In this episode, Alex Sarama hosts a Q&A workshop where coaches dive deep into transition offense, spacing concepts, pistol actions, and defensive principles like tagging up. The conversation explores practical teaching points for youth basketball, how to structure practice planning, and ways to blend conceptual offense with structured actions.
Chapters:
00:50 – Transition spacing explained: “traffic light” approach (green = dominoes, yellow = triggers, red = sets)
03:00 – Teaching lag-free reactions & spacing rules on rebounds and makes
05:40 – Kick-ahead passes, two-side advantages, and early decision-making in transition
08:10 – Handling overloads and principles for positioning (corner vs. 45 cuts)
10:20 – Transitioning from offense to first trigger actions without delays
13:00 – Pistol action variations: get game, flare screens, Ricky rescreens & inverted setups
17:20 – Teaching timing on cuts, flare actions, and spacing constraints
20:30 – Communication, signals, and scripting vs. conceptual flexibility in pistol offense
23:50 – Transition defense: tagging up vs. emergency system, how to teach both
27:00 – Planning an annual coaching framework: practice planning, principles of play, and sticky-note hierarchy for team priorities
Level up your coaching with our Amazon Best Selling Book: https://amzn.to/3vO1Tc7
Access tons more of evidence-based coaching resources: https://transformingbball.com/products/
Links:
Website: http://transformingbball.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/transformbball
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/transformingbasketball/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@transformingbasketball
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/transformingbasketball/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@transforming.basketball
