help with defence ,...

orinocho17

hey all sup eh im playin basketball a while now and i was just wonderin if anyone had any defence tips ... cheers ... orinocho

phil

Judging your opponents quickness is the first thing you have to decide when playing D. Play tighter on slower players, give quicker players a bit of respect.

Lateral movement is the key, you need to keep on the balls of your feet at all times, moving side to side. Try to make players go to their weaknesses. If someone is scoring on you inside, take a step back and give them the outside shot. If they're shooting outside, D up tight and make them take it to the hole.

Most importantly, defense (especially at the level you're likely playing at) is a team game. As in any team sport, awareness and communication are key. Talk to your defensive players, let them know if you need help and be aware of when they need to.

Without writing a book on it, if you could improve that (and we all could) you'd be doing well.

Phil.

Liam90

watch some videos of bruce bowen

this year has to be his year for defensive player of the year, he is really under rated

Kinetic^

As phil said, staying on your toes is essential in order to react to what you man does. Don't always let him dictate what's going on either.

Assess your man in the first minute of the game and even in the warmups have a look at anybody you think you might be guarding.
This means finding out the following:
*Left or right handed
*shooter or likes to drive (or if you're really unlucky both )
*fast or slow
*whether he has a quick first step
*How he shoots (does he shoot from the waist up or start from his chest)

When you've got all this covered, then you've to go about guard him. People always tell you to force a person to their week hand. Play your man square up (on your toes of course), if you do this and are on your toes you'll be able to stop him beating him if you can slide well.4

If your man likes to shoot from the waist up then get your hand on his shooting side around his waist area. If he shoots from the chest up just move the hand up. While you might not block the shot, it'll put him off and you'll see his shooting % go down.

If your man likes to drive, then step off him a little but remain square to him. Whatever you do don't reach for the ball, every single coach will tell you NOT to reach for the ball and what do people do everytime they go out on the floor - reach for the damn ball and get called for a foul. If he beats you, try recover as best you can.(i'm not going to get into the whole help defence thing as I'll be hear all night).

In order for you to be a good defender you need to be quick, strong & most of all smart. Ever hear that basketball is 90% smarts and 10% physical, well it's true. You have to be able to read your man's body language. If he's got the ball watch his eyes as he can't go somewhere without looking at where hs wants to go or pass.

Try doing this drill to work on your speed while changing directions. I'll try describe this as simple as possible. Go to the free throw line, face the basket. Step over to the elbow on the right and walk down to the baseline. turn around and face the opposite basket as if you were inbounding the ball.

Ok this is your starting point. All through this you're facing the opposite basket. Sprint up to the free throw line, defensive slide to the right to the other elbow. Then back peddle to the baseline. Step slide to the left to where you started, then step slide back again. Sprint to the free throw again, setp slide left to the elbow and then back peddle to the start.

Its a very small area to work with but it builds speed and works on the muscles to get used to changing direction at speed. Very good drill.

If you've anymore questions just ask

nialo

Keyser Soze 5 wrote:

In order for you to be a good defender you need to be quick, strong & most of all smart. Ever hear that basketball is 90% smarts and 10% physical, well it's true. You have to be able to read your man's body language. If he's got the ball watch his eyes as he can't go somewhere without looking at where hs wants to go or pass.

Not strickly true.. A good offense player reacts and doesnt need to look first. Instinct will carry a good player. Watch a players body language. shoulders and hip movements. if u jst watch there eyes you will get played!

Defensive is all about foot work, balance and control. Skip to increase ur speed balance and foot work. then doing defensive slides and different sprints etc.

If you play a reaction game to offense you will always be behind. predict wat a player may try do then close his/her options. If ur going to be good at defense then u have to control the offensive player. If your not in control then you are automatically at a disadvantage! Play the ball not the man. Difference been they have to decide wat to do with the ball. You just have to control the ball. If you limit wat can happen with it taking away the option you close dont the man.

Vision is another major aspect of defense. Bball is a team game. if u cant play help defense and see what is happening on the court then u will always be reacting to the offense instead of predicting wat will happend and interferring with there play. Know where the ball is at all times. know where ur man is and know ur position on the court.

Dunners

Keyser Soze 5 wrote:

You have to be able to read your man's body language. If he's got the ball watch his eyes as he can't go somewhere without looking at where hs wants to go or pass.

Cannot disagree with that more. A good player can easily make a pass whilst looking in the opposite direction because they read the court as they come down and with good team work know instantly where their players are or are going to be.

The same can be true of a drive. A quick head and eye fake from the ball handler and you'll find yourself sliding one way while they drive the other. When you're playing defence you should be aware of the 'trunk of the body' so to speak. It's almost impossible to fake a move from there as you are committing the weight of your body to move it.

More important than almost everything else with regards to defence though is heart. As an old coach of mine used to say "Defence is 10% skill and 90% sweat". It's about intensity and wanting to stop your man, playing tough, loud defence will go a long way to reducing the effectiveness of the opposition and to raising the spirits of your own side.

I'd agree with almost everything else that has been said here and the things I don't agree with are more down to individual preference. Step off quick players, close down slow ones and most importantly of all EXPLODE on your man the second he picks up his dribble. Far too often I see players leaving space between themselves and their man after he has picked up his dribble, letting him take the easy pass or a less pressurised shot. If your man is dead and still trying to decide if he wants to shoot or pass then get in his face and make him work to do anything else. Alot of players don't know how to react to this and I've seen people stumble back into a travel because a great defensive player has pressured them as soon as they pick up the ball.

Want the ball and as the saying goes, great defence requires great desire!

That's my two cents anyway...