Basketball Game Situation
Senior 3 · Physical Education
Basketball Game Situation
Lesson 2 of 3
25 min
A good individual defender can slow down one attacker. A good team defence makes every attacker feel that two defenders are waiting. The secret is position: each defender adjusts every time the ball moves, so that help is always one step away. In Senior 2 you met man-to-man and zone defence; here you refine help defence, learn three ways to defend a pick-and-roll, and practise boxing out and pressing.
Definition
On-ball defender: the defender guarding the player with the ball.
Deny: a defender one pass away puts a hand and foot in the passing lane to stop an easy pass.
Help side: the half of the court away from the ball. Defenders two passes away sag towards the split line, the imaginary line from basket to basket, to help.
Closeout: sprinting from a help position to a player who has just received the ball, finishing with short steps and a hand up.
Box out: turning and making contact with an opponent to keep him away from a rebound.
Figure: man-to-man positions with the ball on the right wing. When the ball is passed, every defender moves at once to the new on-ball, deny or help position.
| Method | What the defenders do | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Switch | The two defenders swap attackers | A mismatch: a small defender on a tall screener |
| Hedge (show) | The screener's defender steps out to stop the ball-handler, then sprints back to the screener | A quick pass to the rolling screener |
| Drop | The screener's defender drops back to protect the basket; the ball-handler's defender fights over the screen | An open mid-range or 3-point shot |
Box out in three words: find your opponent as the shot goes up, hit him with your back and forearms close to your body, then get the ball with two hands. In transition, sprint back, stop the ball first, then find your own attacker.
A full-court zone press with two players near the opponents' baseline, two near the halfway line and one deep. It makes the ball-handler dribble towards the sideline, then two defenders trap him. Under FIBA rules a team must bring the ball into its frontcourt within 8 seconds, so a press can force a violation.
A defender has a legal guarding position when he faces his opponent with both feet on the floor. If he has it first and the attacker runs into his torso, the attacker commits the foul (a charge); if the defender is still moving into the attacker's path, it is a blocking foul. A defender standing inside the no-charge semi-circle (1.25 m from the basket) cannot draw a charge from a player driving to the basket in the air. Every defender keeps the right to the space straight above him (verticality), so jumping straight up with arms vertical is legal.
Video: "Man Defense Principle - Help Side", Upward Sports. Watch how the help-side defenders move each time the ball is passed, and compare their positions with the diagram.
Worked example
Worked example: did the defence improve? A good measure of defence is the opponents' points per possession. In the first half, opponents score 30 points in 36 possessions; in the second half, after switching to help defence, 22 points in 34 possessions.
Tip
Talk on defence. Call "Ball!" when you guard the ball, "Help left!" or "Help right!" when you are the help, and "Screen left!" to warn a teammate. A silent defence is a beaten defence.
Warning
Common mistakes and safety. Reaching in with the hands instead of moving the feet gives away fouls. Sliding under a player who is in the air is dangerous and is now usually judged a flagrant foul. Box out with your back and forearms, never by pushing with your hands.
Practice
Remember
Sources and credits
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
