Category: Defense »
1-1-3 match-up zone offers viable alternative to man defense
I never had our team play zone defense. Zone defense, to me, was utilized by teams that were weak, lazy or both. I even scheduled my coaching-clinic decisions around avoiding zone-defense chatter. I never listened to a clinic speaker who was discussi...
High screens, aggressive defense help Gonzaga push games out of reach
Eight games into the 2012 West Coast Conference season, the Gonzaga Bulldogs had struggled in the first half of games before putting away opponents in the second half. Gonzaga held a 274-231 scoring advantage in the first half of conference games b...
Keys for winning the battle at the boards
Our team considers rebounding one of the most important elements to winning games. We don't consider the total number of rebounds to be the key, rather it's the rebounding differential that matters most. We know that if our team shoots well, there wo...
Teaching, implementing a swarming match-up zone defense
The premise of a match-up zone defense is to manipulate the opponent into executing its zone offense versus — for all intents and purposes — a man-to-man defense. Zone offenses are predictable. Teams, for example, almost always attack a 2-3 zone...
‘Triangle-and-Two’ defense keeps opponents at bay
Our program has had a lot of success using a Triangle-and-Two defense. A good Triangle-and-Two defense: Matches up your defense to focus on the opposing offense's best or most dangerous two players. Confuses the offense and causes it to hesitat...
Time-tested rules for defending screens
Most motion offenses today include a variety of picks (screens) to free the ball or players to the basket. These screens include on-the-ball screens, backscreens, cross-screens and downscreens. The following are effective rules that you can instruct...
Running the 1-2-1-1 zone press
It's very important for coaches to allow their players the opportunity to have fun while trying to accomplish team objectives. I've never met a player who didn't want to play a fast-paced, full-court game, whether it be the fast break or full-court p...
