Basketball Switching Defense

By Dr. James Gels, From the Coach’s Clipboard Basketball Playbook
"Helping coaches coach better..."

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Switching man-to-man defense has been around for many years, but has enjoyed a resurgence lately, with new refinements. Your man defense must have a strategy in defending screens, and this switching defense is one way to do it. Also see "Defending Screens".

A pure switching "positionless" defense has defenders switch everything (but there are variations as we will discuss below).

Advantages of Switching

1. Switching disrupts the timing and flow of plays, motion offenses, continuity offenses, and any offense that uses a lot of screening.
   
   
2. Switching helps to contain the ball.
   
   
3. There is less reliance on your helpside and help and recover defense.
   
   
4. It's adaptable. You can switch everything (positionless teams), or switch "1-4", or use situational switching (see below). You can adjust your switching strategies based on your opponent's strengths and weaknesses.
   
   

Disadvantages of Switching

1. Mis-matches can occur with a guard stuck on a post player, or vice versa. But you can help mitigate this using a "1-4" or situational strategy. When a mis-match does occur, your helpside has to be active, you must deny the pass to the post, and the guard and post defenders should switch back ASAP.
   
   
2. You need smart, high basketball IQ players.
   
   
3. Players MUST communicate everything.
   
   
4. Defenders may become lackadaisical after a switch.
   
   
5. Rebounding mis-matches may occur when guards get stuck inside.
   
   

Switching Strategies

1. "Positionless" switching - used by elite teams with five comparable athletes. All screens are switched automatically.
   
   
2. "1-4" switching - this strategy has your X5 center stay inside and he/she does not switch. The other four players switch everything between them. Fewer mis-matches occur.
   
   
3. Situational switching - this strategy uses switching only in certain situations, as a surprise tactic. Examples are after a time-out where switching can disrupt a play that was called in the huddle. Another example is to switch only on side (wing) ball-screens. And another is to switch in the last 5-10 seconds of a shot clock (switching here can create confusion and delay the offense).
   
   

Switching Fundamentals

1. Defenders must communicate - "talk" - at all times. The talk must be loud and early (before the screen occurs). Words to use are: "switch", "stay" (no switch), "ball" (I've got the ball), "switch left/right" (indicate switch coming and direction), "help" (call for helpside defenders).
   
   
2. Switch tight, maintaining contact and avoid spacing between the offensive and defensive players... no lazy switches.
   
   
3. Stay in your defensive stance after the switch. Focus, don't relax.
   
   
4. After switching, the defender treats this as a new match-up.
   
   
5. Bump and recover - switch or hedge briefly to contain the ball, and then quickly recover back to your man.
   
   
6. Scram switch - occasionally used at the pro level, occurs when a guard is defending big post player (mis-match). As the post entry pass is in the air, the adjacent defensive post "scram" switches over to take the ball, and the guard defender moves out.
   
   

Techniques for Switching Types of Screens

Consider switching these screens:

• On-ball screens (Pick and Roll)
• Outside Perimeter Lateral and Flare Screens
• Down-screens
• Back-screens
• Inside Post Screens
• Multiple and Double Screens

On-ball screens (Pick and Roll).

See this page, "Defending the Pick and Roll", for numerous ways to defend this situation. I believe you must pick one method that you think works best for your team, and get really good at it.

Coaches differ on how to defend ball-screens. Here are a few ways to do it... "over", "under", and "ice" techniques.

"Over" does not involve switching so will not be discussed here. "Under" (with a switch)... the screened defender X1 goes under the screener. The disadvantage is giving up the open outside shot by the ball-handler. To avoid this and to pressure the ball, we "jump-switch" with X5 sprinting above the screen to pressure and contain the ball. So a switch occurs with X1 on O5 and X5 on O1, possibly resulting in size and quickness mismatches. We have also used this jump-switch technique for defending hand-off screens (weave screens).



Coach Andrew Grantz switches all pick and rolls and aggressively attacks the ball. As X1 feels contact from the screener, he/she quickly spins around the screener in order to get position to deny a pass to the screener (see the video below). Meanwhile, X5 aggressively sprints above the screen to the ball and "goes for the ball"... trying to deflect or steal it. This usually results in the ball-handler having to take a couple dribbles back away from the hoop, and hence prevents both the outside shot and the dribble-drive.



"Ice"... as with all pick and roll plays, communication is key. The post defender X5 yells out the screen and "ice". The ball defender X1 immediately steps up to deny O1's middle dribble-penetration, forcing to the sideline. X5 sprints up, squares up the ball-handler and with X1 contains the ball-handler, or forces to the sideline, never allowing the middle. At this point, X5 should not feel responsible for O5 and in fact does not leave O1 until either (1) O1 picks up his/her dribble, or (2) X1 calls X5 off.



Then X5 recovers by sprinting to O5 with high hands to stop the pass from O1. X5 could get help from X4, X2 and X3 as seen in the diagram.

Outside Perimeter Lateral and Flare Screens

It is easy to switch these screens and usually a mis-match does not occur. The interesting thing is that since our wing defender (X3) is in helpside, there really in no-one to screen (diagram H). It becomes more of an exchange. When O3 moves out to the top, we switch, and have X1 take O3. Notice (diagram I) that our X3 defender in helpside, doesn't even need to move on the switch, since the ball is on the opposite wing and she/he just says in the paint in helpside.



If our weakside wing X3, for some reason, is not in helpside and gets screened (diagram J), we switch this screen. The screened defender X3 drops a step or two back just before the screen arrives ("steps under") and avoids getting sealed outside by the screener... a "step under and switch".

Flare screens are switched as seen in the diagram. X3 takes O1, as X1 takes O3.

Down-screens

We actually defend down-screens by following in the cutter's footsteps, as we chase around the down-screen, and do not switch. But you can choose to switch this, realizing that a size mis-match may occur, and this should be switched back ASAP.

Here are coach Fran Fraschilla's thoughts on down-screens. He wants to avoid size mis-matches. You can switch "equals" - i.e. guard-on-guard screens, and post-on-post screens can be switched. A post-guard screen that creates a mis-match, is not switched. The screened defender's teammate "opens up" and allows the screened defender to slide through, so there is no switch.

Back-screens

The diagrams below show how to switch back-screens. As O2 cuts backdoor, X4 will yell out the screen and switch, and prevent the pass inside to O2. Very importantly, the screened defender X2 must quickly step in front and around to get inside position on the screener O4, and avoid getting pinned outside. This is usually not too difficult if X4 calls out the back-screen to warn X2 that it is coming.

After this switch, you may have a big-little mis-match and these defenders will switch back at the first opportunity... which may be during the next perimeter pass, especially if the pass goes weakside.

Inside Post Screens

It is best to switch inside screens. Here you are usually not giving up a size or quickness advantage, and switching gives us the best chance to deny the pass into the low post.

When defending inside, lateral post screens, the screened defender always "steps under" (takes a giant step back toward the baseline) - diagram K.



If the cutter goes low (baseline side), the screened defender gets an arm bar up and stays with her/his man (no switch)... "step under and stay" (diagram K2). The key is... the defender getting screened must step back toward the baseline before the screen actually arrives.

If the cutter goes high (over the screen), then the defenders switch... "step under and switch" (diagrams L and L2). Again, the screened defender always steps-under (toward the baseline) just before the screen arrives.

The danger with any inside lateral post screen is for our screened defender to get pinned inside. This should not happen if the screened defender "steps under" the screen. After stepping-under, she/he can easily get into the ½ fronting position from the baseline side.



Again the rules for defending lateral inside post screens are:

• The screened defender always steps under before the screen arrives.
• "Low cut" (the cutter goes low) = step-under and stay.
• "High cut" (the cutter goes high) = step-under and switch.
• We also "step under and switch" when defending inside post screens on baseline out-of-bounds plays.

Multiple and Double Screens

Without going into the details of all the different combinations of multiple screens, let's just put forth a few principles. Communication is probably the most important part. Players have to talk out these situations and be tenacious defenders. Every screen should be switched quickly, and defenders must stay connected to their new assignments. If mis-matches occur, your helpside is important, and defenders must switch back at the earliest opportunity.

Teaching the Switching Defense

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Related pages:

• Defending Screens
  
• Man-to-Man Pressure Defense (Part 1) - force sideline, on-ball, deny, helpside, help and recover, dribble-penetration
  
• Man-to-Man Pressure Defense (Part 2) - post defense, cutters, special situations
  

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