Defense Print E-mail
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Written by Coach R   
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
On The Court: Defense


If you are a youth coach, a high school coach, collegiate coach, or even professional coach, one thing I would bet you preach to your kids is “Defense wins Championships”. All basketball players can play defense, no matter how skilled, or quick they are. If you are the quickest kid on the block, you should be able to get all up in the offensive player and cause havoc for him or her. If you are very fleet of foot, a few things you can do is give the offensive player some room, and simply just keep him or her in front of you, and put your hands up for all shots. Again, it does not take Michael Jordan to be able to play defense.

Now the burning question is, what kind of defense is best? I am personally a man to man defensive guy. My teams typically will play 90.0% or more of man to man defense. In my experience, I have witnessed many teams become very lazy and content in their zone defenses. For those of you unfamiliar with what a “zone” defense is, it is basically each person on your team is assigned to an “area” on the floor, as opposed to man to man, where each person is assigned to a “person” on the floor. Now don’t get me wrong, I have seen some incredible zone defenses work with great success, and it really depends what kind of team you are working with, but again, I am more of a man to man guy.  

Man to man is simply five guys(or girls) from your team guarding each and every player from the other team. It’s a simple game I tell the kids- you are responsible for the guy/girls you are guarding, but you are also out there to help your teammates out. Basketball is a team game. If you have a player that simply will guard his/her opponent and no one else that player is doing you no good. We like to call it help defense. Of course the person guarding the ball is responsible for that person, and no one else. And depending on your style, if you are within one pass away, there is many places that defender can be, I like to place them between the man and the ball, in a position where he/she can see both. If you are guarding someone that is more than one pass away, I like to place them on a spot I call “the wall”. The wall to me is an invisible line(or you can actually place the line), in the middle of the lane.  While on the wall, it is important he/she have his/her “pistols” ready. What are pistols? Literally pistols, using their hand. Without turning their head, they should be able to see and point at both the person they are guarding, and wherever the ball is at. Why put a person on the “wall”? If a teammate gets beat, who is going to help? The person on the wall would be a great answer. There are many things the defender there can do. Take a charge, stop the ball, block a shot, fake and go for a steal, etc.  

What are some things that are very important when playing man to man defense? Your stance is very important. When teaching a defensive stance, you need to teach the player that their weight should be on the balls of their feet, and not the heels. Feet should never be any further apart than shoulder length. Knees should always be bent and back as straight as possible. It is important to always keep head up, and eyes looking forward. I teach my players to always be looking at the guy or gal with the ball’s- belly button. That prevents fakes from working successfully. If he/she makes a fake with the ball, or the foot, the defender, if looking in those positions, will probably fall for the  fake.

Now I understand this is just a rough start to being a good defensive coach. The major thing to remember about defense, is you must be tough. You cannot be a good defensive player if you are not tough. It is also very important to communicate. “Ball”, “You”, “Man”, “Shot” are a few terms you will hear when listening to a good defensive player and team. It is always important to stress that when playing defense, your goal is to allow the other team the most difficult shot as possible, or better yet no shot at all.

I hope you learned a bit from this brief recap on playing defensive basketball. If you have any questions, or  comments, or simply would like to discuss more basketball, please feel free to get ahold of me anytime.

Until next time, “D” up! Now the burning question is, what kind of defense is best? I am personally a man to man defensive guy. My teams typically will play 90.0% or more of man to man defense. In my experience, I have witnessed many teams become very lazy and content in their zone defenses. For those of you unfamiliar with what a “zone” defense is, it is basically each person on your team is assigned to an “area” on the floor, as opposed to man to man, where each person is assigned to a “person” on the floor. Now don’t get me wrong, I have seen some incredible zone defenses work with great success, and it really depends what kind of team you are working with, but again, I am more of a man to man guy. 

Man to man is simply five guys(or girls) from your team guarding each and every player from the other team. It’s a simple game I tell the kids- you are responsible for the guy/girls you are guarding, but you are also out there to help your teammates out. Basketball is a team game. If you have a player that simply will guard his/her opponent and no one else that player is doing you no good. We like to call it help defense. Of course the person guarding the ball is responsible for that person, and no one else. And depending on your style, if you are within one pass away, there is many places that defender can be, I like to place them between the man and the ball, in a position where he/she can see both. If you are guarding someone that is more than one pass away, I like to place them on a spot I call “the wall”. The wall to me is an invisible line(or you can actually place the line), in the middle of the lane.  While on the wall, it is important he/she have his/her “pistols” ready. What are pistols? Literally pistols, using their hand. Without turning their head, they should be able to see and point at both the person they are guarding, and wherever the ball is at. Why put a person on the “wall”? If a teammate gets beat, who is going to help? The person on the wall would be a great answer. There are many things the defender there can do. Take a charge, stop the ball, block a shot, fake and go for a steal, etc. 

What are some things that are very important when playing man to man defense? Your stance is very important. When teaching a defensive stance, you need to teach the player that their weight should be on the balls of their feet, and not the heels. Feet should never be any further apart than shoulder length. Knees should always be bent and back as straight as possible. It is important to always keep head up, and eyes looking forward. I teach my players to always be looking at the guy or gal with the ball’s- belly button. That prevents fakes from working successfully. If he/she makes a fake with the ball, or the foot, the defender, if looking in those positions, will probably fall for the  fake.

Now I understand this is just a rough start to being a good defensive coach. The major thing to remember about defense, is you must be tough. You cannot be a good defensive player if you are not tough. It is also very important to communicate. “Ball”, “You”, “Man”, “Shot” are a few terms you will hear when listening to a good defensive player and team. It is always important to stress that when playing defense, your goal is to allow the other team the most difficult shot as possible, or better yet no shot at all.

I hope you learned a bit from this brief recap on playing defensive basketball. If you have any questions, or  comments, or simply would like to discuss more basketball, please feel free to get ahold of me anytime.

Until next time, “D” up!



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