The 5 C’s of Team Defence

At this recent coach development clinic in Wagga, we looked at the “5 C’s of team defence” and associated drills for building your man to man defensive system.

Introduction –

• Team defence starts with pressure on the ball
• If you can’t contain and pressure the ball, no defensive scheme or positioning will work
• The 5 C’s of successful team D –
  • Conversion – get back
  • Communication – loud, often and early
  • Containment – keep the ball in front
  • Contest – make running offence difficult
  • Completion – box out and rebound

Conversion –

Drill One – 2 v 1 plus 1 get back

• Two offensive players outside each elbow
• Defender at 3-point line, 2^nd defender in charge halo behind offence
• Defender passes to offence and they break 2 v 1 with no dribble in back court
• 2^nd defender must sprint to get back I to play
• Keys to the drill –
  • Sprint back, keep ball in front
  • Talk, talk, talk – “I’ve got two”
  • 2^nd defender decisions

Drill Two – Switch and Change

• 4 v 4 in the half court
• Pass, cut and replace motion, emphasis on ball pressure and jumping to the ball
• On command of switch, offence puts the ball down, defence now on offence at same basket
• In changing, offence can’t guard the person they were guarding
• On the command of CHANGE, offence puts the ball down, defence becomes offence and attacks basket at other end of court
• Keys to the drill –
  • Be alert – listen and react
  • Effective communication – who has ball, who is guarding who
  • Every switch is a short close-out

Containment –

Drill Three – 3-effort containment

• Slight change to the old “corridor drill”
• 1 v 1 from base-line to outside 3-point line
• Once at 3-point line, turn it around and defender contain back to base-line
• At baseline, turn and contain back to 3-point line before changing over
• Use of “chest blow” to contain without fouling – “bump and done”
• Keys to the drill –
  • Game speed straight away – need to guard what happens in a game
  • Constantly coach the hands
  • Pressure without fouls

Drill Four – 2 v 2 plus 2 Duke defence

• 1 v 1 on each wing
• Unguarded players at each seam
• Ball is passed around at “coach friendly” speed – defence must adjust every time in relation to the ball and their man
• On the coach command, drill is 2 v 2 live
• Keys to the drill –
  • Jump to the ball
  • “Talk your task” – let others know what you are doing
  • “As the ball moves, so shall you”

Contest –

Drill Five – 2 v 2 plus 2 contest the lead

• 1 v 1 in each corner
• Unguarded players at each seam
• Drill starts with player leading out of corner, defence contest the pass from unguarded player at seam
• On the catch, reverse through seams, offence in opposite corner leads and defence contests
• On the pass, drill is 2 v 2 live
• Keys to the drill –
  • Impact the line of the lead – “bump & done”
  • Back foot denial
  • High hand – “touch the ball”

Completion –

Drill Six – Cotter Shell to Box drill

• 4 v 4 Shell drill
• Working shifts and communication to start – technique based
• 3 passes wing to guard, 3 passes guard to guard, 3 passes guard to wing
• When ball gets to wing, defence run past ball, offence drive the advantage
• On the kick out, must shoot
• Box out and rebound
• Keys to the drill –
  • “Perfect positioning”
  • Constantly coach the hands
  • “Find a body, find the ball”

Thanks to Basketball NSW and Wagga Basketball Association for their support and assistance with this clinic.