Defensive Drills: Bump the Cutters
Even at a young age it is important to teach players about cutters going to the basket and cutters going away from the basket. While all cutters need to have attention paid to them there are some who need more than others. Let’s look at a few simple situations and how to handle them.
A cutter that needs special attention is anyone that is cutting toward the basketball. Those players tend to go harder because of the sense they will get the ball and have a solid chance to score. It is very important that this cutter receives some sort of contact. I’m not saying to slam the guy and put him to the ground but make sure you are chest to chest with hands up so to discourage any pass. The defense really needs to decide where he wants the offensive player to go and to slightly guide him in that direction.
Last week I wrote about jumping the cutter by getting in his path and the same holds true here. To slow down the player cutting to the basket make sure you get in his path to discourage the pass. If this is done correctly the defense will then be able to push/guide the offense out of harms way and focus on playing help defense.
Other situations don’t need as much attention such as when a player passes the ball and cuts the opposite direction. The defense should never relax, but the need to jump the cutter or bump the cutter isn’t necessary because the player isn’t attempting to get the ball in a scoring position. Stay at arm’s length away, depending on your defensive scheme, and make sure you have vision of the ball, man and basket at all times. If the player you are guarding is one pass away from getting the ball then the defense should try to force a pass where the guarded player is out of range or position for a shot.
I love watching solid team defense and good teams realize the principles behind jumping cutters and bumping cutters. Teams that understand and use these ideals save themselves 10 points a game or more on defense.
