Individual defensive techniques are very important in your overall defensive scheme. These ideas and tactics should be emphasized with your players as you teach one-on-one skills within your overall team defense. We know the importance of helpside defense and how a good team defense can utterly disrupt an opponent, however, each individual defender must also understand his responsibility for controlling his own man. The following tactics should be emphasized, taught, and discussed with your … [Read more...]
15 Ways to Communicate With Your Teammates
Effective communication is critical in building a great basketball program and it begins from the ground up! Young players MUST learn how to communicate; whether it is with their parents, teachers, siblings, coaches or teammates. Communication is the glue that holds most relationships and teams together. When I first started coaching, I found myself at a loss for words at times and didn't know exactly what to say to my players. Sometimes I would get to the huddle and I had a difficult time … [Read more...]
5 Tips To Beating Someone Off the Dribble
Players like Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, and Derrick Rose have the uncanny ability to beat defenders off the dribble. They are great athletes, but they are also very skilled at ball handling and having good footwork. Below I have 5 tips on how to make a dribble move to beat someone off the dribble. Stay low When I'm taking players through drills I am constantly telling them to get low. Players that are learning this technique for the first time really struggle with this concept. I start them in a … [Read more...]
30 Offensive Rules for Championship Basketball
We love to play up-tempo basketball. Our style of play is to run and attack! We push the ball up the court at every opportunity. As we push the ball up the court, we look to score - primary break to secondary break, secondary break to one of our set offenses. Our primary goal on offense is to play "Team Basketball." To us, team basketball is about not forcing shots, making the extra pass, and attacking the basket to pass, not shoot. When five athletes are playing as one on the court, basketball … [Read more...]
Detecting and Defending Individual Weaknesses
Every basketball player has a weakness. Yes, even the great players have a weakness ... or at least something they are not as good at in comparison to what are their obvious strengths. To find these individual weaknesses, it does take careful observation. A smart coach and intelligent player will detect these weaknesses and adapt his or her defense to take advantage of them. You may detect these weaknesses through prior scouting or you may need to detect them early in the game. For help in … [Read more...]
10 Principles of Defensive Team Play
Coach Jack Ramsay was a proponent of playing pressure defense. He believed that applying pressure would force offensive teams into difficult situations. What follows are his set of 10 Principles of Defensive Team Play developed and adopted to best incorporate pressure defense into game strategy. Maintain a defensive stance, knees flexed, head up; foot nearer vertical court division forward; hands in close while moving; forward hand up on man with ball; eyes on mid-section of opponent with … [Read more...]
10 Individual Defensive Rules
I came across an old handout with the following list of Individual Defensive Rules by the late UTEP coach, Don Haskins. I'm not old enough to recall the old Texas Western days (see the movie, Glory Road) ... but I do remember watching a lot of UTEP games in the '80's. Coach Haskins teams always played hard-nosed defense! The following are Coach Haskins 10 Individual Defensive Rules: Good defense begins with transition. We emphasize getting our defenders back to the baseline. Always stay in … [Read more...]
20 Individual Defensive Tips
The following defensive tips and strategies will help you become a better individual defender. Better individual defenders = better team defense. Get after it! Talk. Don't be shy. A good defender communicates with teammates on the court. Move your feet. It's hard to be a good defender if you don't move your feet. Stay between your man and the basket. This is kind of the golden rule of defense. If you're always behind your opponent, it's hard to stop him. Get a hand up on all shots. You … [Read more...]
20 Player Fundamentals to Break Pressure Defense
Regardless of how you decide to break and attack full court pressure, the players must learn various fundamentals that are helpful in beating pressure. Teach your players these skills and devote practice time so they will understand them and develop confidence against pressure. Here are the 20 fundamentals to be stressed: Do not waste your dribble. Dribble with a purpose Stay under control when dribbling. Out of control dribbling often leads to a turnover. Throw diagonal passes. Know where … [Read more...]
12 Tips to Being a Good Defender
A good defensive player wants to make his opponent work hard on offense. He also wants the offensive player to take bad or heavily challenged shots. If you can't stop the opponent from scoring, it's hard to win. Follow these 12 tips to become a dominant defensive player on the basketball court: Defensive Stance: Play defense in a good athletic stance; knees bent, light on feet, good balance, active hands. You're always ready to move -- and move quickly on defense. When guarding on the ball, … [Read more...]