That Basketball Life

Off ball screens are a huge part of the game.  There are many offenses that make screening an integral part of their flow and movement.  This is why it is so important that a good defense knows how to fight thru screens in an attempt to disrupt offensive flow. 

The higher up the basketball ladder one climbs the more exposure they will get to the ball screen.  We already covered the basics of the ball screen offensively in a prior post .  Today we cover the very important topic of how to defend the ball screen. The reason the ball screen is used so often especially as you get to the upper levels is because it forces the defense to make decisions.  The defense has to figure out how to defend the ball handler, the screener, and the rest of the team as the ball screen is being used.  Specifically, a good ball screen will force the defense into help rotations which should provide the offense with good opportunities for shots. There are different ways to defend against the ball screen and in this post we will discuss all of them and identify their strengths and weaknesses. The 5 ways to defend the ball screen are: Jump Switch Hedge Jam Blitz Ice

Here's a drill that helps with defensive footwork and also adds some intense conditioning into the mix.  This drill is another one of those multi purpose drills that allow coaches with limited practice time to tackle multiple elements with one drill.

Continuing on our recent posts about various pieces of footwork, today we will discuss the topic of defensive slides.  Defensive slides are a bit of a misnomer because you don't really want to slide your feet when you are doing this piece of footwork.  As a matter of fact, if you slide your feet while doing this it will make you slower not faster.  The main goal when sliding is to try to stay in front of the man you are covering.

Here is another post on one of the most important but often neglected parts of the game.  As I've mentioned before, footwork is so important yet so often neglected by coaches.  It should be a part of every practice especially early in the season and often reinforced during the year. In an effort to cover all of the important elements of footwork, I am prepared to discuss another of the essentials.  Closeouts are a very important part of the game.  Closeouts are the moves a defender tries to make to cover a man who generally has the ball.  The quicker you close out the better off you will be.  There are different steps to a good closeout: Dig deep and sprint to the man you are closing out on as quickly as possible. Once you are about 2/3 of the way there begin chopping your feet.  This serves 2 purposes: It helps you slow down and prevents you from over running the offensive player. It keeps you in balance and your feet close to the ground in an...

The key to playing hard-nosed, in your face man to man defense is team work.   A man to man defense will only be as good as the rotations the team makes in order to cover the ball.   Whether you are double teaming the opposition’s best player or you are helping a teammate who has been beat, the strength of your defense will depend on the chain reaction of events that will take place behind the double team or the help that occurs at the front end of the play.   Specifically there are some general rules that should always be followed when double teams or help side defense takes place. One man should commit to helping on the ball or on a double team.  Any more than that and you leave way too many options open for the offense. On a drive to the paint the defense needs to collapse into the paint and protect the basket.  Again we want to make sure that only one additional person helps on the ball but the rest of the team needs to collapse into the paint but b...

Tony Bennet's Pack Line Defense.  More posts on this great defense to come.

Nice video of coach K teaching his defensive philosophy along with some of the drills he incorporates into his practices to teach defense.

One of the best college basketball coaches explaining zone defenses.

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. Force the offense into spots on the floor where they do not feel comfortable playing in and  Everyone on your team is on the same page.

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.

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.

So now that we have talked about the philosophy of defense along with how important communication and teamwork are to coaching successful team defense it is now time to start getting into the details of defense.  We start by covering how to successfully play on the ball defense. The key to being a successful on ball defender is to keep your man in front of you at all costs.  By teaching a few simple points that need to be practiced over and over again you can get your team to improve their on ball defense.

The second principle to sound defense is also very similar to our first principle.  It's similar in that it doesn't require unique athleticism, or an excellent basketball IQ.  Just like team work everyone should be prepared to talk to teammates on the basketball court.  Without communication it is impossible to defend.  As a defender you have a responsibility to keep an eye on your man and the ball.  This is a very difficult task so to add keeping track of possible screens, and switches is nearly impossible.  A good defense relies on all five players on the floor talking to each other.

In it's simplest form, basketball is about making shots while keeping the other team from doing the same.  Many coaches spend a lot of time in practice teaching skills related to the offensive side of the game but don't spend the same amount of time on the defensive side.  Think about it.  In basketball you not only need to score but you also need to find a way to keep the other team from scoring.  That statement tells us that defense is just as important as offense and as such it would be wise to make sure you spend as much time in practice on your defensive principles as you do on your offensive ones. Now that we have established how much time we should spend practicing defense let's move into the details.  What is a good defensive philosophy?

In it's simplest form, basketball is about making shots while keeping the other team from doing the same.  Many coaches spend a lot of time in practice teaching skills related to the offensive side of the game but don't spend the same amount of time on the defensive side.  Think about it.  In basketball you not only need to score but you also need to find a way to keep the other team from scoring.  That statement tells us that defense is just as important as offense and as such it would be wise to make sure you spend as much time in practice on your defensive principles as you do on your offensive ones.