Defenses in basketball can be complex but they all stem form basic principles. This presentation was given at the FIBA COACHES CLINIC: LEVEL ONE MODULE II in Windhoek, Namibia

1. Defensive Fundamentals: Man to
Man Defense

2. Understanding man to man defense
• Every defense will have man to man principles.
Most zone concepts will derive from man to man
defenses.
• No penetration, be it dribble penetration or
baseline.
• No open looks; defenders must close out on
opponents with ball.
• Help-side; one pass or two passes away there is
always help on screens, cuts and denying the
pass.

3. Defensive Stance
• Everything begins with a good defensive stance.
• A players feet should be slightly wider than shoulder width apart
with knees bent and legs flexed.
• The entire foot is on the ground with the weight equally distributed
onto the balls of the feet.
• The player is in a sitting position with the upper body leaning
slightly forward and back remaining straight. Shoulders are square
to the offensive player.
• Arms are bent, hands extended outside the knees with palms up.
• The player’s head is up centered in the stance and slightly over their
feet.
• Eyes are focused on the midsection (waist) or chest of the offensive
player.

4. Understanding Man to Man

5. Defensive stance contd.

6. Defensive Footwork
• In order to contain an offensive player with great one-on-one
defense, every player must be able to execute a proper defensive
slide.
• A proper defensive slide starts with a good defensive stance.
• The proper way to move when guarding the dribbler is to step and
push off.
• This accomplished by stepping sideways with the lead foot (the foot
closest to the direction in which the player wants to go) then
pushing off with the trail foot to catch up.
• When stepping and sliding, it is very important that the defender
does not cross their feet, or bring their feet together.
• While stepping and sliding, the defensive player should remain
under control and avoid galloping.

7. Defensive Zig Zag Drill
• Check out this video with Coach Lenny
Wilkens on the defensive zig zag drill.
• Coach Wilkens covers key points on footwork
and the importance of staying in front of your
man.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR2j7fcq
G7M

8. On the ball defense
• We want defensive pressure on the ball at all times. This will
cause offensive turnovers and give outside shooters difficulty
getting the shot off.
• Over-guard toward the offensive player's strong side. If your
man is right-handed, over-guard that side and make him/her
go left.
• Keep the palm of your lead hand facing up. Try to get at the
ball from below, not by slapping down it, which results in a
foul. Your other hand should be in the passing lane.
• Slide with your opponent, and try to get him/her to stop the
dribble, and then close in and apply pressure.

9. On the ball defense contd.
• Don't "reach-in".
• This causes you to lose your balance and
defensive stance, and you become easy for the
offensive player to get around.
• Don't get into the bad habit of reaching-in and
taking a swipe at the ball as the offensive player
dribbles around you.
• Instead move your feet, hustle, stay with your
man, and prevent him/her from getting to the
basket by maintaining good on-ball defensive
stance.

10. Lockdown Defense
• Kobe Bryant is one of the best defenders in
the NBA and the game of basketball.
• Here you see him locking down Dwayne Wade
from one end of the floor to the other and
forcing Wade to make a turnover.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iou1L27ty
ZI

11. Close-out
• Defenders must learn to "close-out" on the player with the
ball.
• Once the offensive player receives the pass, the defender
should rush toward the ball-handler in a low stance. The last
several steps should be quick, choppy steps to stop your
momentum (so the defender doesn't dribble around you).
• Your baseline line foot should be back in order to force the
ball-handler toward the baseline.
• As you approach the ball-handler, snap your shoulders and
head back to help slow yourself down.
• Close-out with the inside hand high in order to contest the
outside shot, and the outside hand low to prevent a cross-
over dribble into the middle.

12. Close Out Drill
• The close out is a skill that’s key in defense but
even more so for perimeter defenders.
• Here is Andre Iguodala on how to close out
and some keys on stopping your opponent
from getting any good looks.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL_g2whg
WeE

13. Off the ball defense
Denial:
• When guarding an offensive player who is one pass away from the
ball, you should be denying the ball, clogging the passing lane.
• Denying your man the ball, keeps him/her from scoring. Play the
passing lane and stay between the player you're guarding and the
ball.
• Place your foot and hand nearest the ball slightly forward, and
turn the palm of your hand toward the ball, so that you can reject
any incoming passes.
• Be in a position to see both your player and the ball. If the ball-
handler stops the dribble, you have a "dead ball situation" and
everyone should close in on their man, in "full-denial".

14. Off the ball defense contd.
• In "full-denial", the
defensive players
should be "on the line".
• If your man is a long
distance, or two passes
away from the ball-
handler, you can play a
little "up the line“.

15. Off the ball defense contd.

16. Contesting, Denial, Help-side
• Duke Men’s Basketball is known for their great
team play especially on defense.
• They manage to do this because each player plays
sound defense individually, allowing them to play
stronger as a unit. Here is a drill they use to stress
the 6 points of contesting:
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A2eiJXp4RU

17. Off the ball defense contd.
Help-side:
• When your opponent is two or more passes from the ball, you
should be in "help-side" position. This will allow you to be in
position to help your teammates against the ball penetrating
the paint.
• This involves dropping off your man some (but without losing
sight of him/her), and sagging toward the ball-side. Be ready
to help defend against another player driving or cutting to the
hoop, and "help" your teammate who may have gotten beat.
• Once the ball comes back to within one pass from your
player, you get back into deny position. If the ball is skip-
passed to your player, you quickly close-out and play "on-
ball".

18. Off the ball defense contd.

19. Defending Cuts
• Another important aspect is to deny the pass to a
cutter moving through the lane. Here the defender
must try to keep between his man and the ball,
denying the pass.
• One technique the defender can use is to "bump the
cutter" off his/her intended pathway by getting
position and riding the cutter away from the basket.
"Bumping" may not be a good term as it may imply
"hitting" the cutter, or something "dirty".
• Rather, it means getting inside position on the cutter,
or at least an arm in front in the passing lane, much
like the ½ or ¾ fronting of a post player.

20. Defensive Shell Drill
• The ever famous shell drill. This is one of the
best drills for teaching team defense.
• Take a look as Coach Greg Lansing’s Indiana
State performs the drill:
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LYbXOw6
Osc

21. Defending Screens
Help and Recover or Hedging:
• When hedging a screen the
screener's defender comes out
to impede the ball-handler's
progress forcing the ball-handler
to take a few retreat steps.
• This allows the original defender
to recover on the check and the
screener's defender can recover
back to his original defender.

22. Defending Screens
• You could simply switch ball screens, especially if no
size or quickness advantage is given up. The screened
defender could slide under, or slide through the screen
(between the screener and the screener's defender).
• But you may give up an open three-point shot, as the
ball-handler may shoot the outside shot, rather than
dribbling around the screen. This is not a problem if
the ball-handler is outside his/her shooting range.

23. Trapping
• In trapping, one defender should first stop the dribbler, often
along the sideline or baseline, or in one of the "trapping
zones“. Trapping zones are those areas where the offensive
player definitely does not want to get caught losing his
dribble. It's like getting caught in a corner.
• Once the ball is stopped, the second defender sprints over
and double-teams the ball carrier. They obscure the ball-
handler's view, and get into the passing lane.
• The position of their hands should be at the same height as
the ball. If the offensive player holds the ball high to "throw
over the top", the hands should be high. If the ball is low, the
hands should be low to prevent the bounce pass..

24. Trapping contd.

25. Taking the Charge
• Footwork. Make sure your players have 2 feet firmly planted and that they
don't shuffle their feet before or after contact. This will result in a blocking foul
instead, exactly the opposite of what we want to accomplish.
• No fear, you must not be afraid of contact. Yes, it will hurt, and it's not a
glamorous thing, to be knocked down. But someone on your team must be
willing to take one to the body.
• Fall straight back onto your butt, again it's not a charge if you squirm or fall
sideways or hit shoulder to shoulder. You must take a solid hit into the chest
and fall straight down onto your butt.
• Anticipate, like basic M2M principles, if you are taking a charge from the
weakside, you must be watching the ball and anticipate the dribblers move. If
you are taking a charge on your defender, you must anticipate when they make
their move to the basket and get there before the dribbler.

26. Taking the Charge
• Taking a charge can be a game changer or swing
momentum when your team needs it most.
• Shane Battier of the NBA is not only a excellent
defender but is one of the best charge takers in
the league. Check out what he has to show you
about taking the charge:
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv4l0KInMN
M

27. Defending the out of bounds play
• First, defend the basket for the inbounds pass. We position
the ball defender such that our opponent cannot make a
direct pass to the basket from out of bounds.
• Second, switch all up screens. Many successful out-of-bounds
plays have a screen-the-screener action. At least one of those
screens comes from the baseline up.
• We switch all the screens that originate from the baseline.
This helps us defend multiple screens and defend the basket.
• It also helps us accomplish one of our basic defensive
principles where we like to keep our post defenders in the
post and our perimeter defenders on the perimeter.