Deny the Passing Lane One Pass Away

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.

1. Positioning - the basic concept of positioning is that the defender who is denying the pass should always try to make the offensive player pass through him.  The whole idea is to make the obvious pass for the person with the ball the toughest pass to make.  Force them to go to option 2 or 3.
1. How to line up - the basic way to line up is close to the person you are covering.  Keep your body between your player and the basket by positioning your back foot roughly in line with the opponent's back foot.  You will be facing your opponent when you are guarding him and the key is that you will have your inside hand close to the opponent as it will serve as a guide hand telling you if the opposition is trying to make a sudden move to the basket while you are overplaying the passing lane.  The outside hand will be out in front of the opponent in the passing lane with your palm facing the passer not the player you are covering.  
2. Keep your head facing the player who has the ball but always try to keep your player within sight as well.
3. Keep your knees bent and your legs ready to react at all times.

               

2. The further up the court the ball is the further up the passing lane you can play.  When you do this it is important to always keep track of your player and any moves to the basket that he may make.
1. As a general rule when the ball has not crossed half court play above the free throw line and in the passing lane.  When playing up the passing lane you need to remember to play close enough to your player that you can recover if a ball is lobbed over your head.  The key here is to make some reads:
1. How fast is he
2. How good can he throw the ball
3. How good a defender is the player covering him
4. What are the tendencies of the player I’m covering.
1. Does he like to go to the basket?
2. Does he prefer to cut away from the basket?
3. Do his teammates look to set screens for him?
3. Defending the cutter - The most effective way to get open for an offensive player is by making V-cuts either to the basket or away.  A defensive player needs to be prepared to move with an offensive player in as efficient a way as possible.  Reducing the number of steps you take when transitioning from covering left to covering right or vice versa will determine whether you can stay with your player.  It all comes down to footwork.  If you cover a player on the right side of the court you will be defending with your right hand in the passing lane while facing your player.  If he makes a cut to the basket it is important that you transition from right hand in passing lane to left hand in lane as quickly as possible while still facing your player.  To do this you need to make sure that your initial position is correct.  You need to be lined up in a way that will keep your player from taking a straight line to the basket.  This will be accomplished by keeping your body between him and the basket while denying the initial pass.  This will force him to go around you assuming you are close enough to him and you are big enough.  At this point one might ask what I mean by big enough.  It has nothing to do with how tall you are or how wide you are physically but it does have everything to do with how wide you can make yourself when guarding.  If you see a player trying to cut to the basket you need to make sure that you place the shoulder he is attacking in a position which will force him to circle off his move as opposed to making a straight dash to the basket.  How you do this is simple.  Once you feel your player making his move you need to be sure you're as close to him as possible and standing as squared to him as possible. You might ask what being square to him means.  All this means is that your are trying to keep your body centered on the player and squarely between you and the basket forcing him to loop out to make his cut.  Forcing him to the baseline will make this players cut ineffective.  Needless to say, an offensive player will get around you eventually and when it does happen you need to try to avoid opening up to the ball.  A defenders natural tendency when he feels he’s been beat is to look for the ball but if you turn your back on your player you lose sight of your player and will have no idea where he is going.  This is what I call opening up.  Don’t open up.  Keep your body facing the player while always looking for where the ball is.
4. What to do when you get beat.  Eventually all players get beat.  You need to communicate this to your teammates by call for help.  This will start the help sequence.  It is important that the player who has been beat not sit there and give up on the play.  He needs to read the play and either cover a spot that has been opened up by the help sequence or try to recover and get back on his player.
5. How to go get the ball.  As a defender who is trying to keep the pass from getting to the player you are covering all you need to do is to get a hand on the ball in order to disrupt a play.  With this in mind never try catching the ball but rather get into the practice of deflecting the ball forward and then going to get it.  This will prevent you from opening yourself up in an attempt to steal the ball which will force you to lose sight of your player if you miss in your efforts to take the ball.

Denying the first pass is another key element to a successful man to man defense.  How good you are at it has a lot to do with desire, footwork, and reading plays.  If you're willing to work hard, you will do fine.