Ahmet Dedeoğlu
05-31-2008, 01:37 AM
Man-to-Man Defense - Force to the sideline and baseline.
We teach our on-ball defenders to force the ball toward the sideline and then down to the baseline. Once at the baseline, we do not allow penetration along the baseline, but try to trap there. Forcing the ball to one side immediately allows you to establish your helpside defense. When the ball is at the top of the key or in the middle, the low defenders must play fairly "straight up" and you must defend the entire court. But once the ball goes to the side, our weakside defenders can move into a helpside position (see below) and deny the pass into the post, and help prevent dribble-penetration. When the ball is in the corner, we only have to defend one half of the court and can load all five defenders toward that side. With the long skip pass to the other side, there is usually enough time (while the ball is in the air) for the defense to quickly rotate back.
How do you force the ball to the side? The on-ball defender at the top of the key, or on the wing, must close-out on the ball-handler with his sideline (outside) foot back and the middle (inside) foot forward. Have the defender put a little more of his/her weight on the front foot, so that if the ball-handler makes a quick dribble move toward the outside, the defender can push back off that front foot more quickly.
Some coaches deny the point to wing pass, but it might make more sense to let the pass go to the wing if we really want to force to the side. Once the ball is on the wing, we want to deny the pass back out to the point, and force the ball even further into the corner. Now realize that most often the pass to the low post comes from the wing. And once the ball gets into the low post, most of the time bad things happen... they either score or we foul. So it is very important to teach your post defenders to front the low post as the ball moves to the wing and corner areas. We must deny that pass into the post. But what about the "over-the-top" lob pass? First of all, this pass is a difficult pass to consistently complete... it is often thrown too high and out-of-bounds. But when this pass is made, the opposite low post defender (in "helpside") must immediately rotate over to double-team that pass, while the opposite wing defender (who should already be inside the paint in helpside) rotates down to cover the opposite low block.
Man-to-Man Defense - Deny the Wing Pass?
I sometimes hear coaches discussing which is a better defensive strategy, to allow or to deny the pass from the point guard to the wing.
Some believe the wing defenders should play "on the line" and prevent the pass to the wing player. By denying the pass to the wing, you may be preventing one of their better shooters from getting the ball. Also, since the entry pass to the low post most often comes from the wing, you are making it more difficult for the offense to get the ball into the low post by contesting two passes (the point to wing pass, and the wing to low post pass). The disadvantages of this strategy include (1) the wing defender getting beat by the back-cut, and (2) dribble penetration up the lane by point guard who can shoot or dish off to the low post.
On the other hand, some coaches want to get the ball out of the point guard's hands and allow the pass to the wing uncontested, but then deny the pass back to the point guard. This philosophy has the ball getting into the hands of players who may not be as skilled as the point guard. This helps stop the point guard from being a big factor, but may allow easier access to the low post.
So which philosophy is best? As is often the case in this game, I think you have to be flexible and adapt your strategy according to the team you are playing. If your opponent has strong wing shooters, or likes to get the ball into the low post with a pass from the wing, then try to take this away from them by denying the wing pass. If the opponent's strength is their excellent point guard who likes to dribble penetrate, then pressure the point guard, have X2 and X3 sag inside more (deny the seam), and allow the pass to the wing. Then aggressively deny the pass back to the point and keep the ball out of his/her hands.
Man-to-Man Defense - Keeping pressure on the ball, on-ball defense.
We want defensive pressure on the ball at all times. This will cause offensive turnovers and give their outside shooters difficulty getting the shot off. Assume the stance described above, forcing toward the baseline, and focus on the belly-button. Don't get your feet crossed unless you have to sprint back. Avoid "reaching-in" and taking a swipe at the ball, as this causes the defender to lose his/her balance and defensive stance and the offensive player can now beat him/her off the dribble. Reaching-in also leads to fouls. Keeping pressure on the outside harasses the offensive player and makes it difficult for him/her to see the floor and his/her teammates. An important part of denying that pass into the low post is keeping pressure on the ball, so that it is really difficult to make that pass. But won't playing up tight on the ball-handler allow him/her to beat the defender with a dribble move? Yes and no... read about "help and recover" below. The principle of help and recover is very important in denying dribble-penetration, once again pointing out that man-to-man defense is a "team defense", not just individual man-on-man. Also, our helpside low defenders should be in position to stop dribble-penetration, but at the risk of leaving an unguarded low post player... so we must teach our outside defenders how to work together with help and recover to keep the ball outside
Man-to-Man Defense - Defensive positioning off the ball - Deny, Helpside, Help and Recover
See Diagram A below. First, pretend there is an imaginary line up the middle of the court called the "helpside line" (red line). And then also imagine a line drawn from the ball to each offensive player (green lines). We like to have our defenders one pass away from the ball in "deny", playing "on the line" (see Diagram A). This is especially true if we want to deny a pass back out from the corner to the wing and from the wing to the point. Depending on your own coaching philosophy and the opponent's strengths, you may or may not want to deny the pass from the point to the wing.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
Defenders whose man is two passes away are in "helpside", and are "up the line" sagging into the lane (paint) area. This helpside positioning almost looks like a zone away from the ball and puts our defenders in a better position to help prevent inside passing and dribble-penetration. Helpside defenders should never lose sight of their man and should use their peripheral vision to always see the ball and their man. Some coaches call this the "pistols position" pretending that your index fingers are pistols, with one pistol pointing at the ball and the other pointing at your man. Some use the term "ball-you-man" to emphasize this point. Once the ball gets down in the corner, all helpside defenders should have one foot on the helpside line (Diagram B). You can see in this diagram that our X5 defender is in a good position to slide over and provide backside defense to the over-the-top lob pass to O4. And X4 is in a good position to deny the pass to O4 and also deny dribble-penetration by O2 (Diagram C). Also notice how X5 and X3 rotate in this situation. Also notice in Diagram B, that whenever the ball is below the free throw line, the helpside defenders should have one foot on the helpside line.
Now notice in Diagram D below how the defense shifts and rotates on the "skip pass" across court to O3. Not shown in the diagram, if O4 flashes to the ballside elbow, X4 will move up and try to keep a hand in front denying O4 that pass, while X2 (in helpside) can drop down a little lower in the paint in the event of the over-the-top lob pass to O4.
Help and Recover
Diagrams E and F below teach how to give help and recover on the perimeter. This is necessary because when you play tight pressure defense on the ball, there are going to be times when the on-ball defender gets beaten off the dribble. To help stop dribble-penetration, the adjacent perimeter defender gives help, trying to deny the dribble move. Here is a tip... if you are playing against a team with a very good penetrating guard, rather than playing a "full-denial", defenders one pass away can play a little up the line and step or two toward the ball in order to help stop the dribble penetration. On the other hand, if one of the help defenders is guarding their star outside three-point shooter, you would probably rather keep that defender in a deny position and not leave his man to give help. It helps to know your opponent.
In Diagram E, O3 tries to dribble-penetrate. The X1 defender gives help and O3 is prevented from penetrating, and has to dish back out to O1 (Diagram F). The X1 defender then has to rotate quickly out to on-ball defense on O1, and the X2, X3 and X4 defenders are now in deny, while the X5 defender moves into help-side (Diagram F). Important teaching point... in teaching help and recover, you must teach and drill your help defenders to move their feet quickly to establish position to prevent the dribble move... they must not simply "reach-in" and take a swipe at the ball.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
Man-to-Man Defense - Point-guard dribble-penetration.
I personally believe that the two main things that cause problems for a good man-to-man defense are (1) point guard dribble-penetration into the lane, and (2) the pass getting into the low post. In both situations, something bad usually happens... a basket or a foul. We prefer to give up outside jump shots, not lay-ups and free-throws. It's important to keep guards from penetrating from the top. First of all, when the ball is at the top (in the middle) there is no helpside defense established, since all defenders must play their own man in deny at that point. So when the point guard penetrates, one of our low post defenders must come up, leave his/her man open for an easy pass, and may foul the point guard.
We want our defender on the point guard to play fairly "straight-up", and even over-guard the offensive player's right or left side, depending on which way he/she likes to go. The point defender must work hard and play defense with his/her feet and stay in front of the offensive player, and not just "reach-in" and swipe at the ball. We often have to make adjustments depending on the offense's strengths and weaknesses. If their point guard mainly is a penetrator, we have our point defender back off a step and invite the outside shot instead. We will have our wing defenders "hedge" and give "help and recover" in trying to deny dribble-penetration (see above). Move the wing defenders a little "up the line" into the gaps (see diagram). But they must always see the ball and their man, and not get beaten by the wing back-cut.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
Man-to-Man Defense - Baseline dribble-penetration.
We deny dribble-penetration along the baseline. See the diagrams below. In diagram A, the on-ball defender X2 forces the dribbler to the baseline. The low post defender X4 (who is fronting the post on the baseline side) immediately rotates to the baseline and stops the ball, and double-teams with the wing defender X2. Meanwhile, the opposite post defender X5 immediately rotates to cover the vacated post player O4, while the opposite helpside wing defender X3 drops down to protect the weakside. Once the ball is trapped at the baseline, we go for the five-second count, and we anticipate a bad pass that we can intercept (diagram B). Notice that X1 gets in the gap between O1 and O3, looking to intercept a pass, or contain on the skip pass.
Diagram C shows a more frequent situation... O4 has moved up to the elbow, to clear-out for O2's move to the hoop. Here, X5 immediately rotates to stop O2 along the baseline, while X3 drops to cover the weakside.
This works very well, but you must really drill this in practice so it becomes automatic. The most common errors are X5 and/or X3 rotating too slowly. X5 should be moving out as soon as he/she sees O2 starting the dribble to the baseline. And as soon as X3 sees X5 leaving, he/she must drop down inside.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
Man-to-Man Defense - Defending post players.
We make every effort to deny the pass into the low post. When the ball gets in the post, the opponent either scores or we foul. When the ball is on the top (point), our post defenders full-front with both feet above the offensive player, with one hand on, and the other hand up to prevent the lob.
As the ball is passed to the wing, the post defender quickly drops under and around (not over) the offensive player, to half front from the baseline side. With our post defender X4 on the baseline side, if O4 actually receives the pass, X4 is in position to deny a drop-step move to the baseline (and will get help from the top X3). Additionally, X4 is in good position to stop baseline dribble-penetration (as already seen).
Some coaches will completely full-front the low post. We do that only if our post defender is much smaller than the offensive player, such as when the offensive post player is a giant, or after a switch on a screen and we get caught with a smaller guard defending their post player. We defend the post lob by... (1) the wing defender on the ball pressures the ball to make the pass difficult; (2) the opposite helpside post defender rotates to defend or tip the pass; (3) our helpside wing defender drops down to cover the back-side post.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
If the ball is passed back out to the point, X4 will quickly slide under and around O4 (not over) and again full-front when the ball is at the top. We have our post defender slide under (rather than over) the offensive player because if X4 went over, he/she could be sealed outside, and be vulnerable to a quick pass inside. Also, sliding under gives us inside rebounding position. Your post defenders must work hard with good footwork to accomplish this.
We also want to keep the ball out of the high post (elbow or free-throw line area). Here we will 1/2 or 3/4 front the high post. The technique here is for the defender to keep his feet between his man and the basket but have one arm and hand wrapped around in front of the high post player in the passing lane.
Double-teaming a dominant low post player. See the diagrams below. Against a star post player, 1/2 or 3/4 front as usual from the baseline side. When the ball does get into the low post, double-team it with your helpside wing defender (X3). X4 prevents O4's baseline move while X3 stops the move to the lane. X2 denies the pass back out to O2. X1 slides into the gap between O1 and O3, to cover the skip pass.
Some teams double-team by having X2 (ballside wing defender) slide down inside to double-team. We don't like this for two reasons:
(1) Usually X2 is too slow getting there, and has a bad angle in preventing O4's move to the lane.
(2) This leaves O2 wide-open for a quick pass back outside, and an open three-point shot.
Defending this way keeps our weakside post defender X5 on O5, (no size mis-match). Notice that this rotation is different from baseline dribble-penetration (where X5 sprints over to the ball, and X3 drops to the backside).
This is preferable to double-teaming with the opposite post player, as that would leave the remaining offensive post player unguarded, or guarded by the smaller X3. Using the opposite wing to double may make you susceptible to the opposite wing kick-out and three-pointer (diagram C). To defend that outside shot, the X1 defender closes-out on the skip pass, and takes the ball. If the pass goes to O3, X1 takes O3, while X3 sprints out to take O1. We call this a defensive "X-cut". X2 moves into helpside.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
See below about defending inside, post screens.
Man-to-Man Defense - Defending cutters.
Another important aspect is to deny the pass to a cutter moving through the lane. Here the defender must try to keep between his man and the ball, denying the pass. One technique the defender can use is to "bump the cutter" off his/her intended pathway by getting position and riding the cutter away from the basket. "Bumping" may not be a good term as it may imply "hitting" the cutter, or something "dirty". Rather, it means getting inside position on the cutter, or at least an arm in front in the passing lane, much like the ½ or ¾ fronting of a post player. The defender tries to beat the cutter to a certain spot on the floor, which really is no different than two players fighting for rebounding position… both are entitled to that spot on the floor, it just depends on who gets there first. So the defender must use good footwork and establish position over the cutter... you cannot simply push or hold the offensive player. Examples of cuts to defend against are the "give and go" cut, a cut from the weakside wing (either with or without a screen), flash cuts to either high or low post, back-cuts, etc.
An important point is the concept of "jumping to the ball" (see left diagram below). As the ball moves (either pass or dribble), defenders should "jump to the ball", or move a step or so toward the ball. Not only does this help deny the pass, but also puts the defender in the cutter's path and the defender has a better chance of bumping and denying the cutter. All defenders should learn to react to just about every movement of the ball.
One special circumstance... defending the curl cut. See the diagrams below. A good quick guard will sometimes run down low and curl around a post player in order to lose his man. I believe the best defense here is for the defender to "chase" the offensive player around the screen as closely as possible. Sometimes I'll see the defender instead just drop back outside thinking the cutter will be coming back out to his original spot or the perimeter. The right-hand diagram below illustrates the error in this thinking. A good offensive player will read this and pop out to the corner instead for the skip pass and open three-pointer.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
We teach our on-ball defenders to force the ball toward the sideline and then down to the baseline. Once at the baseline, we do not allow penetration along the baseline, but try to trap there. Forcing the ball to one side immediately allows you to establish your helpside defense. When the ball is at the top of the key or in the middle, the low defenders must play fairly "straight up" and you must defend the entire court. But once the ball goes to the side, our weakside defenders can move into a helpside position (see below) and deny the pass into the post, and help prevent dribble-penetration. When the ball is in the corner, we only have to defend one half of the court and can load all five defenders toward that side. With the long skip pass to the other side, there is usually enough time (while the ball is in the air) for the defense to quickly rotate back.
How do you force the ball to the side? The on-ball defender at the top of the key, or on the wing, must close-out on the ball-handler with his sideline (outside) foot back and the middle (inside) foot forward. Have the defender put a little more of his/her weight on the front foot, so that if the ball-handler makes a quick dribble move toward the outside, the defender can push back off that front foot more quickly.
Some coaches deny the point to wing pass, but it might make more sense to let the pass go to the wing if we really want to force to the side. Once the ball is on the wing, we want to deny the pass back out to the point, and force the ball even further into the corner. Now realize that most often the pass to the low post comes from the wing. And once the ball gets into the low post, most of the time bad things happen... they either score or we foul. So it is very important to teach your post defenders to front the low post as the ball moves to the wing and corner areas. We must deny that pass into the post. But what about the "over-the-top" lob pass? First of all, this pass is a difficult pass to consistently complete... it is often thrown too high and out-of-bounds. But when this pass is made, the opposite low post defender (in "helpside") must immediately rotate over to double-team that pass, while the opposite wing defender (who should already be inside the paint in helpside) rotates down to cover the opposite low block.
Man-to-Man Defense - Deny the Wing Pass?
I sometimes hear coaches discussing which is a better defensive strategy, to allow or to deny the pass from the point guard to the wing.
Some believe the wing defenders should play "on the line" and prevent the pass to the wing player. By denying the pass to the wing, you may be preventing one of their better shooters from getting the ball. Also, since the entry pass to the low post most often comes from the wing, you are making it more difficult for the offense to get the ball into the low post by contesting two passes (the point to wing pass, and the wing to low post pass). The disadvantages of this strategy include (1) the wing defender getting beat by the back-cut, and (2) dribble penetration up the lane by point guard who can shoot or dish off to the low post.
On the other hand, some coaches want to get the ball out of the point guard's hands and allow the pass to the wing uncontested, but then deny the pass back to the point guard. This philosophy has the ball getting into the hands of players who may not be as skilled as the point guard. This helps stop the point guard from being a big factor, but may allow easier access to the low post.
So which philosophy is best? As is often the case in this game, I think you have to be flexible and adapt your strategy according to the team you are playing. If your opponent has strong wing shooters, or likes to get the ball into the low post with a pass from the wing, then try to take this away from them by denying the wing pass. If the opponent's strength is their excellent point guard who likes to dribble penetrate, then pressure the point guard, have X2 and X3 sag inside more (deny the seam), and allow the pass to the wing. Then aggressively deny the pass back to the point and keep the ball out of his/her hands.
Man-to-Man Defense - Keeping pressure on the ball, on-ball defense.
We want defensive pressure on the ball at all times. This will cause offensive turnovers and give their outside shooters difficulty getting the shot off. Assume the stance described above, forcing toward the baseline, and focus on the belly-button. Don't get your feet crossed unless you have to sprint back. Avoid "reaching-in" and taking a swipe at the ball, as this causes the defender to lose his/her balance and defensive stance and the offensive player can now beat him/her off the dribble. Reaching-in also leads to fouls. Keeping pressure on the outside harasses the offensive player and makes it difficult for him/her to see the floor and his/her teammates. An important part of denying that pass into the low post is keeping pressure on the ball, so that it is really difficult to make that pass. But won't playing up tight on the ball-handler allow him/her to beat the defender with a dribble move? Yes and no... read about "help and recover" below. The principle of help and recover is very important in denying dribble-penetration, once again pointing out that man-to-man defense is a "team defense", not just individual man-on-man. Also, our helpside low defenders should be in position to stop dribble-penetration, but at the risk of leaving an unguarded low post player... so we must teach our outside defenders how to work together with help and recover to keep the ball outside
Man-to-Man Defense - Defensive positioning off the ball - Deny, Helpside, Help and Recover
See Diagram A below. First, pretend there is an imaginary line up the middle of the court called the "helpside line" (red line). And then also imagine a line drawn from the ball to each offensive player (green lines). We like to have our defenders one pass away from the ball in "deny", playing "on the line" (see Diagram A). This is especially true if we want to deny a pass back out from the corner to the wing and from the wing to the point. Depending on your own coaching philosophy and the opponent's strengths, you may or may not want to deny the pass from the point to the wing.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
Defenders whose man is two passes away are in "helpside", and are "up the line" sagging into the lane (paint) area. This helpside positioning almost looks like a zone away from the ball and puts our defenders in a better position to help prevent inside passing and dribble-penetration. Helpside defenders should never lose sight of their man and should use their peripheral vision to always see the ball and their man. Some coaches call this the "pistols position" pretending that your index fingers are pistols, with one pistol pointing at the ball and the other pointing at your man. Some use the term "ball-you-man" to emphasize this point. Once the ball gets down in the corner, all helpside defenders should have one foot on the helpside line (Diagram B). You can see in this diagram that our X5 defender is in a good position to slide over and provide backside defense to the over-the-top lob pass to O4. And X4 is in a good position to deny the pass to O4 and also deny dribble-penetration by O2 (Diagram C). Also notice how X5 and X3 rotate in this situation. Also notice in Diagram B, that whenever the ball is below the free throw line, the helpside defenders should have one foot on the helpside line.
Now notice in Diagram D below how the defense shifts and rotates on the "skip pass" across court to O3. Not shown in the diagram, if O4 flashes to the ballside elbow, X4 will move up and try to keep a hand in front denying O4 that pass, while X2 (in helpside) can drop down a little lower in the paint in the event of the over-the-top lob pass to O4.
Help and Recover
Diagrams E and F below teach how to give help and recover on the perimeter. This is necessary because when you play tight pressure defense on the ball, there are going to be times when the on-ball defender gets beaten off the dribble. To help stop dribble-penetration, the adjacent perimeter defender gives help, trying to deny the dribble move. Here is a tip... if you are playing against a team with a very good penetrating guard, rather than playing a "full-denial", defenders one pass away can play a little up the line and step or two toward the ball in order to help stop the dribble penetration. On the other hand, if one of the help defenders is guarding their star outside three-point shooter, you would probably rather keep that defender in a deny position and not leave his man to give help. It helps to know your opponent.
In Diagram E, O3 tries to dribble-penetrate. The X1 defender gives help and O3 is prevented from penetrating, and has to dish back out to O1 (Diagram F). The X1 defender then has to rotate quickly out to on-ball defense on O1, and the X2, X3 and X4 defenders are now in deny, while the X5 defender moves into help-side (Diagram F). Important teaching point... in teaching help and recover, you must teach and drill your help defenders to move their feet quickly to establish position to prevent the dribble move... they must not simply "reach-in" and take a swipe at the ball.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
Man-to-Man Defense - Point-guard dribble-penetration.
I personally believe that the two main things that cause problems for a good man-to-man defense are (1) point guard dribble-penetration into the lane, and (2) the pass getting into the low post. In both situations, something bad usually happens... a basket or a foul. We prefer to give up outside jump shots, not lay-ups and free-throws. It's important to keep guards from penetrating from the top. First of all, when the ball is at the top (in the middle) there is no helpside defense established, since all defenders must play their own man in deny at that point. So when the point guard penetrates, one of our low post defenders must come up, leave his/her man open for an easy pass, and may foul the point guard.
We want our defender on the point guard to play fairly "straight-up", and even over-guard the offensive player's right or left side, depending on which way he/she likes to go. The point defender must work hard and play defense with his/her feet and stay in front of the offensive player, and not just "reach-in" and swipe at the ball. We often have to make adjustments depending on the offense's strengths and weaknesses. If their point guard mainly is a penetrator, we have our point defender back off a step and invite the outside shot instead. We will have our wing defenders "hedge" and give "help and recover" in trying to deny dribble-penetration (see above). Move the wing defenders a little "up the line" into the gaps (see diagram). But they must always see the ball and their man, and not get beaten by the wing back-cut.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
Man-to-Man Defense - Baseline dribble-penetration.
We deny dribble-penetration along the baseline. See the diagrams below. In diagram A, the on-ball defender X2 forces the dribbler to the baseline. The low post defender X4 (who is fronting the post on the baseline side) immediately rotates to the baseline and stops the ball, and double-teams with the wing defender X2. Meanwhile, the opposite post defender X5 immediately rotates to cover the vacated post player O4, while the opposite helpside wing defender X3 drops down to protect the weakside. Once the ball is trapped at the baseline, we go for the five-second count, and we anticipate a bad pass that we can intercept (diagram B). Notice that X1 gets in the gap between O1 and O3, looking to intercept a pass, or contain on the skip pass.
Diagram C shows a more frequent situation... O4 has moved up to the elbow, to clear-out for O2's move to the hoop. Here, X5 immediately rotates to stop O2 along the baseline, while X3 drops to cover the weakside.
This works very well, but you must really drill this in practice so it becomes automatic. The most common errors are X5 and/or X3 rotating too slowly. X5 should be moving out as soon as he/she sees O2 starting the dribble to the baseline. And as soon as X3 sees X5 leaving, he/she must drop down inside.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
Man-to-Man Defense - Defending post players.
We make every effort to deny the pass into the low post. When the ball gets in the post, the opponent either scores or we foul. When the ball is on the top (point), our post defenders full-front with both feet above the offensive player, with one hand on, and the other hand up to prevent the lob.
As the ball is passed to the wing, the post defender quickly drops under and around (not over) the offensive player, to half front from the baseline side. With our post defender X4 on the baseline side, if O4 actually receives the pass, X4 is in position to deny a drop-step move to the baseline (and will get help from the top X3). Additionally, X4 is in good position to stop baseline dribble-penetration (as already seen).
Some coaches will completely full-front the low post. We do that only if our post defender is much smaller than the offensive player, such as when the offensive post player is a giant, or after a switch on a screen and we get caught with a smaller guard defending their post player. We defend the post lob by... (1) the wing defender on the ball pressures the ball to make the pass difficult; (2) the opposite helpside post defender rotates to defend or tip the pass; (3) our helpside wing defender drops down to cover the back-side post.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
If the ball is passed back out to the point, X4 will quickly slide under and around O4 (not over) and again full-front when the ball is at the top. We have our post defender slide under (rather than over) the offensive player because if X4 went over, he/she could be sealed outside, and be vulnerable to a quick pass inside. Also, sliding under gives us inside rebounding position. Your post defenders must work hard with good footwork to accomplish this.
We also want to keep the ball out of the high post (elbow or free-throw line area). Here we will 1/2 or 3/4 front the high post. The technique here is for the defender to keep his feet between his man and the basket but have one arm and hand wrapped around in front of the high post player in the passing lane.
Double-teaming a dominant low post player. See the diagrams below. Against a star post player, 1/2 or 3/4 front as usual from the baseline side. When the ball does get into the low post, double-team it with your helpside wing defender (X3). X4 prevents O4's baseline move while X3 stops the move to the lane. X2 denies the pass back out to O2. X1 slides into the gap between O1 and O3, to cover the skip pass.
Some teams double-team by having X2 (ballside wing defender) slide down inside to double-team. We don't like this for two reasons:
(1) Usually X2 is too slow getting there, and has a bad angle in preventing O4's move to the lane.
(2) This leaves O2 wide-open for a quick pass back outside, and an open three-point shot.
Defending this way keeps our weakside post defender X5 on O5, (no size mis-match). Notice that this rotation is different from baseline dribble-penetration (where X5 sprints over to the ball, and X3 drops to the backside).
This is preferable to double-teaming with the opposite post player, as that would leave the remaining offensive post player unguarded, or guarded by the smaller X3. Using the opposite wing to double may make you susceptible to the opposite wing kick-out and three-pointer (diagram C). To defend that outside shot, the X1 defender closes-out on the skip pass, and takes the ball. If the pass goes to O3, X1 takes O3, while X3 sprints out to take O1. We call this a defensive "X-cut". X2 moves into helpside.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
See below about defending inside, post screens.
Man-to-Man Defense - Defending cutters.
Another important aspect is to deny the pass to a cutter moving through the lane. Here the defender must try to keep between his man and the ball, denying the pass. One technique the defender can use is to "bump the cutter" off his/her intended pathway by getting position and riding the cutter away from the basket. "Bumping" may not be a good term as it may imply "hitting" the cutter, or something "dirty". Rather, it means getting inside position on the cutter, or at least an arm in front in the passing lane, much like the ½ or ¾ fronting of a post player. The defender tries to beat the cutter to a certain spot on the floor, which really is no different than two players fighting for rebounding position… both are entitled to that spot on the floor, it just depends on who gets there first. So the defender must use good footwork and establish position over the cutter... you cannot simply push or hold the offensive player. Examples of cuts to defend against are the "give and go" cut, a cut from the weakside wing (either with or without a screen), flash cuts to either high or low post, back-cuts, etc.
An important point is the concept of "jumping to the ball" (see left diagram below). As the ball moves (either pass or dribble), defenders should "jump to the ball", or move a step or so toward the ball. Not only does this help deny the pass, but also puts the defender in the cutter's path and the defender has a better chance of bumping and denying the cutter. All defenders should learn to react to just about every movement of the ball.
One special circumstance... defending the curl cut. See the diagrams below. A good quick guard will sometimes run down low and curl around a post player in order to lose his man. I believe the best defense here is for the defender to "chase" the offensive player around the screen as closely as possible. Sometimes I'll see the defender instead just drop back outside thinking the cutter will be coming back out to his original spot or the perimeter. The right-hand diagram below illustrates the error in this thinking. A good offensive player will read this and pop out to the corner instead for the skip pass and open three-pointer.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]