Man to Man Defensive Principles - Pressuring the Ball

In our last post we spoke about how to play good on the ball defense.  Today we talk about something that could be lumped in with our prior discussion but we view as so important that it merits it's own post.  The topic today is pressuring the ball.

Here at TBL we always like to think defense in terms of what makes us uncomfortable offensively on the basketball floor.  The one thing that always seems to cause our offense problems is good pressure defense.


Think about it, running offense is all about rhythm, timing, and getting the ball to the spots on the floor where your personnel can best take advantage of their strengths.  Your goals defensively should be just the opposite.  You're looking to disrupt rhythm, ruin timing, and keep the offense from getting the ball to the spots on the floor that they want to.

The next question that we need to ask is what is the best way to do this?  There is no simple answer to this.  To run a good pressure defense the whole team needs to be on the same page and be prepared to work hard but a lot of the responsibility does lie with the on ball defender.

So what are some of the things that the on ball defender needs to do in order to pressure the ball?  There are some physical requirements but a lot of the items you need to stress are mental.  You as a coach need to teach your kids how to think on the floor and what tendencies to look for.  Many of the tendencies were discussed in our prior post but they will be repeated here because of their importance.

1. Identify the opponents strong hand - does the opponent like to dribble with the right hand or left hand?  If right force him to his left.  If left force him to his right.  
2. Which side of the floor does he like to pass to - if his favorite teammate is on his right then force him to throw left and vice versa.
3. Does he like to drive to the bucket and if so which hand does he use.
4. Does he like to use screens to get open.
5. Does he like to shoot off the dribble and if so does he prefer to move right or left before the shot.
6. Does he look for the post pass or does he look only to the wings - these one dimensional players are the easiest to guard.
7. Does he dribble with his head down? - If so he is very open to a double team.

The list goes on.  Any edge you can pick up as a defender is valuable and every offensive player has tendencies as does every offense.  That's why defense is not only physical but it is mental. The more you study your opponent the better you are defensively.

Now just because we chose to cover the mental aspect of good pressure defense first that's not to say the physical is not important either.  It is important that when you apply ball pressure that you force the offensive player into spots on the floor that he is not comfortable being in.  Some examples are:

1. Force the player with the ball to start the offense further up the floor than his team is used to by picking them up at half court or a little bit before half court if allowed.  Good ball pressure this early can force the player with the ball to pass before he gets to the spot on the floor where the offense usually gets started.  You can also force an early pass by having a double team trap waiting for the point guard once he crosses half court.  If a player makes that first pass at half court there's a good chance that the offense has started to soon.  Chances are that the player who received that first pass is not in proper triple threat position because he has accepted the pass way above the 3 point line and is thus out of shooting range.  Not only that but chances are that the player who now has the ball is not as good a ball handler as the point guard but has the job of trying to get the offense started from a position he is not used to being in.  
2. Deny the ball from getting to the point guard and force someone else to bring the ball up.  To do this you need to have 2 players double the point guard when the other team is in-bounding the ball.  This will put the ball in the hands of a player who is not accustomed to bringing the ball up the floor against pressure.
3. Force the player with the ball to move to the sidelines, baseline, or half court line.  These lines are some of the best defenders on the planet.
4. When applying ball pressure make sure you're staying in front of your man by moving your feet and keeping your hands active.  Remember to put pressure on the ball once the player you are guarding picks up his dribble.
5. Rotate defenders on the point guard in order to always have fresh able bodies covering the quarterback of the other team.  This philosophy will bear fruit as the game wears on and the point guard is exhausted from dealing with pressure all game long.

There you have it.  Ball pressure is a very important element to a successful defense.  It forces the offensive team into situations that they are not accustomed to.  Proper ball pressure is part physical but also part mental.  Look for tendencies in the opposition both as individuals and as a team and try to take away those tendencies. Do all of the above and you are well on your way to becoming a solid defensive team.