Defense

 
This post is a compilation of some analytics information that supports the belief that the best three point defenses limit the number of three point shots that their opponents shoot and essentially are not consistently effective at forcing low three point percentages by their opponents.

These ideas are from St. Louis Men’s Assistant Coach Zak Boisvert.

Whether you agree or disagree with that assertion, it is worth taking a look at some of your team’s stats over the past few years as well as doing some research online. Then, examining how that equates to your defensive philosophy, what practice drills you do to emphasize that philosophy, and your defensive rules.

Ken Pomeroy (www.kenpom.com) studied the correlation in Men’s Division I basketball from the 2010-11 season to the 2011-12 season for the four following categories:

The correlation is based on where each school ranked among all other schools in each category for the two years studied.

(The closer the correlation is .000 there is no relationship–high ranking one year, low the next. If the correlation is 1.00 that means that team would be ranked #1 in that category two years in a row.)

Opponent 3 Point Shooting Made Percentage. .204
Opponent Free Throw Percentage .266
Opponent Two Point Shooting Percentage .558
Opponent Three Point Attempts (Of all Field Goals Attempted) Percentage .575

The Free Throw Percentage “Allowed” had a higher correlation from year to year than did the 3 Point Field Goal Percentage Allowed, indicating that a team’s ability to force low three point percentages varies greatly from season to season and game to game. It also provides evidence that teams can affect their opponent’s two point shooting percentage as well as their percentage of three point attempts to overall field goal attempts more effectively.

Source “The Badgers Defensive Secret” espn.com (Ken Pomeroy)

Pomeroy did another analytical study of three point defense between 2009 and 2012 in men’s NCAA Division I Basketball. He looked at the averages of the worst 20 and best 20 teams in terms of 3 point percentage allowed for games played after December 4 each season.

Again, this is only games after December 4, so the early season non conference games are not included.

	Best 20	Worst 20
2012-13	34.8%	32.9%
2011-12	34.6%	33.3%
2010-11	35.4%	34.0%
2009-10	34.3%	34.2%
Avg	34.8%	33.6%

Pomeroy has made the following observations from the data he collected:
Source (http://kenpom.com/blog/index.php/weblog/entry/3_point_defense_should_not_be_defined_by_opponents_3p)

1) Three point percentage allowed is “significantly more noise than skill.” However, it is not accurate to say that the defense has no impact on an opponent’s three point percentage. It is just that the impact is very limited.

2) “When someone discusses three-point defense in terms of three-point percentage, they might as well make the leap to discuss free-throw defense in similar terms. Teams have much more control over how many three’s their opponents shoot than how many they make.”

3) “Both free-throw defense and three-point defense exist, but it’s much better measured in the amount of shots taken and not in the noisy world of the percentage of shots an opponent makes.”

Some of the thoughts I have collected that have influenced my thinking on defending three point shots are:

1) Dick Bennett’s belief that over the course of a game, you can only do two of these three things consistently well– 1) Deny 2) Help 3) Recover. His belief was that if you deny and help, it is difficult to recover to three point shooters. If you want to be able to recover to shooters, you can’t start out in a total denial, but rather in gaps ready to help, then recover.

2) Statistical research has also shown that shooting percentage on challenged shots is lower than shots that are not challenged. Most teams work to get open three point attempts that are not able to be challenged. If we can be in position to recover to shooters (makers) to be able to make an impactful challenge, then we are likely to discourage an attempt in most cases.

3) Like anything else, to do it consistently well in games, it has to be a repeated emphasis in practice. Here is a link to a drill to work on taking away three point shots: 4 on 3 No Threes

4) Teams have the best effective field-goal percentage on shots in the restricted area and on three point shots. If it is difficult to affect three point percentage, we should work on taking away three point shots and forcing two point jump shots.

This post was written by Steve Smiley, Men’s Assistant at Weber State. His blog is coachsmiley.blogspot.com where he has posted several really good coaching articles. You can contact him at [email protected] or @coach_smiley on Twitter.

One of the projects that I’ve been working on over the past several weeks is to study some of the top defenses in America, ask several of the same basic philosophical system questions, and see if there are trends that several of the elite defenses are using in college right now. I was blessed to speak with assistant coaches at 4 D1 universities that finished the 2014-15 season in the Top 50 of KenPom.com‘s Adjusted Defense Rating. Here is the link, and the rankings are under the AdjD section (Viriginia is #1, Kentucky #2, etc). http://kenpom.com/index.php?s=RankAdjDE. Advanced stats like those at KenPom are giving all of us more in-depth information than we’ve ever had before. It’s our job as a coach to study and learn the material!

It was interesting to find that no matter the question I asked, usually 3 of every 4, if not 4 of 4 teams, answered the same way. Our goal is to see if we can pull one or two ideas out of the data to help our defense out in the future as well. Here’s a sampling of the question grid with some of the answers:

Questions

Force Middle / Base?

Team 1 Not forcing either way. Guard a yard. 3 ft to left, 3ft to right. Don’t get beat baseline = rule.

Team 3 Square up, shoulder to shoulder.

Team 4 Neither… Evolved into guarding the ball, don’t force either way. Scouting-report based.

How deep gap coverage?

Team 2 Don’t pack line, but sit in the gaps. More based on scouting (how much in the gap).

Team 4 Elbow if ball is on wing, FT-line extended (reference point). Closer to ball than man.

Bluff or rally?
(Rally refers to all out help and rotate to cover helper’s man)

Team 1 Stunt & recover unless it’s a straight line drive, must stop ball.

Team 3 Rally

Guard post, ball on wing?

Team 1 3/4 High side when ball is on wing.

Team 2 Front the Post (keep it out). If can’t front, get 3/4 on high side. Get them off the block as far as possible.

Team 3 3/4 High side if possible. Biggest thing however = “No angles to score” – will slide behind a lot.

Monster Post?
(Double Team the Low Post)

Team 2 Don’t double much…

Team 3 Started doing it late in the year… Attacked off of passer.

Team 4 Yes, do it a lot! Do it vs. great player, or a post that likes to dribble on face-up, also vs. bad posts that will turn it over

Guard POBs?
(Picks on the Ball)

Team 1 Majority time = hard hedge and then X out. Never want to Low-Show, sometimes will Level-Show

Team 3 Switch 1-4… Hard hedge & recover vs. the 5.

What D hurts you on O?

Team 1 Switching everything (including off-ball). Downing the POB wasn’t an issue.

Team 3 Pack line bothered us, dared them to shoot.

Team 4 Good, aggressive hedge on POB’s. Also, teams that switched everything.

What makes your Defense great?

Team 3 Challenge every shot (every where!) – A lot of deflections, active hands on the ball…

Team 4 Keep ball out of middle of floor was a big thing!

The biggest point of emphasis that I can stress right now is that you need to give an honest look at your team and its strengths & weaknesses from the previous season. Regardless of the level that you coach at, from youth to the Pro’s, don’t be afraid to go out on a limb, call some of your peers that you respect and are having success, and pick their brain. While there are still some coaches that don’t want to reveal any part of their program, the majority of coaches are happy to share what makes them great. Continue to study, learn, and prepare for the next season!

Clinic Notes from:

I hope you might get a couple ideas to help teach and evaluate your individual defensive players. These ideas can be used whether you’re a man-to-man coach or a zone coach.

Rick Torbett from Better Basketball speaking on Better Basketball’s Dynamic Defense

Level 0 footwork

• For example, rebounding footwork
  Rebounding near the basket is power base on power base.
  DNA “Dadgum Nasty Attitude”
  Rebounding away from the basket defensive rebounder’s shoulders perpendicular to offensive players shoulders. Check the player, arc them, pursue the basketball.
  Rebound like a quarterback with the ball and shoulder. Three points of contact, two hands and shoulder, it to protect the basketball

Level 1 Defender can guard the basketball and keep it out of the middle third of the floor.
Level 2 Defender can guard away from the ball and if a teammate gets beat on the dribble level two defender can help keep the ball out of the middle third of the floor.
Level 3 Defender can guard situations which might include ball screens, switching, rotating, among others
Level 4 defender can help everyone recover back to their original assignments

The middle third of the floor is called the highway.
The outside third of the floor is called the arc alley.
Guarding the ball is a handshake distance-conversation distance.
Close talker is in my space and making the ball uncomfortable. They play inside the offensive player’s bubble.
Teach players to cut off the middle third of the floor with their hips not their head and recover back to the offensive player’s bubble.

Terminology
Forces twilight = player with the ball can half see and half not see.
Noon = player with the ball can see clearly.
Midnight = player with the basketball can’t see the floor at all.

Great Level 1 Defender

• Is a close talker, takes away the wrist shot drive and pass.
• Forces midnight=the offense can see the floor.
• Takes away triple threat position.
• The offense can’t open at the defensive player’s hips

Good Level 1 Defender

• Plays at a conversation distance away from the player with the basketball.
• Bothers shots, but does not take them away.
• Deflects passes.
• Stops drives after one dribble.
• Can arc the ball to the half line and doesn’t need help.

OK Level 1 Defender

• High talker (needs to play further off the ball than a close talker or a conversation distance
• Can’t force anything.
• Put and OK level 1 defender on a catch and shoot only player.

Still completions for level one defenders

• Arc the ball outside
• No baseline drives
• On a dead dribble, eat space
• Interrupt rhythm dribble pull up shots
• Dominate 1 on 1 in the highway
• Draw charges, 4 inch fall in the direction of the drive

Level 2 Defender Responsibilities

• Level 2 defender plays in space.
• Intercept passes and recover
• Establish a position to:
  • Help outside the highway
  • Stop the ball from being shot
  • Meet and greet cutters in the lane
  • Quickly recover to level 1 position when the player you are guarding receive a pass
  • Adjust positions on every pass
• Goal is to guard 2/3 of the court, keeping the ball from going back into the highway (middle 1/3 of the court), while offensive actions are taking place, without having to switch.
• Fulfill all responsibilities deep into a long possession
• Cause skirmishes that create doubt in the ball handler’s mind

Every time there is one closeout, there should be 4 others.
The help behind the closeout is critical

On correcting mismatches or rotations—defense must find and cover the open player before the offense does.

Multiple Zone Defenses–The Key to Maximizing Your Talent and Controlling Tempo

Presented by Will Rey, Head Coach Northridge Prep, Chicago.

His program’s three keys to maximizing your talent and controlling tempo are shot selection, minimizing turnovers, zone defense.

The “Zone Problem” in Basketball

1. Zone defense is often not respected by coaches
2. Coaches spend less time on zone attack
3. Players don’t like to play against it

The “Zone Advantage in Basketball”

He uses these points to sell his players on the effectiveness of what they do.

1. NBA doesn’t allow zones. The league that is most concerned with scoring points does not allow it which should at least be food for thought as to the effectiveness of zone defense. Editors note from Brian: My interpretation of Coach Rey’s statement is that even thought the NBA does allow zone defenses, they are not true zone defenses due to the defensive three second rule. Coach Rey is a very knowledgeable basketball coach and he does know that zone defenses are legal.
2. Time. It doesn’t require as much time to teach zone defense because there are less movements and actions that opponents run against zone defense.
3. Zone Defenses are counterintuitive to the way players see the game and train during individual skill development workouts and drills.
4. Hard to Simulate it is difficult for opponents to prepare to play against in a few days what we have been working on for four years (seniors), three years (juniors)

Their results show that their multiple zone defenses are difficult to score against and they foul very little–another key to maximizing talent–keeping their players out of foul trouble and in the games.

What You Should Prepare for if you decide to become a “zoner”

When you play zone defense, you need to be prepared to receive criticism and you will get it. You will hear things like:

You are a compromiser
Your teams are soft
You are a “non-purist”
You are not teaching the game

Foundational Stones of their Zone Defenses

They need to work on, drill, and practice these defensive areas each day

1. They can get to three point shooters.
2. They have inside position for defensive rebounding.
3. Good defense begins with good offense–shot selection and minimizing turnovers. The two parts of the game must be compatible within your system.
4. Their players and coaches are committed to a system of multiple zone defenses.
5. Northridge does not play zone, they teach it!
6. If they are going to lose, they want to make the unknowns beat them. They emphasize scouting reports and shot charts for where the opponents individual players are most effective from.
7. Air is not the enemy, don’t guard air!  Guard the basketball, the box, or the elbow

Zones they play

23 slide
31 (1-3-1)
1-2-2
Combination 1-3 plus a chaser
Triangle and Two

Execution of their defenses

• Cover the elbows and boxes. If no one is there now, they will be coming.
• Teaching phrase, “Ball comes, I come”
• Guarding a skip pass is a three player operation

Teaching the 2-3 Slides

Diagrams created with FastDraw

 

9 offense, 5 defense, cover 1 pass at a time, then make the next pass.

They bump their forwards as little as possible.

 

 

Defend the post 3/4 around on the baseline side.

Fronting the post is an in game adjustment.

X1 is the plug position and plays facing the ball with his back to the top of the key. He is positioned to keep the ball out of the post.

X2 is the wedge and is just above the high post.

 

The three players involved in guarding the skip pass in the diagram at the left are:

x5 moving to guard the ball side block
x2 moving to guard the ball side elbow
x4 is the defender closing out on the basketball

They teach to closeout with one hand on the basketball and the other hand in the next passing lane.
The helpside forward must be aggressive and fearless. His focus is on covering the skip pass when it is made and weakside rebounding.  He plays a step off the midline.

The coverage for when the ball is passed to the corner

Other actions they work to cover every day.

• Swing-Swing-Corner (perimeter swing pass, perimeter swing pass, then pass to the corner)
• Swing-Swing-Shot
• Skip pass-Corner
• E”merge”ncy (Merge on the basketball when it goes inside or to the elbow)

 

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These notes on matchup zone defense are from Scott Peterman’s Ultimate Matchup Zone eBook. I hope they give you some ideas to apply to your zone defense. If you don’t play zone in games, then hopefully you can use them as you practice your zone attack against your second team in practice.

The Ultimate Matchup Zone eBook is paired with the Full Court Pressing Playbook as this week’s eBook Bundle.

Click here to find out more about the pair: Ultimate Matchup Zone and Full Court Pressing Defenses Playbooks

If you do have any questions about the Playbooks, please feel free to email me or call/text me at (317) 721-1527.

Here are some favorable zone defense situations:

• * Man to Man Matchup problems
• * 2 non-shooters who are both small.
• * You are playing against a high volume of post-up teams and penetration teams.
• * You are playing your second night of a back to back.
• * When you are coming out of a time-out. You can take the opposing coach out of the set play by changing to a zone defense.
• * Low clock situations with a sideline out of bounds play, baseline out of bounds play, or an end of the quarter play.
• * Limited preparation time
• * Foul Trouble

Zone Defense Issues that cause problems:

These are areas that you must have a plan to counter and practice.

• No one is in your “home” area.
• When your opponent spreads the floor with multiple shooters.
• When the zone offense screens the middle man.
• Back Screens on the weak side of a zone defense.
• When rotating two players to one. If in doubt then the smaller person stays.
• If two players try to defend one offensive player. You must talk on zone defense.
• If you have two offensive players in one “Home” area.

Zone Defense Tips:

• The quality of the shooter will dictate your ball pressure level on the offense.
• The Ball can’t rest in a “Bump” area. The “Bump” areas require reading and talking among teammates.
  If the ball is in the High Post area then it’s the 5 man’s responsibility.
• Watch out when you are switching on/off the ball in a bump area.
• The Player that is further from the ball must communicate more.
• If you don’t have someone in your “home”area then look at the next area and pick someone up.
• You must go “HOME” on all Skip Passes.
• When the ball gets below the free-throw line then all five defensive players must be below the free throw line.
• If you are more than one pass away then you should be thinking of protecting the basket first.
• If you are one pass away then you should be defending the ball first.
• All five players must Rebound.
• If you don’t know what to do, then go “Home”. Someone will come in your “Home” area.
• If no one is in your “Home” area, then build your help from the basket out.
• If we get caught sending two players to the same rotation then we want the strong side defender to stay with the ball, and the weak side defender to re-rotate to another man.
• Never leave the ball during a scramble situation.

Zone Defense Checklist | Think about how you want to handle these situations

• Ball Screens: Middle, Side, Step-up, and Elbow Pick and Rolls.
• Off Ball Screens: Stagger Screens, Double Screens, Flare Screens
• Passes: One pass away, Two passes away, and Skip Passes
• Areas where the offense will attack: Short Corner, Dribbling between areas, Low post flash, Low post
  flash into corner, High post flash, High post flash into perimeter step-out, Dives to the rim, Drives to the rim.
• Concepts: Baseline Runner, Overload, Underload, Defending two people in one space, 5 out on the
  perimeter, 4 out and 1 post player.
• Zone Offensive Sets and Alignments: 1-4, 1-2-2, 2-1-2, 1-3-1, 2-3, 3-2, Running “X” in the paint.
• Situations: Baseline out of bounds, Sideline out of bounds, Low Clock, End of the Game, After a free
  throw, After a press, After a missed shot, and Low clock resets.

These notes on matchup zone defense are from Scott Peterman’s Ultimate Matchup Zone eBook. I hope they give you some ideas to apply to your zone defense. If you don’t play zone in games, then hopefully you can use them as you practice your zone attack against your second team in practice.

The Ultimate Matchup Zone eBook is paired with the Full Court Pressing Playbook as this week’s eBook Bundle.

Click here to find out more about the pair: Ultimate Matchup Zone and Full Court Pressing Defenses Playbooks

If you do have any questions about the Playbooks, please feel free to email me or call/text me at (317) 721-1527.

This video sample from Kevin Eastman’s CoachingU Live came from his clinic entitled ” Defending the Pick and Roll the NBA Way.”

He served as an Assistant Coach for the Celtics from 2004 to 2013.

He finished his career prior to retiring as an assistant coach and VP of Basketball Operations with the Los Angeles Clippers.

At the bottom of this post, there are more links to other short videos with Coach Eastman on various topics.

Make sure your sound is on and you click the play arrow to see the video.