subject: Basketball Plays - 3 Things to Know About Basketball Press Breaks [print this page] Author: Gary Donovan Author: Gary Donovan
Basketball presses run against you can create havoc for your team if your players aren't prepared. This, of course, is the purpose of the press, especially the full court press - shock the ball carrier into making a bad pass so that it can be picked off and taken in for an easy basket. But if your team is prepared with a good press break, a press can actually become a scoring opportunity. Pretty much every zone press I have seen depends on a double team on the ball, which means someone, somewhere is open. If the offense keeps its collective head and runs a well-organized press break, they should be able to beat the press, and better than that, they should be able to score against it. Regardless of the basketball play you choose to use against the press, there are a few things that you should realize must happen with every basketball press break: 1. The Inbounds Pass. In any basketball game, whether your opponent is pressing you or not, it is good practice to inbound the ball as quickly as possible. And if the opponent is setting up a full court press, a quick inbounds pass can often get the team running before the press has time to set up, breaking the press before it even becomes an issue. The player designated with the job of inbounding the ball needs to get the ball in as quickly as possible, and the guards who are to receive it need to get into their outlet positions as soon as the opponent's shot goes up. 2. Pass Before You Dribble. The ball moves faster when it is passed, no matter who your point guard is. The objective is to score against the press, and to do that you need to get the ball up the court before the defense adjusts. Dribbling takes too long, and the dribbler will constantly be attacked and trapped, which will at best slow him down, at worst make him turn over the ball. Good, solid passes are almost always preferable to putting the ball on the floor. 3. Mindset. Probably the most important aspect of breaking a press. If you view a press against you as a threatening situation, you will be on the defensive and be more likely to turn the ball over or at the very least be unable to take advantage of opportunities when they arise. But if you aggressively attack the press, moving the ball quickly to take advantage of the inevitable holes that open up and push the ball upcourt with the intention to score, not only will your results against the press be better, you will force the opponent to call off the press because they will quickly get tired of being beaten and scored on. It is very important that you punish the other team for pressing you, and the only way to punish them is to score on them. Getting the ball over half doesn't punish them. They know they've made you work harder and they are tiring you out. And they will continue to press you until you demonstrate that it is no longer in their best interest to do so - score on them, quickly and often, until they call off the press. This last point is important enough to repeat - you and your team must treat a defensive press put against you as a scoring opportunity. Run your play with the same intentions you would as if you were already in your own end, looking for scoring opportunities - I refer to press breaks as "press offenses" to hammer home the point that we are on the offensive. Choose a good press break and practice it until your players understand it and can cycle through it accurately and decisively. You will find the press break I use on this page: Breaking the Full Court Press from my Better Basketball Coaching website.About the Author:
Gary Donovan has been coaching varsity basketball for over fifteen years, and playing the game for many years more than that. Read more of his coaching advice on his website Better Basketball Coaching.
