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Features
March 12, 2018
Creating a pressure mentality
Our program’s philosophy is to run on offense and pressure the ball on defense. We do that through a combination of zone presses — including the 1-2-1-1 and 2-2-1 — but our bread and butter is our man defense in the half court, which we work on...
February 28, 2018
Footwork, conditioning drills for ball-hawking defenders
Time is always of the essence, and too often it seems as if the repetitions of footwork drills in practice lessen as the season progresses. To remedy this, our staff discovered a way to combine two benefits into one task by incorporating defensive f...
February 14, 2018
Rules for playing man defense against baseline inbounds
One of the most important things teams try to do defensively is to eliminate cheap baskets. You can’t provide your opponent a much better bargain than if you’re allowing them to easily score off of baseline out-of-bounds plays. Many coaches beli...
January 25, 2018
Defeating the four-corners delay offense
Most high school and college coaches have observed, studied or used the four-corners delay offense. Therefore, it stands to good reason that a defensive coach likely would have to face this offense in late-period situations or during games when their...
November 30, 2017
Considering alternatives to switching on screens
A varsity coach once was explaining why he demanded that all teams in his program switch on all screens. “You know,” he says at one point, “John Wooden and Denny Crum switched on all screens.” Unspoken is the fact that Wooden, a coach of 10...
September 18, 2017
10 concepts to become more defensive-minded
Coaches hear the phrase “defense wins championships” so often that they regard it as a cliché instead of the cornerstone of every successful basketball program. There are many types of defenses that can win — from Rick Pitino’s relentless pr...
August 9, 2017
‘The Freak’ defense slows opposing offenses
We have all tried gimmick defenses to steal possessions or slow down the opposition’s best player. “The Freak” defense is a modified triangle-and-two or box-and-one, depending on how you implement it into your defensive arsenal. The defense wo...
May 5, 2017
Challenging your team to get more deflections
[caption id="attachment_9390" align="alignright" width="336"] Photo: Thomas Sorenes[/caption] Every coach wonders how they can improve their defense or score more points. Getting more deflections is one way to limit your opponent, leading to easy ba...
November 30, 2015
Kobe Bryant’s 3 tips for defensive slides
Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant is known for his five NBA championship rings and, more specifically, his amazing scoring ability. But did you know Bryant has been on the NBA's All-Defensive team 12 times throughout his career? Defense is o...
January 13, 2014
Offense or defense: What gives teams the best chance to win?
"Offense sells tickets, defense wins championships." How many times have you seen that line on the back of a summer camp T-shirt? NBA world champion and TNT analyst Kenny Smith is the first person I heard say, "Good offense will always beat good def...
Girls who play sports report 5 times higher levels of meaning and purpose compared to those who never played.
Study: Sports play critical role in promoting girls’ mental health
coachad.com
A new study on mental health by the Women's Sports Foundation found gi...