Playing Zone or Man to Man Defense

Posted by Eitel in For Coaches, For Parents | 1 comment

The other day I read a nice article on Coach Enbom’s Blog about his thoughts on playing zone defense in youth teams. Among coaches there are different opinions about whether playing a zone defense at this age makes sense, when coaching young teams, say age 16 and under.

What comes to mind at first, when you hear about a zone defense is, that five players line up in the paint and try to defend it from their opponent. Here in Germany playing the zone is prohibited by the federation until players move to the 18U league.

How to stress Defense to your team

Posted by Eitel in For Coaches, For Parents, For Players, Motivation & Health | 0 comments

Nowadays, defense becomes more and more emphasized, compared to offense. Playing outstanding defense enables your team to basically rule basketball games. However, the problem is how to keep, or maintain, the aggressiveness of players in playing defense. Coaches take this a challenge and makes necessary interventions to help their players in being consistent with defending the opponent.

In connection to this, these are the following things to consider to help you stress out the necessity of defense for your team:

8 Ways for Teaching your players to play Defense

Posted by Eitel in For Coaches, For Players | 0 comments

NBA players call it D … the key to winning championships. Defense is the ability of a player to seize his opponent from getting and taking the ball to the basket. This is an excellent basketball skill that all players must learn. Optimum physical conditioning and strengthening are two major key to develop a strong and effective body built. In playing basketball, there will be lots of banging of the players’ bodies. You have to be equipped with a strong body to endure the heavy demands of the competition.

What is the importance of teaching your players how to execute proper defense? A player cannot just stand in front of a ball handler and expect to get that ball. It is not going to be that easy. Defense is a skill that needs to be practiced. Constant practice and execution of defensive drills help a player master the skill of defense. Oftentimes, coaches spend time with players, individually, to stress out special points in attaining a good defensive move.

Attributes of a great Defensive Player

Posted by Eitel in For Players | 0 comments

Every player has to have the attributes for the position that they are playing. For those of you who want to be defensive players, we have what it takes for you. Keep reading as we help you to be the great defensive player you were meant to be.

The first thing that you must possess in terms of defensive playing is that you have to be able to pass the ball. Remember how your mom always taught you to share? Remember how the coach tells you that there is no, I when you spell the word team? That is what you need to remember. As being defensive is knowing when you are cornered and asking for help on the court.

Tips on playing Defense correctly

Posted by Eitel in For Coaches | 1 comment

Defense is a very important and occasionally overlooked component of the game. It doesn’t have the glory of scoring points, or magnificent showboating slam dunks, but it does make or break a game. What people do not realize is that without defense, the game would essentially be a boring back and forth scoring festival where you know exactly where the points would be. With a defence involved you really never know what is going to happen next.

Conditioning is one of the first elements that a defensive player should work and work hard on. Playing defense at the start of the game is one thing, but being in good enough shape to play that same defense by the end of the game makes the difference between good and great players. Things like proper diet, aerobics and light weight training will go a very long way in extending your endurance and providing you with the battery life that you’ll require!

Knowing yourself goes a long way. While every player has strengths and works on them to keep them in tip top shape, it takes a unique and special player to identify and admit their weak points, and work on those. Weak points will never improve unless you work on them. If you find yourself winded as the game goes on, aerobics and cardio are going to be a focal point for you.

Variety is another weapon of the team defence. If your team always plays the same defense, opposing teams will identify it and find ways to easily beat it and score. Where adding in new formations, switching player’s to different positions and just shaking things up will go a very long way in keeping an offense guessing as to what you are up to.

When you are defending a player one of the most underutilized tools are a player’s hands. Get those hands up when a shot is being made as the slightest touch can alter a balls trajectory and send it just enough off course to cause a shot to miss, or even cause the ball to come into your team’s possession.

Listen to your teammates and listen often. Communication is crucial with teammates, and they will often tell you the information that you need to know, even if you can’t see it. They will be your eyes, so trust them! Also on the sidelines be open and talk with your teammates, someone may have noticed something about the other teams tendencies that may give your team the upper hand, and without communication would just go unnoticed.

One final point to help hone your defensive game and help improve it is the use of fakes. While players on offense frequently fake, players on defense do not utilize fakes as often as they should. Faking an offensive player can force him to make an unplanned move and can cause the offensive plan to go out the window. This can cause mistakes and miscommunication and open a window for the defence to get the ball!

Photo credit: brookenovak