subject: Basketball Defense - 3 Essential Aspects to Good Defense [print this page] Author: Gary Donovan Author: Gary Donovan
Whether you are playing straight-up man-to-man defense or a zone, or a combination defense with both zone and man-to-man aspects, a good basketball defense will share many of the same qualities. Essentially, it is always man-to-man we play - if a zone defense is called, it just means we are playing one-on-one against whichever man happens to come into our area. Thus, man-to-man defensive skills are the base of any defensive strategy. In fact, some youth basketball leagues insist that teams play man-to-man defense only, as they feel young basketball players need to know how to play man-to-man defense well before they can begin to play any type of zone. I've always agreed with this rule and the reasoning behind it. I have nothing against playing zone defense at the varsity level and above, as long as it is played properly. But you can't play defense if you don't know how to play man-to-man. Regardless of whether you have your team playing man-to-man or zone, insist your players do the following when playing defense: 1. Stay Low. Defensive stance is low, with knees bent, back straight and hands up. The reason for this is simple - the lower your center of gravity, the quicker you will be able to react, to move in any direction. If your center of gravity is high, it will take much more force to move your body around and often leads to bad "catch-up" strategies such as reaching for the ball as the offensive player drives past. A low defensive stance will translate into quicker movement and better defense, and fewer fouls. 2. Communicate. It is a team sport, and everyone on the team needs to play together, not as individuals. Players need to let teammates know if the teammate has a screen being set on him, so he can adjust or switch; teammates need to know if another player had been beaten, so they can pick up the loose man and hopefully stop him from scoring. When you are focused on your player and on the ball, you can't see the rest of the court - you need to rely on your teammates to help you. Good communication leads to greater team defense. 3. Deny, Deny, Deny. It is always easier to play defense on your man when he doesn't have the ball - the moment he has the ball he is now a scoring threat, and can potentially harm you. Better not to give him the chance. So many players play away from the man they are guarding, watching him as he receives a pass, and then attempt to play defense on him. It would be much easier and much more effective to deny him the ball at the beginning, so he doesn't get the opportunity to go one-on-one. Good denial defense will keep the ball out of the hands of top scorers, will frustrate them and cause them to make bad decisions. Basketball defense is exceptionally important to the game. Even at the best of times, most teams will barely crack a 50% field goal average. Unless your team is an exceptional shooting team and able to command a 70% shooting average, your best opportunity to win games will be to play hard defense and keep your opponent's shooting percentage lower than yours. The best professional teams win because of their defense as much as their offense. Look to the 1980's Lakers dynasty as an example - they had great offense in the form of Magic, Worthy and Jabbar, but they also had exceptional defense in the form of Michael Cooper and Kurt Rambis. Someone once said, "Offense wins games but defense wins championships." Teach good basketball defense to your players and aim for those championships. You'll find more of my thoughts on basketball defense as well as some defensive strategies on this page: Basketball Defense 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.
