Finish Strong!

I have been focusing on work, my team, and placed a tremendous emphasis on my thesis the last couple of weeks (the big reason I have not posted anything lately). Late nights on the computer writing and researching have become the norm. Our first game was on Sunday which was my scout, so needless to say I have been watching a lot of film too. Sleep has become almost a non-entity. I see my wife for a few brief moments. Working in the admissions office has become a chore. I have questioned whether its all worth it.

I am not the only one going through this thought process. Some of my players, and more than likely some of your players, are going through it too. School, family, basketball, their social life, etc... create conflicts to which those players are going to ask themselves, "Is it worth it?"

We're all human that way. I don't care who you are, you have asked yourself this question at some point in your life.

I was sent an email from the mother of one of the players on our women's team that answered the question for me with an absolute resounding "YES!" The following video on Nick Vujicic was attached:



After watching even this short clip, I knew it was all worth it. I may be knocked down with less-than-enough hours in the day. I may be tired. I may feel frustrated. BUT, I will always get back up in order to reach my goals. Like my mom often tells me, "It is only temporary insanity."

That is something I shared with my team and this video. No matter what, you've got to get up. "Look at the physical gifts you've been given. Look at how God has given you the ability to do something you love at a high level. Now take a look at Nick Vujicic who hasn't been blessed with your attributes and abilities. If his attitude and determination were combined with your abilities, would anyone be able to stop you?"

Must Haves for Full Court Man-to-Man Pressure Defense

A large portion of the success of our system depends upon our full-court man-to-man pressure. The way we play our defense is reliant on these following principles. Some of these may not apply to the way you implement your press, but these are areas in which I feel are of great importance to ours.

1. Transition quickly - We cannot allow opponents to get in their comfort zone by taking a "break" after a made basket or an opponent's defensive rebound. Must be able to switch gears in an instant!

2. Force the 1st pass low - Whether it is an inbound pass after a made basket or an outlet pass, the first pass must not be an attacking pass toward the opponent's basket. The lower they catch, the more work they have to do to score.

3. Tremendous on ball pressure - Vision must be taken away. If they see the floor, they'll pick you apart. Must make the ball handler so uncomfortable that they turn away eliminating court vision.

4. Force it to a side - This allows us to utilize our help defense. Use the sideline as an added defender.

5. Deny 1st pass up the side - This is an attacking pass plus it is the "easiest" to see for a ball handler. We can get deflections and steals from this.

6. Deny the 1st attacking pass middle - Up middle is extremely dangerous and leads to a numbers advantage for the offense. It is the soft spot of most presses, we want to make it the hardest spot!

7. Sprint to rotations - If the reversal pass is made (I consider this a non-attacking pass away from the opponent's basket), players must sprint!

8. Sprint ahead of the ball - On ball defenders that get beat off the dribble cannot be content to run hip-to-hip with the ball handler.

9. Excellent communication - In previous posts, I talked about how to teach communication. This week I put a tremendous amount of responsibility on the deepest player to communicate; especially in rotations.

10. REBOUND - If the offense happens to break our press and take a quick contested shot, nothing breaks down morale more than an offensive rebound.

These are only a small list of things that are critical to our success on the defensive side of the ball. The idea is that advancing passes are attacking passes and therefore it stands to reason that we want to discourage them from occurring. Retreating passes will force the offense to cover more ground and burn more time off the shot clock giving them less time to run their half-court offense.