COACH MAC s DEFENSE: THREE QUARTER COURT DEFENSES 2009, Forrest McKinnis All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions No part of this book may b reproduced, stored in a data base or other retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, by any means, including mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher. 2
Table of Contents Five Ways to Build a Defensive Mentality pg 4 Principles of a Sound 2-1-2 Press pg 5 2-1-2 Pressure Defense pg 6 Diamond 1-4 Defense pg 12 2-2-1 Hawk Defense pg 16 2-2-1 Defensive Progression Drills pg 21 3
5 Ways to Build Defensive Mentality 1. Set Defensive Oriented Goals 2. Buying Practice Gear with Defensive Slogans i.e. Defense Wins 3. Locker Room Slogans or Posters 4. Defense First Mentality in Practice 5.Defensive Chalktalks 4
Principles of the 2-1-2 The 2-1-2 Press is extremely hard to dribble through. Front Players can t get split, one person must always be tunneling the ball. Patients is a virtue in this press. Don t force the action, let the offense dictate how you react. Active feet, high hands, and proper close outs are critical in forcing turnovers. On any pass forward or over the top of the pressure all players must sprint back to the key and work from the key out. 5
S2-1-2 Defense Contain, Force, Frazzle 6
1 Basic 2-1-2 Alignment 21 should allow for you to pick your spots in trapping situations and you can determine as a coach whether or not to be aggressive in this defense. Middle passing lanes are taken away in this press. This press is excellent for team with a broad spectrum of athleticism. 2 Contain Coverage X1 forces ball to one side as such an angle to pinch the it with the half court and sideline. X2 anticipates the middle passing lane. X3 fronts the middle initially, then shades toward the ball side. X4 and X5 protect 7
3 If the ball handler tries to speed dribble the sideline, X3 and X1 can trap. X2 tries to split 2 offensive releases as much as possible. We call this position center field. X4 must be close enough to the sideline to discourage any pass down the sideline. X5 takes all middle cutters. 4 On any pass out of the trap, the defense sprints to the nearest player or drops into a zone. We like to show our 1-1-3 look out of this defense. 8
5 If the ball is reversed, you may want to trap with X2 and X3. You can decide if you want to continue to trap out of a reverse or a single trap is all your looking for. This option to continue to trap keeps the defense guessing. 9
6 Force Coverage X1 plays with aggression on the ball, initiating the early pass. If ball is passed forward and/or dribbled up the court, X2 has to hustle back to get in front of the deep man. 7 The trapping area of the force coverage happens in the frontcourt or deeper in the trapping area. X 3 initiates the trap with X4. X5 stays in the middle as long as possible then shadows the ball side corner. 10
8 Frazzle Coverage X1 is very active, teasing the offensive by attacking and then retreating. On the short pass X1 and X3 get into possession to trap. X2 cover middle looking to steal. 11
DIAMOND 1-4 Defense 12
1 DIAMOND 1-4 Defense This is a great defense for picking up anywhere on the floor. Keep offenses at bay. Change into this defense to throw the offensive rhythm off. It creates a fundamental defensive triangle for ultimate basket and rebounding position. 2 When the ball comes across the half court line, X1 stays with the ball while X2 defends the high middle position. Ball side defender moves up to trap with X1. 13
3 If pass is made from the point to the wing, the top defender will drop to cover the high middle area. The trappers are the ball side wing position and the initial high middle defender. 4 If the ball is dribbled to the side or passed and then advanced the trap comes from the point defender and the ball side wing defender. The rest of the team rotates to cover any player who is one pass away. 14
5 Occasionally the ball will be passed into the deep corner, if this happens continue to trap it with the hoop defender and the ball side wing. The high middle defender then drops down and the off side wing will become the hoop defender. 15
2-2-1 Hawk Defense 16
1 Hawk 2-2-1 Pressure This pressure is excellent when attempting to dictate tempo whether it be speeding up or slowing down the offense. Use this pressure when wanting to make your opponent have to spend valuable practice time preparing for it. 2 We will deny the inbound pass most of the time out of this defense. At times we will allow them to catch the inbound pass first then trap. However you decide it is important to make the offense catch the ball below the free throw line. 17
3 After ball is caught in the right position, the ball defender should close out properly with high hands looking to force sideline and tip any pass over the top. Offside guard will take short middle, ball side forward will cover the sideline, and the offside forward will take long middle. The back defender is the goalie. 4 The only pass we will allow in this pressure series is the ball reversal backwards. No pass should be advanced up the floor without pressure. With the reversal pass in the backcourt the position are reversed from diagram 3. Closing out and a good defensive stance become very important on the reversal. 18
5 If the ball is penetrated up the sideline, the ball side forward must be ready to trap the basketball with the on ball defender. Again, everything is being done to tunnel the ball into the trapping area at half court and eliminating any pass into the middle of the floor. 6 If the ball is passed out of the trap as in diagram 6, the only pass we will allow is the pass backwards. 19
7 We will trap in multiple areas of the floor and multiple times. You can decide if this is a good strategy for your team. We find this applies constant pressure on the offense which leads to turnovers and points on our end. In this diagram the ball has been reversed by a pass backward and then advanced on the dribble where we trapped after crossing half court. 20
Hawk Drills 21
1 One on One Drill work is essential to building the basic skill set for the 2-2-1 press. X1 is the defender and has the ball to begin the drill. Break your team into two groups. X1 throws the ball to the offensive person on the baseline and closes out to the dribbler. Closing out is an essential skill. 2 The offensive player attempts to beat the defender in this one on one drill. The defender is responsible for channeling the offense down the sideline. The sideline is a trapping zone for the 2-2 -1 and it is critical to have defenders in the frontline who can channel. 22
3 This drill is a continuation of drill #2. Only the offense should use any means possible to beat the defender down the floor. If the defender gets beat he stops and gives us 10 push-ups. The next group goes once the first group gets to half court. 4 I love 2 on 2 drill work for it builds the fundamentals of rotating. The defender will close on the offender who can either dribble the ball up the floor or pass across to their teammate. To begin with there can be no more then 3 dribbles before a pass is made to begin the rotation. 23
5 We use four players now to teach onball and middle defensive positions. Drill starts with defender guarding onball passing to offensive player and closing out. Offense should try to attack the middle. Defense should force down the sideline. 6 If ball is dribbled down the sideline the defense should herd into a trap at half court. If ball is reversed all defenders should react back to their responsibilities. The process continues down the floor and will progress with each trip. Before long you should be playing 4 on 4 full court. 24