good substitute for sprints when you want to add conditioning into practice.