Defense

Kelvin Sampson led the Houston Cougars to the Final Four during the 2020-21 season.

Around basketball, the Cougars are known to have one of the best Cultures in college basketball. 

They were a top 5 NCAA  team defensive team and rebounding team last season.
 
Coach Sampson explains that if you want a team to be good at certain concepts then you need to simplify and hone in on those core concepts everyday in practice.

The Cougars call this their “Core Four”.

• Pick and Roll Defense

• Trapping the Post 

• Transition Defense

• Offensive Spacing

Coach Sampson said that another big emphasis for the Cougars is Rebounding.

Here is a snapshot of what the Cougars emphasis every day in practice:

(Click on Image to Play Free Video)

This is how the Cougars evaluate their “Toughness”. They focus on rebounding and defense. 

Pick and Roll Defense

One of the Cougars “Cour Four” is pick and roll defense.

This is something the Cougars work on every single day of practice.

The Cougars pick and roll principles include 5 steps. 
#1 Pick and roll communication needs to be early and loud three times. 

#2 The guards must dictate and have back pressure.

#3 The bigs have to come up to the line of scrimmage to meet the guard coming off the pick and roll.

#4 The help defense has to be in position to give support for the pick and roll defense. 

#5 The MIG (most important guy) has to take roller until the big can recover.

Below, Coach Sampson shows an example of these 5 steps.

(Click on Image to Play Free Video)

Spacing in the Half-Court

Offensive Spacing is another key concept in the Cougars “Core Four”.

Spacing in the half court starts with players in certain areas of the court.

-The corners and slots are to be filled.

-The dunker spot is to be filled with the big.

-And then all the actions that the Cougars run come out of proper spacing.

(Click on Image to Play Free Video)

The Cougars success has been built due to a championship level culture. 

Coach Sampson and staff have done a terrific job at Houston. 

These videos were taken from Coach Sampson’s complete 40-minute video course.

If you would like to learn more about that course click the link below.

Kelvin Sampson: PNR Defense and Offensive Spacing

 

 

 

3 on 3 Position & Take the Charge Drill with Rick Croy,
California Baptist University Head Men’s Coach;
5x NCAA Division II NCAA Tournament appearances (2014-2018);
over 180 wins at Cal Baptist in 8 years (.740 winning percentage);
former St. Mary’s Assistant Coach;
former Citrus College Head Coach;
3x WSC Coach of the Year

Rick Croy is quickly making a name for himself at California Baptist University, becoming one of the fastest coaches to reach 300 victories. CBU has also been one of the most successful teams to transition from Division II to Division I, racking up 37 wins in their first two seasons. In this open practice format, you will see the drills and practice outline that have helped create a winning program!\

In this drill, players work on ball side defensive positioning. When the ball is reversed, the basket defender has to make the quick decision to take a charge or make a vertical shot contest.

We are providing this drill to give you ideas on how to enhance your current practice drills. The idea is not to implement it exactly as is, but rather to tweak it to make it fit your system.

There is sound with the video, so please make sure that your sound is on.

This is a YouTube video, so you will need to be on a network that does not block YouTube videos.

For more information about NABC On the Court Open Practice with Rick Croy: Offensive & Defensive Drills to Promote Toughness, click here: NABC On the Court Open Practice with Rick Croy: Offensive & Defensive Drills to Promote Toughness – Basketball — Championship Productions, Inc.

Jay Wright is currently the men’s head coach at Villanova University, a position he has held since 2001. He previously served as head coach at Hofstra University (1994–2001), leading the program to NCAA Tournament appearances in both 2000 and 2001.

Perfecting the zone defense is a difficult task to teach and to evolve. In this course, Villanova head coach Jay Wright discusses the use of the 1-2-2 zone in this clinic presentation for the NJBCA virtual clinic. Coach Wright goes over the basics of the zone and also discusses the ability to extend the zone to add additional pressure on teams. Check out a free lesson and start learning how to perfect your zone defense today.

We are providing this drill to give you ideas on how to enhance your current practice drills. The idea is not to implement it exactly as is, but rather to tweak it to make it fit your system.

There is sound with the video, so please make sure that your sound is on.

This is a Vimeo video, so you will need to be on a network that does not block Vimeo videos.

If you would like to see more information about Coach Wright’s entire presentation, click this link: Multiple Defenses

St. Louis Men’s Assistant Coach Zak Boisvert has assembled some video clips of defending a snake dribble that is used to counter drop coverage of a high pick and roll.

His YouTube channel has several videos with various types of man to man plays, zone sets, and inbounds plays as well as clips on various defensive coverages.

You can subscribe to receive an update when he posts a new video Zak Boisvert You Tube Channel

Click play to see the video

This is a YouTube video, so you will need to be on a server that allows you YouTube access.

There is narration with the video, so please make sure your sound is on as you watch.

Contributed by Coach Jonathan Klein

If you would like me to put you in touch with Coach Klein to ask him any questions, please let me know.

This post includes his thoughts on adjustments, rebounding, defending baseline inbounds plays, and pressing out of the 1-3-1.

1-3-1 ZONE DEFENSE OVERVIEW

ADVANTAGES
➢ Forces the offense to adjust to your defense
➢ Forces the offense into slow passes (Lobs and Bounce passes)
➢ Creates pressure on perimeter players
➢ Causes the offense to make bad passes and force bad shots / shot choices
➢ Easily creates and flows into fast break opportunities
➢ Can be easily adjusted to fit your personnel or opponent

DISADVANTAGES
➢ Risky defense that will allow the offense to beat you if you make a lot of mistakes
➢ No balance when blocking out on a shot

PHILOSOPHY
➢ Make the offense uncomfortable through constant pressure on the ball and the passing / driving gaps
➢ Keep ball out of the middle of the floor
➢ Close the gaps and not allow any easy passes or drives
➢ Forcing every pass to be a slow lob or bounce pass
➢ Never allow a baseline drive
➢ Play with high energy and maximum effective effort

POSITION PROFILES / RESPONSIBILITIES

Taker (Shown as 4)
✓ Get and keep the ball out of the middle of the floor
✓ If they try to drive across the middle, deny and force them back outside the volleyball lines
✓ Play between the top two offensive players
✓ Make it as hard as possible to reverse the floor
✓ Play the goal side to force the sideline to sideline pass towards the half-court line
✓ If ball is passed into the corner – protect the ball side elbow / high post area

Center (Shown as 5)
✓ Stay between the ball and the rim
✓ If ball is on baseline – sprint down and play high side on the block
✓ If ball is drove –step up and stop the ball
✓ Will play high post according to which adjustment we are in

Wings (Shown as 2 & 3)
    Ball Side
✓ Play ball handlers outside shoulder
✓ Stay in line between the ball and whoever is on the baseline
✓ Protect the sideline – not the middle
✓ If the ball handler drives sideline, deny and force them back towards half-court and middle
Weak Side
✓ Number 1 responsibility is to cover the weak side of the rim
✓ Read the ball handlers eyes and shoulders and try to deflect / steal skip passes

Badger (Shown as 1)
➢ Protect ball side low post
➢ Cover both corners
✓ Close-out baseline and force them middle
✓ Run shooters off the 3-point line

DEFENDING THE DRIVE
➢ Force all drives middle and create a funnel with the center and taker / wing or center and badger / wing
➢ Once the ball handler picks up the ball and is “dead”
✓ Center will keep pressure on the ball
✓ The other two players will drop down / back to the most dangerous passes in their areas

BASIC ROTATIONS
The basic rotations of our base 1-3-1 coverage are shown below

Teaching Points:
➢ Everyone must:
✓ Be Active with high hands and constant communication
✓ Play with high energy and maximum effort
➢ The taker must keep ball pressure until the ball is outside the volleyball lines or the ball is dead then they are allowed to fall back towards the middle to play the pass
➢ The ball side wing must play above the top of the key – always forcing the ball out of scoring range
➢ The center will play behind anyone who enters the high post area – if the ball is entered – square up and play man to man until the ball is passed out
➢ The back-side wing must have good anticipation
✓ Play the weak side rim but anticipate and jump the skip passes
➢ The badger and backside wing must “sit down” on anyone in the low post
✓ Play in front and sit down on them with high hands
✓ On a pass in, stay down and back the offensive player up until the ball is coming down then make your play on the ball

1-3-1 HALF-COURT ADJUSTMENTS

Adjustment 1
➢ Extended / aggressive on the perimeter and in the gaps
➢ Keep same positions except the center comes out to top of key to deny the high post
➢ Fast paced, aggressive, gambling defense that thrives on deflections

 
 

Adjustment 2
➢ Packed in, strong in the lane, invites perimeter shooting
➢ 4 & 5 both stay in the lane, while 1, 2, & 3 cover entire perimeter
➢ Packed in safe defense that forces outside shots and attacks the boards hard

Adjustment 3
➢ Strong at rim and on perimeter but weak inside
➢ Badger and center switch places so badger plays high post and center plays low
✓ The badger will still cover the corners
✓ The center will stay in the lane playing block to block
➢ The badger will play the high post exactly like the center does in our base zone

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adjustment 4
➢ Change-up defense; start in a 1-3-1 and morph into a 2-3 as the ball enters the corner
➢ Start with base zone alignment / rotations

PLAYING THE 1-3-1 ON BLOB SITUATIONS

Alignment 1

➢ Pinch ball side with center and ball side wing
➢ Badger denies cross court pass and helps cover rim
➢ Back side wing covers weak side rim
➢ Taker plays middle of the floor out – read eyes and shoulders
➢ After ball is inbounded rotate into normal zone coverage

 

Alignment 2

➢ Deny ball side corner with ball side wing
➢ Pinch ball side rim with badger and center
➢ Back side wing plays weak side rim
➢ Taker plays middle of the floor out – read eyes and shoulders
➢ After ball is inbounded rotate into normal zone coverage

 
 

Rebounding from the 1-3-1

Rebounding out of the 1-3-1 is based on covering areas – not people
Sprint to the area you are assigned then box out whoever enters your area
Attack your Area and Get the Ball!

We should ALWAYS have:
1 player on the Shooter
1 Boxing Out Ball Side
2 Boxing Out Backside
1 Crashing Middle

If a shot goes up from the corner we hit the shooter then look to leak out for a fast break opportunity

PRESSING OUT OF THE 1-3-1

Press 1 – Over

➢ Trap from the middle and rotate help from the backside
➢ Do not engage the front person until the ball crosses the ft line
➢ Ball side wing must never let the pass go over their head
➢ Taker still plays middle and forces sideline
➢ Center get to sideline and seal the trap
✓ Goal is to trap dead corner across HC line (not a huge problem if it doesn’t happen)

 

 

 

 

Press 2 – Up

➢ Trap from the sideline and rotate help from the backside or the middle (keep them guessing)
➢ Do not engage the front person until the ball crosses the FT line
➢ Ball side wing stunts and retreats ball handler to make them hesitant
➢ Taker still plays middle and forces sideline

This video is with Coach James Jones of Yale University.

The video is 3 minutes long so you will not get a detailed breakdown of how he coaches a 2-3 zone, but you can pick up a few coaching points that you might be able to apply to your zone defense.

You will need to be on a network that allows you to access You Tube to view the video.

Click the play arrow to view the video.

There is narration with the video, so please make sure that your sound is on.

You can find out more about the Championship Productions video that this clip is from at this link: 2-3 and 1-3-1 Zone Defenses + Zone Offense Sets.

The video with Coach is available in both DVD and online format.

Click the play arrow to start the video.