That Basketball Life

As a coach you wear many hats.  It is your job to be able to manage the team, prepare the team, get the team up from lows, and keep them from getting overconfident.  It's your job to make them understand what the goals of the team are, teach them how the team is going to get there, and then keep them focused on the task during the long hard grind of a season.  It's like a tight rope that you need to carefully manage.  One false move and you will fall off.  The price you pay when you do fall off is that you lose your team.  From the outside looking in, some may think that coaching a team of players is easy but it's not.  In many ways you are like a good symphony conductor who is able to bring all of the wonderful talent that surrounds him into harmony. So how do you get started on this task of bringing a group of players and form a team?

Another important position which needs to be defended accordingly is the post.  Neutralizing the opposing teams post game is so important to being successful in the game of basketball.  That being said how you play post defense will vary depending on the type of team that you play.  The one thing that always remains the same is that successful post defense will depend on the whole team and not just the people who are supposed to cover the blocks. Remember the name of the game is scoring more baskets than the other team and by taking away the other teams strengths you will increase your odds of winning ball games.  The phases to successful post defense are as follows: 4 ways to guard the post. Low post defense. High post defense. Post help. Weak side post positioning. Moving from one position to another as the ball moves around the perimeter.  Teamwork

Another important point of emphasis when playing defense is weak side positioning.  Before we begin explaining how to play good weak side defense we should explain what we mean by it.  Weak side defense takes place when the player you are covering is more than one pass away from the ball.  It is imperative that you are able to quickly determine when you are weak side as your responsibilities involve helping the strong side whenever possible whether it be by double teaming, helping a teammate that has been beat off the dribble or a screen, or simply communicating to the rest of the players what you see going on in front of you.  Good weak side defense can make a man to man defense great.

On ball pressure is always important when playing defense but many times the best way to neutralize a star player is to deny him the ball.  If you’re able to limit his touches then you can minimize the amount of damage that he can do.  So how do you deny the passing lane.