Basketball Drills - Man-to-Man Defense Breakdown Drills

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First read the article on how to teach man-to-man pressure defense. This article presents a number of breakdown drills designed to teach the skills needed to execute good man-to-man defense. Post defense, defending screens, and perimeter defense will be discussed. Also see drill progression for teaching half-court man-to-man defense and drill progression for teaching how to defend screens.

1-on-1 Drill All defenders must learn how to play good 1-on-1, on-ball defense. In this drill, each player has a partner (opponent) that he/she goes 1-on-1 against. Each pair has a ball. Use both ends of the court. The player with the ball starts at the top of the key and tries to make a move, or shoot the outside shot and score on the defender. The defender must stop the offense, box-out and get the rebound. The offense gets a point for (1) each basket made, (2) for each offensive rebound and (3) if the defender fouls. No second shots are allowed. Each pair keeps track of their score. Have post players paired up with post players, and guards paired up with guards. Play until each player gets five offensive possessions. At the end, the losers do 5-10 push-ups. Rotation (see arrows in the diagram) After a pair has finished their duel, they get in line on the other end of the floor, but switch offense and defense for the next possession. This drill is also great for offensive players working on their 1-on-1 moves... jab step, shot fake, dribble moves, etc.

Low Post Fronting Drill

When the ball is at the point, we then step below and around, and get both feet above the offensive post with an arm bar on him/her and a hand in the passing lane. We step under (rather than in front of the offensive player) because we never give up inside position this way. If you step in front, it is possible for the offensive player to seal you and get inside position for the quick inside pass. See the diagram. Pass the ball back and forth from the wing to the point. The post defender must quickly re-position with each pass. You can use both low blocks to teach defense on both sides of the court. This is a very simple but important drill in teaching correct fronting and defensive footwork.

Pass into the Low Post, Double-Team

This drill stresses helpside positioning of the wing defenders and double-teaming the low post, and correct 1/2 - 3/4 front positioning by our low post defender. We start with the ball on the wing, allow the pass into the post and then set the double-team. The ball is skipped passed to the opposite wing, the wing defender sprints out to close-out, the opposite wing slides into helpside and the ball is passed into the opposite post. Pointer: On the skip pass from the post to the opposite wing, instead of the our helpside wing defender sprinting all the way out to his/her man, we will have our point defender cover this pass and the helpside wing defender jumps out to cover the point guard, who is closer and easier to get to. We call this a defensive "X-cut". You can drill this 5-on-5.

Defending Baseline Dribble Penetration Baseline dribble-penetration is also double-teamed by the dribbler's defender and the ball-side post player. The opposite post must slide over quickly to pick up the post player vacated by the trapping post defender, while in this case, the weakside wing defender drops down to defend the weakside post player. In this situation, the weakside post player is less of a threat since he/she is nearly two passes away. You can drill this with either a 3-on-3 drill, or by adding the opposite wing defender (4-on-4 drill). You can run this drill in conjunction with the previous drill (Pass into the Low Post drill).

Post Defense vs Cutter

See the diagrams below. Two offensive wing players, one offensive post and one defensive post are used. Start with the ball on the wing opposite the offensive post player. The post defender should now be in helpside with one foot on the helpside line (imaginary vertical line in the center of the paint). The offensive post player cuts to the ball-side block. The defensive post tries to impede the cutter with an arm bar and then 1/2 - 3/4 fronts from the baseline side. The ball is passed to the opposite wing, the defender moves into helpside, and the cut and "bump" are repeated going back to the ball-side.

Defending Inside (Post) Screens We "step under" all inside lateral post screens. If the cutter cuts low, we "stay" with our man and do not switch. If the cutter goes high, we "step under and switch" the screen. The screener's man yells "screen, screen, screen!". The defender being screened immediately takes a step back toward the baseline and steps under the screen. Now if the cutter goes low, he/she can just stay with his/her man and both defenders are in good position (see the top two diagrams at the right). Now look at the bottom two diagrams. Again the screened defender steps under toward the baseline. If the cutter goes high, the defense switches. By stepping under, the X5 defender is in good position to step around and front O4 from the baseline side.

Wing Deny Drill

See the diagram. You need a lot of balls for this drill. Your assistant or a manager makes the rapid fire pass to the wing V-cutting. The defensive player denies this pass by tipping it away with his/her right hand (on the right side of the court). Using that hand allows the defender to still see and stay with his/her man. If the other hand is used instead (incorrectly) and the deflection is missed, the defender is easily beaten by the backcut. After deflecting the pass to the V-cut, the offensive wing makes the quick backcut toward the hoop and the assistant tries to make that pass. The defender tries to deflect that pass as well. A good defender will be able to deflect both the V-cut pass and the backcut pass. Each rotation features both passes. Players waiting in line can help supply balls to the passer (assistant).

Wing Helpside, Skip-Pass and Close-Out Drill

Our wing players must learn to play correct helpside defense (in the paint) when ball is two passes away on the opposite wing. This will help protect the paint from inside dribble-penetration and passing, and we can also use this helpside wing to double-team the low post (see above). On the other hand, the wing player must also close-out quickly when the ball is skipped-passed back to his/her man. See the diagrams below. Use two offensive and two defensive wing players. The ball is skipped passed back and forth while the defenders work on correct helpside positioning and closing-out. Rotate offense to defense after several passes back and forth.

Wing Skip-Pass, Deny Cutter Drill

Wing Skip-Pass and Box-Out Back-Side Drill

Pick and Roll Defense Drill

Defending Back-Screen Drill

Defending Down-Screen Drill

Close Seam and Recover Drill

Defense vs Dribble-Penetration from the Top

• Wing Skip-Pass, Deny Cutter Drill
• Wing Skip-Pass and Box-Out Back-Side Drill
• Pick and Roll Defense Drill
• Defending Back-Screen Drill
• Defending Down-Screen Drill
• Close Seam and Recover Drill
• Defense vs Dribble-Penetration from the Top

Helpful DVDs

	Tom Izzo: Dominating Rebounding & Man-to-Man Defensive Drills By Tom Izzo, 2000 NCAA Champions, 3X National Coach of the Year. Coach Izzo shares one of the most dominating man-to-man defensive and rebounding systems in college basketball today. Izzo's teams have been among the nation's leaders in rebounding margin (+11.7) and scoring defense (58.9) since he took over in the '95-'96 season. The seven defensive drills that Izzo covers include... (more info) Price: $39.99
	Bob Huggins' Drills for Man-to-Man Defense with Bob Huggins, West Virginia University Head Coach; over 600 career wins; former University of Cincinnati Head Coach, '00-'01 National Coach of the Year, Conference USA "Coach of the Decade" (Cincinnati). In Coach Huggins' defense, the middle of the floor - the shoot - is an area where the ball is not allowed. Pushing the ball to the sideline is the goal of this defense... Every day Huggins runs a simple 2-on-2 drill to emphasize getting to the ball, or "sprint to help." The shell drill incorporates all of these principles and does not allow direct line passes. Another key drill is 1-one-1 closeout drill from basket to the top of the key. The help and recover/penetrate and pitch drill forces players to cover area and stresses closing out with hands up and denying penetration. The 3-on-1 close out drill forces the defender to react to the direction of the pass... (more info) Price: $39.99
	Roy Williams: The Carolina Defensive Numbering System & Drills with Roy Williams, University of North Carolina Head Coach, 2009 and 2005 National Champions, 4X Time National "Coach of the Year," Winningest Active Coach in College Basketball. In this incredibly comprehensive video, Coach Williams presents the five points of emphasis of his man-to-man defense. In breaking down the most critical areas of strong-side and weak-side man defense, Williams teaches how to deny penetration on the baseline, close traps on help-side, techniques for ball denial, close outs, fronting the post and denial of screens and back screens. Williams teaches the 20, 30 and 40 defensive numbering system that will create fits for teams at any level! He places special focus on pressuring the ball, proper on-ball and help-side stances, forcing the ball to the sideline, weakside defense, preventing ball reversals and stopping transition offense on every possession. His drills, ranging from one-on-one drills to five-on-five drills, will reinforce proper responsibilities and rotations within the defense. A must for all coaches who play tough man defense... (more info) Price: $39.99
	Jay Wright: Defensive Progression Drills & Techniques with Jay Wright, Villanova University Head Men's Basketball Coach, NCAA "Sweet 16" (2005), Philadelphia Big Five Eastern College Coach of the Year. Aggressive, no-nonsense defense is a trademark of Jay Wright's teams. Because of the great talent Villanova faces every game, Wright focuses on drills that will help contain quick, skilled ball handlers. This excellent teaching tool progresses from individual defensive stance, to one-on-one, two-on-two, and three-on-three in the half- and full-court. Wright stresses pressure on the ball, stance and vision away from the ball. The 2-on-2 "Whack Out" drill will show how to close out on shooters and still contain the ball handler. The term "line of the ball and level of the ball" are illustrated. The versatile 2-on-2 in the Post drill focuses on perimeter defense as well as defending the post. Helping on the post is a concept introduced once the offensive post has the ball inside. The cornerstones of the DVD are defending on the ball, jumping to the ball, playing cutters, playing off the ball and reading help. This has great application to high school and junior high basketball... (more info) Price: $39.99
	Mike Anderson: '40 Minutes of Hell' (Vol. 2) with Mike Anderson, University of Missouri Head Coach. Hard play and pressure defense are the backbone of Coach Anderson's teams. Stance, hands, balance and closeness to the offensive player are very important principles to Anderson. Using an overhead, Anderson diagrams his defensive system. Ball pressure, anticipation, rotation and trapping are key terms in this system. On ball pressure, trapping corners on the baseline, making the sideline an extra man, using the half court line, trap with opportunity, and rotation round out the keys to this defensive. The progression of this defense starts with... (more info) Price: $39.99