A Team Defensive Philosophy
By Jim Harrick
University of Georgia Head Coach
Courtesy of www.coachharrick.com
Zone Principles
In the 2-3 match-up zone defense we constantly stress that
it is a zone with man principles. Someone is always on the man with the ball, tracing the ball with good
pressure, and guarding against dribble penetration. In our man-to-man defense, you could almost stress we must have
zone principles. “Zoning Off” is the same as weak side defense. Polish your
rotations and clearly define individual rebounding responsibilities.
Pressure Ball Up Court
Effective man defense starts with good solid man-to-man
pressure in the backcourt. Attempt to turn the basketball at least once in the backcourt. Make the offensive player aware of your presence. Point the ball away from best wing player, or toward ball handler’s weak hand. Don’t reach or gamble. Keep your head on balance and play with your feet.
Deny Wing Entry
Have your perimeter players get up and deny all entry passes
to the wing. You should not allow any opponent to make an entry pass in the operational area. This takes a team away from what they want
to do. If you have the personnel, you should make an opponent beat you one-on-one. One-on-one basketball over 40 minutes can’t beat most teams.
Front All Post Ups
Many coaches attempt to wrap-around, step thru, and cover down on the post. All three have their
positives and negatives, however given the personnel; a total front of the post player if very effective. We start
(high side) and as the ball goes to the wing, we step thru using the slip technique and then front post. As the
ball rotates back up top, slide behind the offensive post player—staying between your man and basket. If you try
to come back over the top, a good post player will seal you off and create an effective lob situation.
Switching
Switching all screen aways will allow us to stay in position
defensively as well as break the rhythm of the offensive team. By making it difficult to reverse the ball,
offense tends to go stagnant as the ball remains on one side of the floor.
Switch and Deny
It is important that whenever a switch occurs, whether down, across, or away, we must deny one pass away from the ball and put great
pressure on the passer. This allows time for any defender that is out of position to correctly adjust while your
overall team defense to stay solid.
Check Points
Having checkpoints, gives us all a defensive focus. Our players will have a purpose when playing
on the ball defense. They will also have a specific job to accomplish each and every time their man has the
ball. Coaches create their own checkpoints based on their personnel.
- Pressure
dribbler up court—steer him to check point.
- Deny
entry pass to wing—get the ball out of operational area.
- Switch
screen downs and aways—must talk!
- Deny
ball reversal—keep the ball on one side of the court.
- Deny
everything one pass away-be on guard for backdoors.
- Front
all posts.
- Great
weak side help—in zone or man defense!
Tempo
Extending your defense will automatically increase the tempo
of the game. If you want to add minimal
pressure, put in a “one and done” or “containment” press. The Wooden 2-2-1 zone press is often thought
of as a containment press. It’s primary objective was to invite the offense to gamble rather than the defense. If you would like to have at least one trap in your zone press, look at the 1-2-1-1 or 1-2-2 zone presses. If tempo is the name of your game, look to
stay in your full court press even at the ¾ and ½ court positions. Have your team practice this press all over
the floor so they are comfortable with their rotations. Pressing will open
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