Defending baseline penetration: Most half court man to man defenses in today’s game try to influence the ball handler to the sideline when the ball is in the middle of the floor and towards the baseline when the ball is on the side. The reason: Good players have more options and better angles (passing and [...]
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 [...]
This segment of the shell isolates defending the basket cut. The first thing you’ll want to determine before you get started is how you plan on defending the reversal pass – the pass back to the area around the top of the key from either wing. There are two standard approaches; your defensive philosophy and [...]
A Recent “Ask the Coach” question and response:
Q: “I run a 1-3-1 press. What do you think about a 1-3-1 over a 1-2-2 press. Also any help with breaking this press would be very helpful. I coach 5th grade boys and girls”
A: Hey Coach,
Are you talking about running a 1/4 or 1/2 court press? I [...]
Another Run and Jump tactic that is very effective out of a halfcourt man to man defense is trapping up.
In the same way that the run and jump is executed in a fullcourt setting, an off-ball defensive player who is one pass away from the ball leaves his/her assignment and aggressively springs a trap on [...]
Applying principles of the run-and jump defense out of a halfcourt man-to-man defense offers many of the advantages as a fullcourt run and jump In a halfcourt defensive set, with one key difference:
In a halfcourt set, the defense doesn’t have the same opportunity to force the uncontrolled dribble as it does in the fullcourt – [...]
Run and Jump
A reader recently asked for some information on the run and jump defense. I’ll cover the basics of the fullcourt run and jump here and will include the best resource I know of for learning the run and jump.
The next two posts will cover two different versions of the run and jump that [...]
