50 Tips On Beating Pressure

By Shane Dreiling

TeamArete

General Principles:

1. Execute the fundamentals well—dribbling, passing catching, etc.  Also, take only good shots.
2. Be in great physical condition, particularly versus man-to-man pressure.
3. If a mistake is made, forget it.  Never allow one mistake to lead to two…three…or more.
4. The press usually wants you to rush and play a fast tempo game.
5. Don’t panic and fire the first 20 footer; apply a little surgery by remaining cool and patient.
6. Whenever full-court pressure is applied on a large court, each defender will be called upon to cover a larger area.  Take advantage of this.
7. Don’t be forced to the corners; they are perfect trap areas.
8. Every offensive player must see the ball.
9. Three essential looks—ahead, before you pass, before you dribble.
10. Bust out to meet passes.  Turn aggressively upcourt, protecting the ball.  See the entire picture.
11. Keep the ball in the middle.  You can go to either side of the court with the next pass.
12. Always try to have three outlet passes.
13. Aggressive, pressure defenses tend to foul more than passive types, but never depend on the official’s whistle, especially on the road.
14. Sharpen up your foul-shooting to assure a high percentage.

Setting Up Versus a Full-Court Press:

15. Begin your attack from one basic formation; it will enable you to see what the defense does.
16. There’s time to walk and a time to run.
17. Fifteen seconds can be forever in the backcourt—5 seconds to inbound and 10 additional seconds to bring the ball across the centerline.  Women have 30 seconds to shoot after inbounding the ball; thus they have no backcourt.
18. Whenever the opposition scores don’t rush to pick the ball up.  The five-second court begins once you have the ball out of bounds in a position to make the first pass.  Give your teammates a chance to organize and get to their spots quickly.
19. Don’t take the ball out directly under the basket.  The backboard will become another defensive player if you look to make a high, long pass.
20. Spread your offense as much as possible to make the defense cover a great deal of the court.
21. Determine whether the press is man-to-man or zone by sending a player through on a cut.  A man press stays with the cutter, zones usually do not.
22. Once the ball is inbounded, (a) look up the sideline for an open man, (b) to the middle for a flash post, (C) back for a trailing man.  Dribble if the outlets upcourt are covered.

Guards:

23. Must set the tempo by showing confidence (never getting flustered).
24. Try to have your best ball-handlers (usually the guards) handle the ball as often as possible.
25. Guards must look to score, but must be aware of backcourt responsibilities on a turnover or a missed shot.
26. Break down court, then button-hook back as release points.
27. When flashing to meet a pass, start from behind the defenders, making it difficult for them to see you and the ball at the same time.
28. Don’t leave the ball-handler stranded.  Come as near to the ball as necessary.  Keep the hands high, catch the ball, and turn upcourt.
29. Use the tallest player as a post; he makes the best target.

Passing:

30. This is the quickest way to move the ball against a press.
31.  Make your passes short and snappy, 12 to 15 feet.  Avoid lob passes.
32. After passing, step toward the receiver.  Don’t run away.

Dribbling:

33. Dribble as far as the defense will allow.  Avoid double-teams by passing before the trap is set.
34. Don’t back your way upcourt; you’ll make yourself easy to double-team and you’ll lose sight of potential receivers.
35. Teammates must warn the dribbler of any defender attacking him from the rear.
36. It’s smart to follow the dribbler and be available for an outlet pass.
37. Beware of the sidelines and baselines when dribbling; they become defensive players.
38. Don’t cross with the ball; whenever two defensive players are brought together, they can easily double-team.

Forecourt Attack:

39. Don’t let the press throw off your normal offense once you get the ball to the forecourt.
40. Look to score; don’t lose momentum by becoming too cautious.
41. Scorers should be placed in the most desirable areas.
42. Press is vulnerable to lay-ups and short jump shots.  Be patient; try to work the ball to an open player.
43. Teams whose primary defense is the press usually don’t play their secondary defense as well.

Pressure Checklist:

44. Do we know our alignment?
45. Are we in condition to be pressed for 40 minutes?
46. Have we prepared for every defense?
47. Can we be patient?
48. Do we have an offense that we can easily go into once the press is broken?
49. Have we practiced against pressure every day, even to the point of putting more than five defensive players on the court?
50. Have we practiced under game conditions whenever possible (time, score, officials, noisy gym)?