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Defensive Transition

How much Defence teams play is often constrained by their own levels of fitness, rather than an assessment of the situation. While too little Defence is common, too much Defence can also create problems. 

Sacred Cow “We need to slow the ball handler” 

Observe: When you hear this sacred cow, it is usually right before the opposition gets a scoring run going. 

Problem: This sacred cow in isolation, is dangerous, for the penalty for pressing up on a ball hander, may be the exposure of the rest of the court, giving the ball handler even more freedom to run at your team. 

Origin:  It is likely that the original coaches in our game, often being US football coaches, had a reasonable bias toward preventing rushing yards at all costs. 

The Solution

However in basketball, we have a key point (the basket to defend). We also have to defend this key point from a variety of angles, since passing a basketball is shorter, and therefore faster than in other ball sports. So while the ball handler absorbs our immediate attention, we also have to equally consider the additional passing options. Therefore our Defensive Transition needs to be synchronised to all threats. 

What this means is the opposite of the most obvious. Before we can pressure the ball, we need to secure the secondary options first. This then provides us a foundation that enables our pressure to be incrementally increased. 

A sample system for Defensive Transition may be prioritised to look like this: 

1. Key - Half court defence, our default. 

2. Safe - Half court press defence, our medium pressure option. 

3. Lock - Full court (or 3/4 court press) defence, our full pressure option. 

Note that the code words we have chosen to use are security focussed, they are also short quick single syllable words we can communicate quickly. We do this, so that any of our players can communciate and adjust the volume of pressure. This may be due to their own level of fatigue, or what they have observed in our own setup or that of the opposition. 

An example: The coach, may prepare the team with expecation that a Half Court press is the preference. However our centre notices that the offensive centre is lazy and is not positioning themself correctly to help provide passing options against our press. Our Centre calls 'Lock' and our team instantly executes a full court press. This is where you handover the sideline coaching by delegating to your own players through meticulous prior preparation. 

Conversely, we may be organised in a 'Lock' for a few possessions, and our guy securing the key way, notices our front or second line are cooking their legs. He calls 'Safe' to recover our legs and relax the distance being covered. Failing to provide this flexibility, usually leads to a team getting beat by the offence, before making the adjustment. 

The advantage to make the adjustment before paying the penalty is worth more than the bucket on that possession, it also prevents momentum swinging to the opposition. 

The design of your levels of pressure needs to be switchable. For a junior team, this may mean you are running a 2-2-1 Defence as your Lock, Safe and Key systems, in order that there is no confusion as the pressure is adjusted. For an elite team, you may be able to run three different defences. The complexity is determined by their first being a need and being realistic about the ability of your team to execute without error. 

A situational system for Defensive Transition can now be overlaid: 

1. Missed shots 

2. Made shots 

3. Free throws 

4. Dead balls (and these can be broken up into sub-categories for different locations on the court). 

Any situation that puts your team in Defence, needs to have a plan on how to establish your defensive posture. On all missed shots you may choose 'Key' or 'Safe', while on Made shots or more specifically on made Free Throws only go into a 'Lock'. 

A programmed system can also be overlaid, where you may choose to run a system for the first possession of the quarter, or adjust it on free throws in last two minutes for example. You may choose to use these in order to preserve your maximum energy efforts for the right moments, and to quickly employ them with minimal notice denying the opposition an opportunity to adjust. 

A preconditions system can also be overlaid. Increasing defensive pressure naturally exposes the court. Therefore if a player is not positioned correctly, this severely degrades the effectiveness of the system. Therefore your systems need preconditions. If the basket is not secured, we cannot extend to Safe and Lock. Maybe your system relies on lengthening a pass, due to the speed of the opposition, and the need for your team to react. Therefore if the designated player to frustrate the key passing angles are not positioned, again your backing off your pressure, so the opposition does not have free reign to make a run on your team. These are examples, and they are situational, but they need consideration in the design of your systems dependent on your teams abilities and the attributes of the opposition. Preconditions are non-negotiable prerequisites that need to be established in order for your systems to work. If the preconditions are not set, your players are trained to also recognise these and adjust the defensive pressure to suit. 

Key Teaching Points

1. Design of Defensive Transition needs to provide flexibility in the volume of pressure and therefore the systems need to be switchable. 

2. Delegate Decisions to your players, so that they can recognise situations, including opportunities and risks, and make the calls instantly. 

3. Code words need to be short and snappy, so they can be quickly communicated and are not misunderstood. 

Video Tutorials

Further Reading