We’ve all seen it: a basketball team that moves the ball beautifully around the perimeter, making five, six, seven passes. It looks like good offense, but it often ends with a contested, late-shot-clock jumper.
The ball moves, but the defense never breaks down. The possession is a hollow victory of movement over meaning, where the defense is never truly forced into a compromising position.
Many coaches teach offense like a checklist of plays to run, hoping a good shot will eventually materialize. But they often miss the single most crucial concept that underpins all effective modern offenses.
As Alex Sarama, assistant coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers puts it, this missing piece is the key to everything: “Most coaches teach offense like a checklist run a play pitch your spots hope for a good shot but there’s one concept most coaches skip it’s not a set it’s not a formation it’s an advantage”
Sarama’s philosophy of “Dominoes” provides a modern solution. It shifts the focus from running patterns to creating, recognizing, and converting advantages.
Here are four counter-intuitive takeaways from his approach that can transform how you view offense.
Takeaway 1: Stop Forcing Passes and Start Hunting for the First “Great Shot”
The Best Offense Isn’t Always a Pass-Happy Offense
The first idea that challenges conventional wisdom is that more passing isn’t always better.
In direct contrast to traditional drills that mandate a specific number of passes or demand every player touches the ball, Sarama argues this approach is often unrealistic and counterproductive.
While we all remember the beautiful, multi-pass sequences of teams like the San Antonio Spurs, Sarama clarifies that those long chains are only necessary if the defense successfully recovers.
The primary goal is to convert the first advantage into a great shot—defined as a layup, a dunk, or a catch-and-shoot three.
If that shot is available after the first “domino” falls, players should take it. Forcing extra passes when a great shot is already there only gives the defense time to reset.
Sarama explains how his own thinking evolved, moving away from popular coaching constraints that don’t reflect in-game reality.
“I used to do that too but then I stopped doing it the reason why is because it’s not realistic of the game… I also used to do things like every player must catch the ball on offense but it’s not representative of the game because maybe… the best dominoes could just be you catch the ball you drive and you score a layup”
Takeaway 2: Master the “Zero-Second Decision”
Act Instantly or Lose the Advantage
The first and most critical habit in the Dominoes philosophy is the “zero-second decision.”
This principle is simple but powerful: when a player catches the ball with an advantage, they must immediately shoot, pass, or drive.
There is no time for hesitation.
This directly contradicts the long-held coaching practice of catching the ball and settling into a “triple-threat stance” to read the floor.
In Sarama’s system, the revered triple-threat stance becomes a potential advantage-killer. Holding the ball, even for a split second to jab-step or fake, is all the time a scrambling defense needs to recover, get back to a neutral position, and stop the “dominoes from falling.”
An advantage in basketball is fleeting, and any delay in decision-making guarantees it will be lost.
I wrote about whether the “three-threat stance” is obsolete a few years ago, and some coaches scoffed at it. Personally, I think that the “three-threat posture” has its value, but in modern basketball, which is getting faster and faster, “zero-second decision-making” is indeed crucial.
Takeaway 3: Treat the Mid-Range Like Lava
The Floor is Lava
To solve the critical problem of spacing, Sarama employs a powerful teaching heuristic: “The Floor is Lava.”
This concept is built on a foundational principle he calls “Stretch the Defense,” which dictates that “we never want one defender to be able to guard two offense.”
The “lava” analogy provides players with a simple, memorable rule to maintain that essential spacing.
In this analogy, the “lava” is the mid-range area. When players are playing in a “dominoes” situation (with an advantage), they are forbidden from standing and waiting in the mid-range after an action like a drive-and-kick.
As Sarama explains, “if I stay in there I’m losing the dominoes because one defender can guard two.”
The correct action is to immediately “escape the lava” by relocating back outside the three-point line. For taller players, the dunker spot is also a safe zone, as it positions them for a high-value layup or dunk.
This quick relocation maintains spacing, lengthens defensive closeouts, and makes the player available for the next action.
There is, however, one critical exception: a player on a dynamic cut can catch the ball in the lava to finish a play. The rule is against standing there, which clogs the offense and allows the defense to recover.
Takeaway 4: Coach the Environment, Not Just the Players
Officiate the Constraints, Don’t Dictate the Answers
Perhaps the most significant philosophical shift Sarama proposes is in the role of the coach.
Instead of adopting a traditional “command” style where the coach dictates every action, this approach requires the coach to become a designer who creates and manages the learning environment.
This is done primarily through small-sided games (SSGs) with specific constraints that naturally shape player habits.
The coach’s job is not to yell the answers, but to design a game that teaches the principles organically. The following examples show how constraints are directly linked to the desired habits:
- To force aggression: Use a 7-second shot clock. This prevents players from passively passing the ball on the perimeter and makes them “way more aggressive” in seeking to end the domino sequence quickly.
- To mandate attacking the defense: Require a paint touch before any shot is allowed. This forces the offense to attack and break down the defense, which Sarama notes is “more representative of what happens in the game when exploiting an advantage.”
- To enforce the “Zero-Second Decision”: A turnover is called if a player catches the ball with an advantage and hesitates, directly punishing the habit that kills advantages.
- To teach “The Floor is Lava”: It’s a turnover if a player catches the ball while standing in the mid-range “lava,” forcing them to learn the habit of relocating to maintain spacing.
In this system, the coach’s primary role is to “officiate the constraints” so that players learn the principles of play within the game itself.
“…the traditional approach we see that we have to tell the players everything and they must do it instead with this approach we have to create and manage the environment”
Conclusion: From Patterns to Principles
Alex Sarama’s “Dominoes” philosophy represents a fundamental shift from memorizing rigid patterns toward building a team of adaptable decision-makers.
The entire system is interconnected: the goal is to take the first great shot (Takeaway 1), which requires players to make instantaneous decisions (Takeaway 2) and maintain perfect spacing (Takeaway 3). The coach’s role is not to shout these instructions but to build an environment where deliberate constraints (Takeaway 4) make these championship habits automatic.
This approach leaves every coach with a critical question: Are you coaching your players to follow a checklist, or are you creating an environment where they learn to keep the dominoes falling?
If this piece gave you new perspective, feel free to share it with a coach or player who’s exploring fresh ways to train. I’ll continue sharing new ideas inspired by Transforming Basketball in future editions.
— Jordan
