6 Reasons Why Pressing is Effective
I’m a huge proponent of full court pressure defense especially in the women’s game but in general also. In the high school women’s game very few teams have multiple players who can handle the ball and beat a press so it is extremely effective and the best teams press consistently in women’s basketball.
Overall though lets look at some reasons why coaches employ a press and why it works:
1. CONTROL FLOW OR TEMPO: Controlling the speed of the game is very important for some teams and coaches because they have players built for the system. If you look at MIke Anderson at Missouri you’ll see a coach who recruits kids who can play this style so it is crucial that he controls the tempo of the game because it plays to his strength.
2. FORCE TURNOVERS: This is the most common thought among players and coaches but a press should force turnovers and create easy shots for the team who created the turnover.
3. CHANGE THE TEMPO: Great coaches realize that something has to be done to change the flow/tempo of the game and a press is a great way to do it. It gets all players involved and changes the way the game is currently being played. When you are younger and the games are shorter these adjustments are even more important for the coach to notice and make.
4. TEAM MENTALITY: Coaches really want to control the mentality of their players and for the players to want to press is a great thing. Ideally the team mentality needs to change from having to create pressure to wanting to create pressure. When that happens you’ll have a great pressing team.
5. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: The more teams press and practice pressing the better they get it. If your team is pressing a lot they feel comfortable playing that style and they learn to love and enjoy it. It also teaches them to always play hard.
6. PRACTICE TIME DEFICIENT: Teams today aren’t focusing enough practice time for beating presses and pressure defenses. While most teams work on man to man offense and defense your team is working on several different presses and having that be your style. It is a serious advantage because kids don’t like to be pressured while dribbling the ball or while players are running at them. It causes confusion and uncomfortable feelings. If that happens enough you’ll create turnovers and easy baskets.
