Chapter 2 - Fundamentals Of Modern Defense

The fundamentals of offensive basketball can be listed by all coaches. High school players can list them. They have been enumerated and well defined for a long period of time. If coaches were asked to list the fundamentals of defense, they would all give different answers. Defensive fundamentals are rather vague and nebulous. Required skills vary from team to team and from coach to coach. Surely it is time we accepted a given list of fundamentals so that they may be defined and taught in a more precise and exact manner.

We are going to list eight defensive fundamentals. They are not necessarily the only ones and this is not necessarily the only way defensive fundamentals could be listed. Still, we are going to approach them in a positive manner because no accepted list of defensive fundamentals can be found. If each basketball coach begins to think about breaking defensive play down into the various fundamentals, we will certainly come up with an accepted set of fundamentals more quickly.

1. Defensive Break

Before defense can be played at all, the players must get to the defensive end of the floor in time to stop an offensive penetration. If the defensive break is lackadaisical, offensive players will penetrate the critical shooting area before an effective defensive stance or any effective defensive play can be adopted.

Defense starts as soon as you lose ball possession. The very first task is to get down court as though the house were on fire and you have to get there to put it out. After getting there, and in keeping with this same fundamental, penetration with the ball must be stopped before it reaches the critical shooting area. The man guarding the ball handler must do this job well while all other defensive players attempt to prevent their opponents from receiving in the critical shooting area.

No matter how fast a team breaks to the offensive end of the floor, its break to the defensive end should be faster. Line your players up for a 94-foot wind sprint some day and tell them afterwards that it is the speed to use while running the defensive break. The team that expends all of its energy and stamina on the offensive break will rarely have enough stamina left to get back in time for defensive play. If you are an offensive fast-break ball club, remember to run the defensive fast break, too.

2. Stance

The defensive basketball stance has been taught rather well for a number of years. The classic stance is with bent knees, wide base, staggered foot position, one arm high and one arm low. The footwork has been likened to that of the boxer since the shuffle step is used. That is, the feet slide from side to side and forward and backward without ever crossing. The eyes are glued on the midsection, belt buckle, or chest of the opponent being guarded—under the assumption that the defensive player will thus be less vulnerable to fakes.

To this classic description we will add only a few comments. We have come to call the defensive basketball stance the "quarter eagle." We use the term quarter eagle because once the stance is taught, it saves us the time of reviewing all of its features each time we discuss it. Our idea of the quarter eagle (which varies from the traditional method) is to have the higher hand as near the line of vision of the opponent as possible, and waving. We like to have the low hand cupped, with the palm facing the opponent in position to create deflections of a possible bounce pass. We want the back foot of the staggered stance to be determined by the greatest offensive threat; that is, if the opponent's most direct route to the basket is over your left foot, then that foot should be back. We operate on the theory that one can move more quickly in the direction of the back foot, since it can be moved more readily than the front foot.

The defensive player should use his offensive skill to fake with foot, head, arms, and eyes. He can fake a slap at the ball, he can fake a sag, he can fake an overplay—and in general use nearly as much deception as he would normally use on offense. Use of the arms is not exploited. A waving, moving hand is distracting to the offensive player. Most defensive players handicap themselves by not waving their front hand and blocking the offensive player's vision adequately.

3.   Guarding the Man With the Ball

The man with the ball should always feel pressure, no matter how much sag or float the other team members use. Do not allow the ball handler to move about unrestrictedly any time in your front court. Some coaches refer to this as "pointing" the defense, the point always being where the ball is located.

When guarding the ball handler, the first thing to determine is whether he has dribbled or not. If he has not dribbled, and if the ball handler is not in the critical shooting area, give yourself at least a one-step cushion in which to retreat. If your man has dribbled, swarm all over him, arms waving and yelling. Talking and yelling at your opponent can prove very distracting to him. It is a most ethical and useful practice, which most defensive players fail to use.

Do not play directly between your man and the goal. This statement will violate most classical precepts of good defensive position. From any position on the floor, a player with the ball will have a most direct route to the basket. The defensive player should overplay slightly in the direction of that most direct route. If a player can dribble in only one direction, overplay slightly toward his strong hand.

During this era of the jump shot, defensive players are getting more and more in the habit of leaving their feet on fake jumps. Some coaches do not expect jump shots to be blocked and ask their players never to leave their feet. We have adopted the policy of having our players wait until they are sure the opponent's feet are off the floor before jumping. True, they will not actually block many jump shots that way. Still, they will bother and harass the shooters without the danger of leaving the feet too soon, thereby giving up two sure points via the lay-up.

3a. Guarding the Dribbler

Defending against the dribbler depends entirely on where he is located on the playing floor. If he is in the back court it is permissible to harrass him but never to foul him. The professional leagues think a back court foul is so stupid that they award three shots for one. A dribbler should be picked up as soon as he enters your front court. Do not allow the dribbler to go where he wants to go. It might be a cue for their offense. If he wants to dribble into the right guard spot—make him go into the left guard position. If he wants drive into the pivot area, make him go into a corner. Herd him where you want him to go. Do not allow him to go where he wants to go.

Overplay his strong hand. Left-handers are famous for weak dribbling with their right hands. When you get a left hander make him prove he can go with his right hand. Right- handers usually develop a little better with the left hand, but they are still often more skilled with their "natural" hands. Why let them use their favorite? To force this issue, play about half a man on the side of the strong hand. Don't let him drive you over screens. Anytime you are being forced backward keep your low hand behind you feeling for screens.
The quickest, easiest two points in basketball come out of what we have come to designate as the base line drive. The drive is usually started about where offensive forwards line up for a single post offense. The lay-up angle is good. The drive can be made with a minimum of one dribble. If the dribbler gets by his man, there is no one in position to pick him up. Consequently, it is necessary to practice guarding the base line as a separate and distinct part of practice against dribblers. The back foot should be the one nearest the base line. The defensive man should be on the leg of the offensive player that is nearest the base line. The defensive man should be on the leg of the offensive player that is nearest the base line.

V- Force the opponent to make his poorest move. Do not let him have his best move. Few high school and college players can go each way effectively. Few can drive as well as they can set. Basically, most players are drivers or setters. That is, they prefer to set shoot or drive for the lay-up or jump. Try to figure your opponent early. If he is a setter play him tightly and harass him all the time.  If he is a driver, give yourself a little more cushion.

4. Guarding the Man Without the Ball

Defending against the man who doesn't have the ball is quite different from defense of the ball handler. It is the same in one important way: the stance is the same. Far too many players drop off and relax when their man gets rid of the ball. They are thus vulnerable to the old give and go. They are vulnerable to cuts, to fakes, to reverse pivots, and a myriad of other offensive moves if they do not stay low in the good stance we described. Rarely will you find a team of players who keeps the good stance as a five-man unit. It is one of the trademarks of good defense to see every single defensive man low whether his man has the ball or not.

The first move is to retreat when your man gets rid of the ball and keep the same stance. To retreat cuts down on the chances of the offensive give and go working on you. It lessens the hazard of cuts and break-offs of screens. It gives you a better opportunity to feel for screens before screens can pick you. It allows you to anticipate your opponent's next move. Once your opponent turns the ball loose, the cupped low hand should be used to feel for screens. The good defensive player will not get picked, even by a dead screen. Good team work and warning by team members helps and should occur. Do not allow your players to depend on that warning. They can make their own warning by using that free hand. The other hand should be up for possible deflections and to remind the defensive player to keep his eyes on his man. If possible, he may watch the ball out of the corner of his eye through the use of split vision, but his primary visual contact is focused on his man. Never, never lose sight of your man. It is the worst defensive sin a player can commit. A smart offensive player will whip you every time you take your eyes off him.

4a. Guarding the Cutter

Teams that employ pattern offenses will use more cutters than otherwise. Preparedness is nine-tenths of success in defending against such teams. The same cuts are used over and over. Such teams should have their cutters forced into routes they do not want to run. While they may be prepared for just such an eventuality, they will usually not be as strong on such secondary routes as they are on the major routes.

The greatest danger to the defender is getting rubbed off on a dead screen or a set screen that the cutters brush by. Feel for screens so that you may go over the top of such screens wherever possible. If the screen is too tight and the cut is well executed, go behind the screen and pick up your man as he comes off the dead set screen. You are running the risk of having him stop behind the screen for receipt of a pass and subsequent shot. Still, that is better than getting picked and watching your man go for a lay-up. If he is forced into a route he doesn't want to run in the first place all this trouble is eliminated.

Overplay the cut. If a man is cutting into the post or pivot area—beat him to his destination. If he wants to cut down the base line to a point directly under the basket— be there when he arrives and do not let him receive at that crucial point of the floor. Make him go in a direction that he doesn't want to go. Do not give the offensive player freedom of movement. Break his rhythm. Interrupt his pace and timing. Pressure him into unaccustomed moves. Make him lose his poise every time you can. An offensive player that has lost poise has lost his effectiveness.

Post cuts from the guard posts are very difficult to defend. Such cuts have been working for baskets since Dutch Dehn-ert and his teammates of the original Celtics started using the old pivot criss-cross. The post man with the ball is free to shoot, fake, hand-off, or delay and pass under the goal to one of the cutters. Go over the top every time it is possible. When it is not possible, go behind the post man. Do not switch on this play. The roll-out resulting in a little guard on a big post man under the goal is poor percentage play. That, of course, is better than nothing, but the very best percentages on this play result from sliding defensive play with the cutter keeping his man and the post man keeping his opponent.

While you are primarily responsible for one man, do not waste yourself if he stands idly in one place and "dogs" it. Keep your primary vision on him and co-operate with your teammates in every way by warning of screens, helping with the offensive post man, double teaming, and picking up loose cutters.

While each man-for-man team will operate on the principle that there will be no loose cutters or free dribblers, these things do happen. If so, what do you do? Do you let them go and say, that is not my man? To pick up a free dribbler or cutter who has eluded one of your teammates opens you up to the possibility that your own man will score. Surely it is better to take that chance rather than to allow free cutters and dribblers to go in unmolested and score on a sure lay-up. Always play the percentages. Give a man a set before a jump. Give him a jump before a lay-up. Give him his weakest move before his strongest move. Use good common sense. If your man scores while you are helping with a team member's man, the coach will understand and make allowances for that fact.

You can busy yourself with interceptions if your man "dogs" it. Keep the arms in a state of readiness. Keep the legs low and flexed so you can move quickly for lazy floating passes. Any floating pass belongs to any player who can get it, offensive or defensive. Do not try for sharp, quick passes unless they are thrown almost in your face. By being alert while your man is out of action, you may get an interception that is worth one and one-third points or a deflection that is worth the same amount if you deflect it to a teammate. Keep accurate statistics on interceptions and deflections. A team with a high number of deflections is usually a good defensive team. If the rate is low, you are not getting your full defensive potential.

5. Defending Against Offensive Pivot Play

Every team member is required to play defensive pivot— not just the post men. Versatile patterns will evolve so that each offensive man plays each offensive position. This means that the defensive men must become versatile, too. A guard cannot simply learn to defend the guard area or the forwards the forward area. Each man must be able to cope with his man no matter where he goes. One of the most trying positions to defend is the play of an offensive man in the pivotal area, the A zone area or the key hole.

A man who receives the ball in the key hole and who has the advantage of a dribble with a one-on-one situation has a great advantage. So the first step is an attempt to keep your man from receiving in this critical area. If the offensive man stations himself underneath the goal, play in front of him or face-guard him. If he plays high at the free throw line, you must play behind or on his side, according to the location of the ball. If he plays on the side of the key approximately halfway to the free throw line, get on the side that is most open for pass receiving. Never trail a cutter into the pivot area. If he is moving in that direction, beat him there so you can prevent the pass completion.

If your man does get the ball in the critical pivot area without having dribbled, make up your mind that he has the advantage but that you are not going to give him a lay-up or an unrestricted shot. First of all, you might get help. This is a good time for team members whose opponents are dogging it to help by sagging and pinching the man with the ball in that area. Do not leave your feet on a fake pumping motion. Square away on your man and crowd him slightly so that you can keep a hand in front of his vision and the basket, don't let him raise you up or straighten your legs for his subsequent drive. Force him to take the longer of the two shot possibilities, the jump shot. It is harder to make than a lay-up and that is precisely what he will get if you raise up. If he is foolish enough to bounce the ball once and stop, you are back on the advantage side of the ledger. Crowd and work your arms vigorously to prevent a shot at such close range.

If your man is predominantly left- or right-handed, play so that you can take advantage of this knowledge. It is possible to get a charging foul called on him.

6. Defensive Switching

It is rare in today's game of basketball that a team can be found that doesn't switch in some circumstances. Patterns, double and triple screens, dead screens, and many other offensive tricks cause defensive players to lose their man at times. If this happens and a teammate picks up his man even momentarily, these two players have performed a switch even if their coach claims they absolutely do not switch. Some teams switch only when forced to by such an emergency. Some teams switch every time two offensive players cross. Some switch when players cross where the ball is involved.

No matter what your procedure or belief, be sure your men understand it. A vague description of switching and when to use it will be a big help to the offensive team. It will cause consternation and confusion on the part of the defensive team. Uncertainty will cause them to perform their best skills poorly.

If you switch, there are two possible procedures open. Switch every time two offensive men cross or switch on special situations spelled out by the coach. Here is one definition. SWITCH ON ALL SCISSORS ACTION BY TWO OFFENSIVE PLAYERS (OTHER THAN POST CUTS) WHERE THE BALL is involved. Such a procedure will require many switches that are not necessary. The theory being that if switches are going to be essential in emergency situations, you might as well switch all the time to develop the habit and perfect the skill. Such a team would slide on scissors action by two or more offensive players where the ball is not involved. They would slide on post cuts.

Switches that lose offensive ground are detrimental. A good switch is aggressive. It will cause you to push the offense farther from the goal. It will not allow the offensive men to push closer and closer to the goal.

To switch, the two men involved grab each other and shove each other hard toward their new men so that there will be no doubt about the fact that the switch is occurring. The switch may be called. However, calling or switching on signal is dangerous on nights when there is great crowd noise. If your situations for switching have been well defined, calling it is not necessary.

Don't leave room for alibis in your switching system. Don't leave room for shifting of blame. Double teaming situations occur more frequently where switches are used. Be sure the defensive men know when you want them to take such a chance.

Two situations will arise where the switch is in great danger: they are the dead screen and roll-for-basket and the set shot over a stationary screen.

When the dead screen works—the defensive player was unable to feel the screen until too late, both defensive men must reconcile themselves to the fact that they are going to have to cope with a bad situation as best they can. If they give up, the offense is surely going to score. If they fight the situation hard, they might survive after all. The switch will occur when the man guarding the screener picks up the cutter or dribbler. This leaves the other defensive man to pick up an offensive man who is already closer to the goal than he is. He will actually be trailing him to the goal and thereby violating the old precept of never allowing your man between you and the goal. While trailing him to the goal, he can minimize the danger by raising his arms and hands high over the man's head to deflect the potential lob pass if it comes. Such a pass is quite hard to make and even harder to catch so the danger is really not as great as the position of the defensive man would seem to indicate.

The set shot over a stationary screen requires one defensive man to break around a stacked player line-up of four men, two offensive and two defensive. This danger can be lessened by simply telling the man nearest the ball to come around on the side nearest the baseline. If the other man, the stationary screener, breaks for goal the other defensive man must pick him up. If the ball handler drives opposite the direction of the defensive man who is coming around after him, the other defensive man picks him up and the aggressive defensive man must trail if the other offensive man breaks for goal.

Good aggressive switching presents basketball players with an opportunity to prove their courage. Quite often they will be charged if they stand their ground fearlessly. If they flinch or turn sideways to hook the offensive man, they will be fouling. A little head-on drill to determine just what players will step in front of a moving offensive player and those that will not is not a bad policy. Forwards get this opportunity more than any other player by switching aggressively on guard-forward exchanges.

Where switches occur, a switch-back will usually be necessary. This is necessitated by the fact that a tall forward will wind up guarding a fast little guard and vice versa. When this happens each man must determine to guard his man even at a disadvantage until there is ample opportunity to switch back. The switch-back should start with the man nearest the goal. He can tell when the danger is least and call it. He can stay with the most dangerous man—the one nearest goal—until his teammate arrives, at which time he moves outside to pick up the least dangerous of the two offensive men.

7. Sliding

Sliding on all criss-cross maneuvers is much simpler than switching. It also eliminates the possibility of alibis. The idea being to keep your man no matter what he does or where he goes. If he goes in the balcony, the man assigned to him goes with him and expects and gets no help from anybody with his defensive chore. Of course, it would be foolish to allow an open man to score if he should get free. Off-side sag men should take a chance and pick up free cutters and drivers just as they would while using the switch system. Even so, sliding teams try to condition their defensive men to the idea that they shouldn't require or expect help from a teammate.

Coach Adolph Rupp—"Mr. Basketball" of all time— uses the sliding system . At the University of Kentucky, he teaches men to pick up their opponents as soon as they cross center line. Once an offensive player gets into his front court he is literally faced with a clawing wildcat for the rest of the time he remains in that area being defended by the University of Kentucky.

Of course, the secret to running a sliding defense properly is to be able to whip dead screens, criss-cross maneuvers and double screens.

On criss-cross maneuvers, the man guarding the ball handler is given priority. He will go over the top of the other offensive player if possible. If that is not possible, he will slide just behind him so that he stays as close to his man as is possible.

To beat dead screens the defensive man in sliding systems must be more alert and use the hands to feel for screens. It is more necessary than ever to talk and warn each other of screens before they occur. Again, the rule is to go over the top every time it is possible. When it is not possible, the defensive man will go around the screen and pick his man up on the other side. He is thus open to a quick stop and shot behind the screen. Therefore, going behind is the least desirable of the two possibilities.

Sliding teams are able to double-team opponents on crisscross maneuvers where the two offensive players are not in rather good scoring positions. The man who is not guarding the ball handler should initiate this move. If he feels that his man is not a threat at the moment and the entire play is some distance from the critical shooting area, it is a good time to double-team.

When executing the slide, use the hands. Use the hands on teammates to help them slide through and use your own hands to help yourself get through tight situations. Overplaying the dribbler and good execution of the other fundamentals will lessen the danger of sliding.

There are few, if any teams in the country that switch on post cuts. Teams that switch promiscuously, will slide on that particular play. So—teams that slide on all maneuvers will enjoy a little advantage on post cuts. Since they normally slide anyway, this very tough maneuver to defend will not present them with anything particularly new. Most teams slide on cuts where the ball is not involved. These teams feel they may as well slide all the time.

8.  Block Out for Rebounding

The block out after a shot is listed here as a distinct defensive fundamental.  In this modern day of basketball when any good high school or college player will be able to list the virtues of good position for rebounding, few of them execute this fundamental consistently. It is a fundamental skill professional teams look for in college prospects. It is a skill college coaches look for in high school prospects. It is a fundamental talked about a lot and executed well only rarely.

The block out must be performed by every defensive player—not just the man guarding the shooter. Each offensive player must find his route to the goal blockaded. Team block-out positions will make rebounding very simple. A small man may slip in for a wide rebound. Your team will get more of those lucky rebounds simply because no matter which side of the goal the ball comes off on you have a man here in position.

The block out can be performed in one of several ways. Some coaches teach a cross step after determing which route the offensive player is going to take. Some teach a reverse pivot from a retreat position near the goal. Our belief is that on certain cuts by an offensive player the cross step will take him out more effectively. On other offensive moves the retreat and reverse pivot will handle him better. The good basketball player should be able to use either technique to his own best advantage, according to what the offensive man does.

Once the block-out man has his body between the offensive player and the board, he should move in for the rebound using short, shuffling steps. Short, wide steps make him broader and harder to run around. Short, wide steps enable him to side step quickly if it becomes necessary to readjust his position on the offensive re-bounder .

Big men must be blocked out farther from the goal. They might be blocked off and still rebound over the shoulders of smaller opponents near the goal. Small men need not be kept quite as far from the goal.  The idea is simply to beat them to the goal while maintaining at least a body screen on them. The big boys, however, must be kept well away from the boards.

These fundamentals of defense should be well known to each defensive player. Some coaches will break defensive play down into fewer categories. Others will make the list longer. Playing the man without the ball and playing the cutter might be considered two separate fundamentals. Some coaches might not consider the defensive break a fundamental. Some may consider defensive faking as a separate fundamental. The most important thing is to break defensive play into fundamentals and teach them separately and distinctly the way you teach your offensive fundamentals.

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