Jacobs' Girls Basketball GIves 'Dribble-Drive' a Shot

After starting the season off winless in its first seven games, the Jacobs girls basketball team needed a change.

So, earlier this week, Golden Eagles coach Keith Chuipek decided to install a new offense, the dribble-drive motion.

In Wednesday's non-conference game against South Elgin, Jacobs broke out the new system. While the Golden Eagles struggled in the second half on the way to a 53-42 loss, Chuipek liked what he saw out of his girls in their first game running the dribble-drive.

"I think it's got possibilities. I think the girls kind of get a little confused out there about what to run and when to run it because they're switching defense," Chuipek said. "They executed it. Sometimes we were dribbling a little too much. We knocked down shots."

The dribble-drive, or "drive and kick" as it's sometimes referred to, consists of players penetrating the lane and kicking the ball out to the perimeter. The player on the perimeter can either take the shot if it's open or drive the lane and kick the ball out once again if there's nothing in the post.

The offense can lead to open shots on the perimeter if ran right, and on the fourth or fifth pass, someone is usually free for a three-pointer or a good look on a two-point shot. The defense will converge on players once they get into the lane, leaving the perimeter open.

"I think we're getting a lot more comfortable with it as we practice it more," said Jacobs forward Melanie Schwerdtmann, who finished with a team-high 17 points and 12 rebounds in the loss. "Coach says it will always be open on the fourth or fifth pass. It works, I'm glad that he put it in."

Jacobs (0-8) has used the swing offense in the past, but Schwerdtmann likes the dribble-drive because of the extra movement, and thinks the team will continue to improve on it.

"I like it a lot better. I think it works a lot more sufficient," Schwerdtmann said. "I just like the movement. With swing sometimes you're standing there and people just get stuck standing. With the dribble-drive everybody's just moving at all times. You pass, you cut. You pass, you cut. They're always moving."

Throughout the first half of Wednesday's game, the Golden Eagles did a solid job of finding open shots on the perimeter. Schwerdtmann hit two three-pointers in the first quarter while Haley Hofman had one. But South Elgin (2-5) started using their full-court press more in the second half, which led to a lot of Jacobs turnovers as the Storm pulled away.

"We haven't really worked much on our (press break) in practice as we have our defense. As you can see our defense has gotten a lot better," Schwerdtmann said.  "I think once maybe the games and practices go on, we'll get into our press break. We have it in there, it's just not the strongest it could be right now."

Jessica Tennant finished with 10 points for Jacobs, while Hofman added five.