As coaches, get players on the same page with our philosophy. That requires teaching and feedback using data and/or video. Huge gaps separate know that and know how. Thomas Crane called that "performance-focused, feedback-rich" coaching.
Teach basketball symmetry. What offenses want (separation, open quality shots) defenses limit. Just as turnovers kill offensive possessions, defensive lapses like poor ball pressure, slow help or rotation, lack of recovery, and poor shot contests kill defensive possessions.
Show what good defense looks like (above).
Defense begins with philosophy, from general to specific:
- deny quality shots
- "one bad shot" (implies strong defensive rebounding)
- "hard 2s" (incorporates understanding of analytics)
- no easy shots
- "Good teams do not beat themselves." LIMIT BAD FOULS.
- Player development is more than offense.
- Need defenders who can win individual battles.
- "Win this possession" equals "get stops" equals "stops make runs."
- What pace do we want to play?
- Do we play containment defense or denial defense?
- How do WE defend ball screens and off ball screens?
- Do we front the post? (If we can't pressure the ball, we likely can't front the post).
- Do we trap aggressively or strategically?
- Man defense is primary. When do we change (e.g. zone) and how much?
"Know thyself." If we can't rotate on time and consistently, we can't double the post (above). We couldn't contain the ball, so had to change defense (zone and combinations) to have protection.
What are easy shots? (What do we disallow?)
- free throws
- low contest layups
- transition "numbers"
- putbacks
- open threes* (depends on age and level of competition)
What is required of the best defenses? Higher scoring teams get paint touches and ball reversal. Is good technique obvious to limit these?
- ball pressure ("there is no substitute")
- "at a glance" - proximity...defenders are close to the ball on the catch
- limit penetration (including post entry)
- limit ball reversal
- "contestedness" (challenge shots without fouling)
- excellent defenses have superior physical conditioning
What commonly is bad defense? Good teams exploit bad defense. Anything that leads to higher points per position is bad defense. During halftime of a recent Celtics game, Coach Stevens admonished the team that most of Toronto's points came off transition and putbacks. How quickly (if ever) do we diagnose and solve the problem?
- Poor ball pressure ("dead man's defense" - six feet under)
- Allowing give-and-go by not jumping to the ball
- Bad transition
- Confusion on pick-and-roll coverage
- Undisciplined fouling
- Unchallenged shots
- Poor closeouts
- Lack of blockouts
- No help
Driving coaches crazy on defense (beating yourself)
- Poor effort
- Bad transition defense
- Not playing in a stance
- Confusion over assignment
- Fouling perimeter shots and "terrible shots"
- No help ("The ball scores." or "My girl didn't score")
- "Double down" fouls - bad offense leads to retaliation foul
Lagniappe: via @Coach_DeMarco
Coach DeMarco shares 1-4 low BOB actions from his weekly letter.
Lagniappe 2: As a player, what are you prepared to sacrifice to be part of winning?
- Time for studying the game, video, and your team playbook
- Shots. Is it about you or the team?
- Credit. Are you a giver or a taker?
- Strength and conditioning work.
- Taking hits - hard screens, going to the floor, charges, blocking out
- Minutes. Players play; coaches coach.
Lagniappe 3: Effort and knowledge can't always overcome flaws: lack of size and athleticism.