Utilize the 8 team defense techniques and concepts below to help your team work together as a cohesive defensive unit. Defense does win and getting 5 defenders to play together can make your team dominant on the defensive end of the basketball court. Follow these concepts, but also emphasize them to your players. Get Better Playing defense is not a sometime thing. Effort and execution is required by everyone ... one mistake and the team defense can fall apart, allowing the offense to score. … [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...]
How to Defend the Flex Cut
Many offenses, even if they do not specifically run the Flex offense, they will often utilize the baseline flex cut. This article will help you learn how to defend the flex cut. When defending the baseline flex cut, it is preferrable to body up and force the cutter low and possibly out of bounds to take him out of the play. By forcing the cutter low, the player defending the screener can also stay close so he cannot step back into the lane and get a pass after screening. The main objective is … [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...]
5 Tips When Applying a Press Defense
You may not be a 'pressing' team, but it is good to have the ability to press at different points in a game. You may simply need to press towards the end of a game in order to come back from a deficit. You may also like to mix it up once in awhile to catch the other team off guard. Whenever you decide to press, the following points should be stressed to your players. When to Press It is possible to press at any time but it is most effective to press after a made basket, after a free throw, … [Read more...]
Scramble Defense Basic Fundamentals
The Scramble defense is, in essence, a rotating man-to-man defense that will allow many opportunities for steals and will also put intense pressure on your opponents shot attempts. The Scramble is a man-to-man defense but after the first 'scramble', any defender may be guarding any offensive player. The purpose of the Scramble Defense is: to show the offense a different look to force a team out of its rhythm to force a team to switch out of its offense to force a quick and hurried shot to … [Read more...]
Basic Fundamentals of Man to Man Defense
The following techniques and strategies can be taught and employed regardless of what style of man-to-man defense you play. Whether you play a packline, full denial, or sagging man-to-man defense, these basic fundamentals should be ingrained in your players. As you (and they) begin to understand better how to play effective man-to-man defense, you can certainly make some nuanced changes depending on your opponent and overall philosophy. The basics ... here we go... When guarding on-the-ball, … [Read more...]