If an opposing player strays away from his man to double team a player , or if there is an open spot in a zone, does the point guard or other teammates signal their nearby teammate to let him know. Like saying,"James LC," which would mean left corner open.
I hear on court talking, and thought maybe the point guard in particular or maybe others let their teammate know, sort of like an experienced corner back in football does.
I never played competitively or coached so I am just guessing what I am hearing being said.
Coaches have defensive communication systems to streamline things. Hurley definitely does. Communication is unbelievably important in basketball. At the NBA level, teams will even have different names for the same pick and roll coverage for each quarter to confuse other teams so they won't know how they are defending certain set plays. If you want me to go into different types of pick n roll defenses I'll be happy to--I'm tremendously bored in quarantine lol. I'm actually a writer for a basketball coaching blog/email that has something like 110,000 subscribers and did one on this maybe a year ago.
One you may remember hearing is Houston players yelling "MONSTER" constantly--I think that's there name for doubling the post.
On my teams, I preach 1) Identify 2) Direction 3) Instruction when communicating. Ie. If my point guard is being screened, I need to say "Screen, left, go over" or whatever other instruction depending on the circumstance. Starting with least specific, moving to specifics. A lot of coaches teach similar systems for communication, just might not have the same name.
Every coach has different names for concepts the kids need to learn. Generally they're similar ideas with a different emphasis. Main one's I teach are
- "Got ball" -- guarding the ball.
- " 1 away left/right"" -- when you're helping a teammate on a drive from 1 pass away
- "Deep" -- when your man is 2 passes away (usually in the corner) and you're in the paint helping to defend drives
- "Help me" -- when your man is driving
- "Shot up" -- your man shot a Jumper
- "force right/left" -- reminding defender to force ballhandler to weak hand/sideline
Most of the time my teams are communicating about screens and what to do. We cover pick and roll with something called "ice" primarily but will mix in "hedge" and "drop" or "switch" calls at times depending on circumstances.
Players also just develop natural communication chemistry. All those one's I list above are just the starting point. Most of the talk your hearing is likely just guys saying where they are and what they're doing defensively.
Sometimes you'll see coaches teaching kids to say "ball ball ball" or "help help help" constantly on the court. I always thought that was pretty stupid because it's impossible to do in a game, makes you sound like an idiot, and doesn't actually help anyone. I teach my kids to communicate Early and Loud and ONCE.
Another point is WHO communicates to defend pick and rolls especially. Some people teach the big man should call it out because he can see everything, some people say the guard should because he will know if he can get over the screen. I generally teach the kids "I don't care who, as long as you do it as soon as SOMEONE says it."
A lot of times, players that have a really good advanced stats but don't "Wow you" with athleticism are both high IQ players and guys who communicate well.
If the left corner open, you're probably hearing a player say "HELP." Usually means someone got beat on the drive and the corner defender had to help the player who was beat.
A lot of writing. Probably didn't answer your question very well. Also writing on my phone so this might be ugly.
