Scrimmage | Fun Youth Basketball Drills from the Jr. NBA available in the MOJO App

It's time to put everything we've practiced into action. This is scrimmage. Use a half or full court. If your players aren't ready for a 10-foot hoop yet, use a portable one. Here's how it looks. Divide the group into two teams of three, four, or five and give one pennies. It's okay if you have more than 10 players. Just remember to make substitutions throughout the game. Play starts when the team on defense passes the ball to the team on offense. For half court scrimmages, if the defense gets a rebound, they become offense and can take a shot right away. If they get a steal, they must reset the ball at half court before attempting a shot. After a bucket, play resets at half court or on the baseline for full court scrimmages. The team that scored maintains possession on the next play. To make it easier, give the defense possession after the other team scores on them so they have more chances on offense. Set a target score like 11 or 21. To win, teams must outscore their opponent by two or more points. We're not playing with the shot clock, but if you notice one team holding on to the ball without shooting, count them down from five before they need to take a shot. Don't worry about blowing the whistle too much. Scrimmage is all about putting the fun in practicing the fundamentals. Just stay positive and remember to praise players for putting skills they practice to use in the actual game.