Defensive Pressure: It's All In Your Head

Lately I've been reading bits and pieces of "Stuff Good Players Should Know" by Dick Devenzio. It's a great book and I would encourage you all to get it. This is especially true if you are a coach who really strives to be a teacher of the game. As a preview, you can read some of the notes from an old blog post by Eric Musselman.

One of the things that Coach Devenzio talks about in his book is the idea that defensive pressure in basketball is only an illusion. Think about what a novel concept that really is! How many times have you seen players (and even coaches) panic when a team presses, traps, or just plays hard pressure man? It happens all the time and costs teams victories on a regular basis.

So what is pressure in basketball? It's not like football where pressure can mean bodily injury. It's more of a mindset that leads the team being pressured to panic. If you don't panic however, now what? You will find that good teams relax when they are pressured. When you relax you are able to see more clearly and actually put the team that is pressuring at a disadvantage by playing smart, principled basketball.

It's easy enough to preach to our players that they need to handle pressure, but we know talking a good game means nothing. How do you teach it then!? I was blessed this spring to work with a great group of athletes out at St. Croix Prep High School in Stillwater (MN). Our main focus for the development sessions focused on basketball IQ and understanding the game. They play in a conference and a section with teams that love to trap and pressure so we decided that we would spend some time teaching them how to handle that pressure. The following is what worked for us as we increased their ability to handle pressure.

• Sold the Idea that Pressure is a Myth
• This may have been the biggest, and hardest piece. They need to understand that pressure doesn't matter. We even went as simple as having a defender pressure them while they just stood there. This made them realize that the defender wasn't going to do anything to them - they were just waving their hands, not swords. Once they got used to the idea that being pressured wasn't going to result in loss of limb or life, the rest was much easier. They started to relax and see the action much better.
• The more comfortable they are with pressure (the less scared) the less pressure affects their ability to make decisions. 
• In order to be comfortable they need to experience pressure over and over again for this to happen. It's like riding a roller coaster, the first time might be scary but by the second or third ride it isn't nearly as bad. So we had them ride the roller coaster quite often during our session and experience hta tpressure.

•  Taught Them How to Handle Pressure
• As always, it's important to teach the game. 
• What we did was showed them basic concepts to use when being pressured:
• Backcut when denied
• Cut at two speeds in two directions to get open
• Don't make the same cut to get open each time
• GO-GO: get open or get out
• Take your space on the catch - DO NOT go backwards
• When you catch against pressure, take a tep forward, rip through hard, and take your space. 
• Makes it easier to pivot and pass as well as see the floor
• This might be the most important one.
• Eyes up
• Pivot hard and rip hard with big elbows\
• Don't hold the ball above your head
• Stay low and strong
• Rip to the hip
• Rip below the knees and above the head, not across the belly button
• Take a deep breath and slow down
• Take a five second call over a live ball turnover - just be patient

• Drills should be a progression where you learn the technique first and then do it under pressure.  
• For example, you work on catching and ripping
•  After learning technique drills should simulate game situations
• After technique, drills should incorporate more pressure than you see in games with pieces such as extra defenders. 

• Drilled Them on Technique
• Used a number of simple drills to teach the mechanics of how to handle pressure. 
• Staying low, ripping and pivoting, taking space, etc. 

• Let Them Learn in Small Sided Games
• If you have not read Brian McCormick yet, do so now. He is huge on small sided teaching games and he is onto something, they work!
• Small sided games are games of 1 on 1, 2 on 2, 3 on 3, or 4 on 4 that emphasize the skill you are working on while still playing.
• So in the game you would emphasize being strong with the ball in this case. 
• Small sided games are great teaching tools because they put players in game like situations and allows players to teach themselves through experience.
• You can create rules to overload the small sided game to make it harder than a real game. 
• Example - 2 on 2 no dribble allows the defense to pressure and deny harder than in a game, also no dribbling forces players to be strong with the ball. 

• 1 on 1, 2 on 2, 3 on 3, or even 4 on 4 allows players more touches than a typical 5 on 5 game. 
• Small sided games allow players to apply the skill in a game situation and work on truly learning the skill in a trial and error environment. 

 Drills and Progressions

The following is an example of a drill progression that we use to teach toughness with the ball. I believe in progressions because in my experience (although limited) progressions yield a better understanding of the skill. Players learn to apply it faster as opposed to just drilling it. For me a progression starts with a skeleton drill (no defense) to work on the technical aspects of the skill, then we add defense to a drill, then we make the drill game like, and then we play a small sided game. Sometimes the last two steps are blended into 1. Also, as the year goes on we spend less time with the drill and more time on small sided games.

As always, it's not what drill you do it's how you do it and what you  teach and emphasize within the drill.

Rip Throughs (Skeleton drill)This may be the most boring drill, but I always tell the players that if they go hard that we will do the drill for 2-3 minutes tops. If they don't go hard we will do it all day.

Players move out around the floor, spin the ball out, catch it with two hands and two feet. Right as they catch they rip forward to take their space. Then they rip 3-4 more times hard with big elbows. They should rip to the hip. As they rip the ball should go below their knees or above their head. Once they are done they spin out and repeat.

Boss Drill (With defense)
Now we add some defense to the situation. In this drill you partner up with one ball. The defense starts with the ball about 2 feet from the offense. The defense throws the ball to the offense and comes up and really gets into them - hacking at the ball, pressuring them body to body,  and slapping their arms to try and force them to lose the ball. The offense can't dribble and rips through hard with big elbows and tries to keep the defender off for 5 rip and pivots. Make sure we are emphasizing proper footwork in this drill. Players don't try to hurt each other, but the drill should be overly aggressive with no fouls - making it harder than the game. If you can keep the ball against this type of pressure, whatever you get in a game. Unless, of course, it's on the road and the coaches brother is the official! Even then you have prepared for the situation with this drill.

2 on 2 10 Pass Drill (With defense and closer to a game)
In this drill we now introduce something else to worry about outside of being strong with the ball. In this drill we add passing and moving to the equation. The drills has one ball with groups of four - 2 defense and 2 offense.


The offense has an entire 1/2 court (or 1/4 if you want to make it harder) to move around and they have to successfully complete 10 passes in a row. The offense cannot dribble or shoot. This means the defense pressures really close on the ball and denies the players off the ball hard. If they dribble or turn it over they have 10 pushups. If they successfully complete 10 passes the defense has 10 pushups. Defense and offense switch each time. This drill is great because again it puts your playres in a situation that is harder than a game, the offense now has to work harder to get open, make better passes, and still be strong with the ball on the catch while being mauled.

3 on 3 (or 4 on 4) No Dribble
Now we add in the small sided game. Players play 3 on 3 and try to score but cannot dribble the ball. Again, this creates a situation that is harder than the game.  Also another rule for the game is that if they are not strong with the ball it's an automatic turnover. It is an automatic turnover if a player catches and doesn't rip forward to take space take space, if they don't rip and pivot, if they hold the ball over their head, or if they don't rip to the hip. On a turnover the offense goes out and a the defense goes to offense.

Play the game to a set number of points or for a set time. You can also play it cutthroat style with 3-4 teams on one court. There is a dribble allowance if the player catches the ball cutting to the hoop and has to take a dribble to finish the layup (either that or you get some crazy - no game like shots).

As you can see, this is where the learning takes place. It's easy for players to remember to use the skill in a drill where that's all they have to focus on, but now they have to handle defensive pressure, other players cutting and moving, trying to score, trying to make passes, etc. If they can remember to be strong with the ball here they are going to have a better chance of doing it in a game. There is a much higher probability of carry over because in small sided games they are building habits.

Pressure Resources

Most of my drills I have gotten from other coaches but below are a couple of resources that I have found very helpful for teaching how to handle pressure.

•  Developing Basketball Intelligence by Brian McCormick (e-book)
• Eliminating Turnovers in Your Half Court Offense by Mike Heideman (DVD)
• No longer on Syskos, but a good one if you can find it

• Team Tougheners by Lance Randall (DVD)

 In Closing

 Handling pressure is much more mental than physical. I've seen 5-5, spindly, weak players handle pressure better than 6-6 wings who weigh 230. It's more about training their minds to do the little things (take space, big elbows, rip and pivot) than it is training their bodies. Hopefully the ideas above, although a little jumbled, will help you work with your players on better handling pressure. The more you can do drills and games that make it harder than the real game, the better your players will be. Lastly, teaching in a progression such as the one above is the very best way for players to learn how to be tough with the ball.

 

Thinking Beyond the Box and 1: The Stick and Three Defense

Story Behind the Stick & Three

During my one year at South Tama County High School we had to be a little bit creative in order to compete. We had to do some outside the box thinking in order to give us a chance. We had a great group of guys, but we were not tall and did not have great foot speed. To top it off we were a small AAA school (second biggest class) playing in a big AAA conference where at one point four the the eight teams were ranked in the Top Ten in Iowa!


One night we had to go against the number one rated team at the time, Norwalk. Norwalk was 6-8, 6-6, 6-3, 6-3, and had a 6-2 point guard. Our tallest starter was only 6-2!! They were big, fast, strong, and just plain good, but relied heavily on their three studs. The point guard scored 20+ a game, the 6-6 player was a D2 player, the 6-8 kid ended up at division 1 Drake. How were we going to compete against those guys?! Well we knew their point guard was kind of the key, he could score and get others points when he drove the ball. We also knew they played a lot of high low and wanted to go into their bigs. Another key piece of information was their other players were not scorers, they defended and passed to their big three. With that information there was only one defense that really fit what we were looking for - the stick and three.

I had picked up the Stick and Three when talking with Marshalltown Community College Coach Brynjar Brynjarsson. He talked about using it against some of the local community college teams that had 3 great studs and a bunch of guys who didn't want to score. The strategy seemed perfect for Norwalk.

Although we didn't beat Norwalk, and ended up losing by about 15, the Stick and Three actually kept us competitive in the game. We were down six points with the ball in the fourth quarter. We played well offensively, but it was the defense that gave them the most fits. It disrupted what they wanted to do, as a matter of fact, one of their role players traveled on the first play because he caught  the ball, looked to pass right away, realized NO ONE was close to him and tried to stop passing. Having two players in the lane at all times, and fronting both of their bigs allowed us to keep the ball out of the high and low post - which was a big part of their game. It also allowed us to deny their point guard all over the floor with several of our players - holding him to six points for the game. Without the defense I think the score may have been even farther apart than what it was.

Basics of the Defense

The defense is actually very simple. You match up on three players and you leave the other two guys in the lane - usually high and low post. The guys in the lane prevent post entries, drives, back cuts, basket cuts, etc.

If a player you are guarding  1 on 1 is a post player, you front him at all times. You don't have to worry about the lob because you have two guys in the lane.

If a player is a perimeter you go belly to belly and deny him all over the floor. Forget help, forget anything else, you lock onto your man and don't let him touch the ball.

The diagram below shows the basic set up of the Stick and Three. As you can see, three guys are locked onto their man while the other two are zoned up on the inside.

The players defending the studs man to man are locked in, post is being fronted and the perimeters are being denied. Notice that the players who are not the three studs are not being guarded at all.

The guys on the inside do NOT leave the lane to cover the other 2 unless you instruct them to do so. They do shade to that side in case the player not being guarded wants to drive. That way they don't have to rotate, don't have to shift, just sit. On a middle drive the top takes it. On a baseline drive the bottom steps up and the top drops down - fairly easy rotation.

As a change up you could have one of your stick players trap the ball if a star gets a hold of it.

Downfalls of the Defense

Some of the downfalls when playing this defense are:
1. Can't play it if they have a fourth shooter.
      *If they have another guy who comes in and can pull you'll have to make a decision to either  
        switch off  of a post player and let the two in the middle take him, or get out of the defense.
        Because of the nature of leaving the other guys WIDE open a shooter will kill you.

2. Easy passes are always available to the guys you don't guard are always open for a pass out. If you play this defense you are not trying to force the tempo. It does give the offense time to work.

3. Rebounding can be hard at first. We struggled a little bit because we fronted the bigs and they just turned and had easy layups on the offensive rebound. The key is to make your two find a big and box them out.

In Conclusion

 This defense isn't something that should be your base, but I do think it's a great one to have in special occasions where it fits. It is something not a lot of teams see, or are ready for. It's more of a defense that you use to surprise your opponent and keep them out of their flow as we did. I was also blessed with guys who worked really hard and made the defense look good. Our undersized players battled to front their bigs and deny their point guard - without players who are willing to work the defense will be terrible because the studs will get their catches. Anyway, hopefully it's something you can put in your back pocket to help you win a game or two down the road.

Using the Stack to Add a Dimension to the 1-4 High

As you know, I am a huge fan of things that are simple yet effective. As a high school program we don't have unlimited time to teach fifty different sets and counters. So when there is something that gives the few sets we run an added dimension I jump at it!

The 1-4 high look is popular to run sets out of because you open up the inside of the defense and it allows you to get some great looks. At times though, the number of things you can do are limited, especially if you don't run sets that involve many steps. Today I was reading about the stack offense and it hit me - why not use the stack as an entry into 1-4 high sets? It's  a simple way to add another wrinkle to what you are doing. It's also something simple that can confuse the defense. It is good for getting you a few simple looks before you get into your main offense. If it were me, I would use 2-4 quick hitting stacks and have them be a part of the play call. If your 1-4 high set is called 14, then give the stack a color. So you could run Blue 14 or Red 14 and it would give you a little bit different look.

Even more effective would be using the stack as a starting look to get into all offensive formations if you run sets or base offense out of several different formations. You could use the stack as a disguise to camouflage the set you are getting into because you could run the same stack action into a 1-4 set one time and a box set the next. These types of quick changes also make you a little bit harder to scout.

Below I have drawn up several different ideas on how to use the stack look to get into your 1-4 high sets. Hopefully it gets you thinking and inspires you to come up with your own entries.

Quick
Quick is just a simple way to get you into your 1-4 high. Start with your  posts on the bottom, wings on top. Wings L cut up and the posts flash up. You are right into your offense.

 Quick Dribble
This is kind of a counter to the quick look. Defenses will start to overplay the L-cut out. So the counter is to dribble at the cutter and have them back cut to the rim. If you don't get the back cut, the backcutter (3) replaces the point (1) and we swing the ball to him and are into our 1-4 offense.

If you wanted to get really creative with it, you could even add an "America's Play" type look where the posts elevator screen the cutter back to the top. 

Quick Cross
If teams start to really overplay the wing to the point of beating them to the spot you could run a look like quick cross. On the cross, both wings come up to the elbow appearing that they are going to cut out as normal. Instead of cutting out however, they cross to opposite sides with one of the wings (coaches decision) receiving a double screen from the other wing and the post. The screening wing then flairs to the open wing and we are into our 1-4.

 Quick Backscreen
Again, another counter for the aggressive teams. Do the dribble over but instead of just backcutting, the wing gets a backscreen from the post on that side. The other post and wing clear and it should be an easy lay up. Can run this right into a sideline PnR too and clearn the cutting wing to the backside corner.

Quick Iso
If you are blessed with a stud and want to iso him, easy way to do it out of this is to have him start at the point, dribble to the wing, and look for the iso as players fill in. If he can't drive to the rim then he reverses to the filling point and we are in the offense. Works great if your stud is your wing because he gets an early iso and is in position.

Beat the Sag
It's always frustrating to play a PACK team because they sag off so much and clog the lane. We all know a great way to beat the sag is with the skip. So this could be a counter against the sagging team. Run what appears to be your iso play, but the backside post stays home. The PG skips the ball forcing a fast close out which we can drive to the middle on. At the same time the backside post has stepped in, sealed his man who was over sagging, and now has excellent position for a quick dump down.

Shooter One

This is a simple set play you could run for your shooter. Make it look like you are running your iso look dribbling to the shooter's side. The shooter runs out to the corner through an elevator screen and looks for the skip. If not there the backside wing fills the post, the shooter fills the backside wing, posts fill up, and we are into our offense. 



 Wing Cross Downscreen
To get the traditional stack downscreen out of this look you could cross your wings, have them duck under the bigs (easier if the bigs step up a little bit), and come off a pin down screen to the wings. Then the bigs pop off the screens and you are into it.

 Shooter Two
Simple look for your shooter. The shooter (3) cuts across, through the stack and up to the wing off the elevator screen. Everyone separates and we are into our 1-4 look.

 Post Iso
As coaches we are always looking for ways to get paint touches. This is a very simple way to accomplish that. Again, you are running your Iso look but instead of everyone popping, the ballside post cross screens and flashes high post for a high-low look.

 If nothing is there, swing to the top, post pops, and we are in our 1-4 look.

In Conclusion
As I wrote this article I realized that it might be even better to use the stack to start your offense if you ran offense out of multiple looks. Run these looks into your 4 out motion as well as your 1-4 high offense. That way it really works to conceal what you are doing - are you going motion or sets? Are you going to your box sets or your Princeton offense?

Either way you look at it, I think starting in something like the stack allows you to better conceal what you are doing because to the opponent (maybe not so much coaches but players for sure) it all looks and starts the same. It's going to make you harder to scout and harder to prepare for. Hopefully this gets you thinking about how you can use the stack to conceal your offense.

Using Social Media to Enhance Your Program

At times social media can be a thorn in the side of coaches. It is a forum for people to question the program, the team, and you personally. It can provide more fuel for problems between teammates to boil over and it can be yet another way for players to insert their foot into their mouth. So many coaches hate social media and with good reason.

The problem is that social media is not going anywhere and we can't stop it. As much as we would like to we cannot ban players from Facebook and Twitter, it just isn't feasible or realistic for us to try. You can bury your head in the sand to escape but it's not going to help. So why not embrace it as a tool? In the right hands Facebook and Twitter can be a great asset for your program. It can help to brand your program as well as communicate effectively with your parents and players.

Using Twitter
More and more coaches and programs are jumping on Twitter and for good reason. With Twitter you can really brand your program by what you put out there.You have the ability to control the perception of your program through what you post. Chances are your parents, players, fans, opposing coaches, and community members will follow you to keep up on what you are doing. The information you put out there is going to make a huge difference in how the world views you - for better or worse.

Twitter also allows you to communicate directly with your players and parents. You can post open gym dates and times, changes to schedules, camps, articles, motivational quotes/stories/thoughts, websites,  basically any information you want your players to see. It also allows you to promote the achievements of your players in season and in the offseason. You can also use it to show your personality as a coach. Many coaches with strong program communication use twitter as an additional resource.

Twitter can also help you to link past to present. Any good program acknowledges it's traditions. Having a twitter account allows your alumni to see what and how you are doing, comment on your season (positives hopefully), comment on their positive experiences with your program, as well as share updates on their lives - from scoring 20 in a college game to having their first child. It's a great way to make your program the kind of program that spans the generations. 

If you have some questions about using twitter for your program, I would recommend following these Minnesota coaches to see how they utilize it. There are a bunch more I could list, just pulled the first number I saw.
@IslanderHoopsDT
@SPABBALL
@CoachMMac
@Bisonhoops
@RosevilleHoops
@AHAHoops
@PackerFastBreak
@coachrath
@huskyhoops
@TonkaHoops

Facebook
Having a team Facebook page can be a great way to keep in contact with your players. It's important to keep the team page private and only accessible to the players. That way you can keep it all in house. We did this at St. Croix Prep and it works really well for them. Coach Liesener posts videos, notes, scouting reports, game keys, schedules, schedule changes, bus times, motivational readings, workouts, etc on the site. It also allows the players to communicate with the coaches and with each other. The benefit is that most kids live on Facebook so they know immediately when something is posted. It also gives them a venue to talk about the team and even vent at times. But it's better to talk about frustrations where only the team can see it.  
 
Blogs
Along with twitter, blogs are a great way to keep families up to date. I used one the summer I was at South Tama and it was a great way to keep everyone posted on what was going on with the program. There is a limit to what you can put up there, but for posting schedules, notices, and such it is great. It's also a great place to put your game reports, newspaper reports, motivational pieces, etc for your players to read.  If you can get them to check it daily it becomes a great way to send a message to them!

Social Media Cautions
Of course, with all the good you have the bad, below are a few quick things to avoid. You might laugh, but I've seen these things happen and it's not pretty.
1. Don't let your frustrations with your team, a player, or a parent out on social media.
2. Don't get into an argument with a player, fan, or parent.
3. Keep team issues in house and not on social media.
4. Don't gloat and give others bulletin board material. 

These are three easy things to do, but at times we do forget.


Hopefully you've all already embraced social media and don't need this article. But for those of you that haven't started yet - you need to get on the bus!

Blowing Up the Sideline Pick and Roll

Tony Barone of the Memphis Grizzlies spoke about Pick and Roll defense at the Nike Clinic in Wisconsin Dells. The thing that stuck out the most for me was how he defended the side pick and roll - when the ball is one the wing and driven middle. Below is the explanation of how he did it:

When the pick is being set, the player guarding the screener drops to the ballside block. The player defending the dribbler gets above the screen and forces the ball to the baseline.

Look at what that does to the pick and roll! Dropping the screener's defender to the block eliminates the slip and the roll. With the ball being forced that way the ball has to be driven into the help with the screener's defender already waiting. The ONLY thing you would give up is a screener pop to the middle - but even then the other help should be there. Even a pick and pop to the corner would be defendable with the screener's defender seeing the pop and closing out.

This is definitely a strategy that I will use next year when defending the pick and roll!

Key to Offense - Getting to the Elbow

I was lucky enough to attend the Nike Basketball Clinic in Wisconsin Dells. Outside of having to go to Wisconsin, it was a great clinic with plenty of outstanding speakers. Even though I would rather listen to small college and high school coaches, these guys were really good. I got to hear some great coaches with some outstanding ideas that we can use at our level.

The biggest thing I picked up was how many coaches emphasized getting the ball to the elbow. Every speaker who talked offense made it a priority. We had coaches who talked about Dribble Drive, pick and roll, even the Princeton Offense, and every single one put an emphasis on getting the ball to that elbow. This emphasis dovetails with what I learned this year using our 4 out motion offense - we had a lot of success when we got the ball there with the post and drive. It will continue to be an emphasis of ours next year as well.

With the dribble drive and the pick and roll, the drive was used to attack the elbow. In the Princeton offense, the post flashing high on the entry was the way to get the ball there. Even Coach Knight, who talked off ball screening, talked about getting the ball to the elbow. It seems to be a priority wherever you looked.

How do you use the high post in your offense? Do you use it enough?

Book Review: Season of Life

On a recommendation from Coach Rathmann of Blake High School I picked up Season of Life this weekend. I am only halfway through the read, but I wanted to put it on here as soon as I could The book, written by Jeffrey Mark, follows a season with Reverend Joe Ehrmann (former Baltimore Colts linebacker) and the high school football team that he is an assistant coach for.

The book isn't about Xs and Os, it's about how to, and the importance of, building strong young men. Young men who will go on to be successful fathers, husbands, workers, and friends. The book discusses in part how the coaches at Gilman High School in Maryland.

The biggest thing this book does for me is to reaffirm my belief that the job of the coach is to build people, not just teams. Help players to move on to be successful after the ball stops bouncing. As coaches if we are not building good people we are failing miserably, no matter how many games we win. It's also something that I am going to be going over this summer and trying to understand how I can be better in this area of coaching.