3 Defensive Strategies for Beginning Coaches
I spend a lot of time talking about offense because I love playing offense. Who doesn’t? There is nothing like scoring the ball in any sport whether it be a touchdown, a home run or a slam dunk. However, the older I get the more I realize how important defense is in the scheme of things. Let’s cover 3 practice strategies that coaches can use to teach sound defensive fundamentals.
1. JUMP TO THE BALL: This refers to jumping a half man to a full man over to the side the ball is passed to. By jumping to the ball you accomplish 3 basic things: a) the offensive player won’t be able to pass and cut to the basket with position on the defender. Basically it will stop the give and go. (B) The defender is able to play better help defense because you are officially between the ball and your man. (C) The defender is immediately more aware of the rest of the players on the court instead of just focusing on one player.
2. Cutters: Most offenses rely on cutters going to the basket. To effectively eliminate cutters make sure the defense is taught to always stay ball side half a man over. This won’t completely eliminate cutters and I’m not teaching to overplay the offense. Just understand that most offenses are taught to pass and cut to the basket. If you jump to the ball and bump the offensive player you will reduce the amount of succesful cuts done against your team. Practice this by running a basic defensive shell drill where players are only allowed to cut once they pass the ball.
3. Help and Recover: Simplify this by making it a 3 on 3 drill. Force the action to one side of the court with a point, wing and post player. This isn’t an offensive drill so make sure that defense is the sole focus. Once the goes to the wing, the point defender needs to jump ball side to avoid or stop the cut that is coming. Have the wing drive the ball any direction to see what type of help defense comes. The point defender should act as a deterrent should the wing player keep his drive alive. Work with the defense to make sure that no layups are allowed by someone driving all the way to the basket. Focus on the cutters to make sure they are not allowed. Make sure the defense plays to its strength and to it’s help.
