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Wednesday, November 26, 2025

Basketball Defensive Excellence

"Given the choice of battling Dave (DeBusschere) for 48 minutes to get good shots or of taking more difficult shots farther from the basket, many players resign themselves to the bad shots. When DeBusschere guards a taller player or a great one-on-one player, he tries to deny him the ball by “overplaying”...like all great defensive players, he enjoys playing defense. “You are always in a game when you play good defense,” he says. “I like to hound my man constantly—make him feel like I’m never going to let him breathe. I don’t want him to feel I am ever an inch away from him." - from "Life on the Run" by Bill Bradley 

Choose excellence. Individual defense starts with mindset. The strong offensive player believes he will score on you. The strong defensive player thinks that he can 'contain' the scorer. Defense has to be important to the defender. 

Defense will try to take away what the offense wants to do. With game tape, individual defenders can judge what weakenss to exploit. 

  • Make your cover work for everything. 
  • Depending on your defense that may mean ball denial. 
  • Start with stance and positioning relative to your cover. 
  • Proximity to the dribbler and to the shooter matters. Shooting percentages fall the closer the defender. 
  • Ball-u-man and player-you-basket will always matter. 
  • Cover 1.5 (your player and help on half of another). 
  • See both. You must know where the ball is. Excellent players will cut if you're a 'head turner' and can't see them. 
  • Defensive fakes/stunts have a place. 
  • Be in top physical condition. "Movement kills defense" and you have to survive it. 
  • Judge whether you can overplay the dominant hand or not. 
  • Contest shots without fouling. NEVER foul a jump shooter. 
  • Have specific ideas about from whom and when to attempt the steal. 
  • Take the hits. You are going to get run off screens, especially in a box-and-one situation. 

Many factors go into shooting percentage (see below):

What would represent the ultimate data set to get the most accurate read on all of this, factors that can only be retrieved through meticulous charting?

  • Contested level of the shot (wide open, open, guarded, double-teamed)
  • Location on the floor
  • Play type (Catch + Shoot, off the dribble, off screen, etc)
  • Defended by which player
  • Team defensive set -- particularly zone versus man
  • Dribble detail (0 dribbles, 1, 2+) and direction (left, right, which hand)
  • Sequence of passes leading to the shot
  • Fouls Drawn and Turnovers Committed by distance from hoop
Lagniappe. Everyone thinks they're playing hard. Watched a game recently where a player sprinted down the court on offense and gave less effort getting back on defense. IYKYK. If you know you know. 
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