6 on 4 Shell Drill

The 6 on 4 shell is really just an extension of the 4 on 4 baseline penetration version of the shell with two added advantages: 1. It utilizes more players (keeping players active and involved), and 2. It places specific emphasis on a concept that can be difficult to grasp for some players – A good man to man defense functions as a team unit. As a team, we can, and will, prevent opponents from getting into the paint – even if the opponent is ‘unguarded, as 5 and 6 are in this drill.

To start the drill, the offense swings the ball around the perimeter as the defenders adjust their positions accordingly. Defenders should “jump to the ball” – i.e. move when the ball is in the air, as opposed to moving when the recipient of the pass catches the ball. The offense should also have a focus – in this situation, my focus would probably be that the offense must ‘catch and face’ in triple threat every time they receive a pass – this is a critical habit that gets overlooked at times. Also the offense cannot hold the ball over their heads looking for any pass.

Whenever a corner player catches the ball, their job is simply to dive directly to the basket. The defense then rotates as a team, with the player challenging the ball meeting the dribbler outside of the key -early help! and the other defenders sinking in to the baseline to ‘help the helper’. Note: Help the helper is an important concept – it is the final piece of the rotation that makes it a team effort if a stop or steal occurs – at the same time, I don’t think that it is particularly critical to spend inordinate time on walking through the second help defender sliding over to cover the first help defender’s man, then walking the third help defender through covering the second defender’s man, and so on. The concepts are what is most important – sink to the level of the ball and make the only available pass the most difficult – the pass back out to the ballside guard area. There are specific areas where teams should focus on specifics such as in the following scenario:

Spending too much time on the help the help concept, though, can have the effect of turning defense into more of a math problem than a basketball tactic. You want your players able to react without thinking in game situations.

The video shows a couple of ball reversals and the defensive response each time to baseline penetration.

Filed Under: Basketball Defense Drills

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