Man to Man Defensive Principles-Philosophy

Offense is always hit or miss.  Sometimes your team has a good game and sometimes they don't.  A bad shooting night will cost most teams a win but not those teams that can fall back on a solid in your face man to man defense.  A good man to man is a great equalizer in basketball.  It can make inferior teams more competitive, it can help push a team past an equally talented opponent, and it can help reduce the risk of upsets when your team is the favorite.  In order to teach a good man to man defense a coach tries to reinforce a couple of things.
  1. Force the offense into spots on the floor where they do not feel comfortable playing in and 
  2. Everyone on your team is on the same page.
In general terms an offense likes to get started with a point guard bringing the ball up the middle of the floor.  By doing this it allows the PG to keep all of his options open and keeps him away from trap areas on the floor.

Knowing this, a good defense will try to force the ball to a side and against the sideline, baseline, or half court line which can increase the pressure on the ball.  Aside from increasing pressure on the ball, forcing a team to a side helps in other ways by:
  1. Taking away half of the floor for the offense which takes away half of their options.
  2. Forcing the ball to a side which allows weak-side players to be help-side defenders.
There are some things that a good defense needs to try to avoid in order to play solid man to man.
  1. Avoid dribble penetration inside the paint.  This is the absolute worst thing for a defense and is the key for any offense against a man to man.  Dribble penetration inside the paint forces rotations and leaves a defense scrambling to cover potential hazards around the basket.
  2. Avoid cutters inside the paint.  Make sure your players are coached to jump in front of  cuts and force the opponent to go around a defender. 
Along the same lines there are a few things that a good defense will always do:
  1. Teamwork
  2. Pressure the ball
  3. Deny the closest pass
  4. Close out
  5. Rebound
  6. Get 50-50 balls.
In closing, the philosophy of a good man to man defense is cut the floor in half, make the offense work hard to get open, and eliminate any penetration in the paint.  Do this and you are heading towards a solid defensive team.

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