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2-2-1 Tempo PressBy Brad Stricklin

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction and Overview of 2-2-1 Press......................................................3

Court Geography............................................................................................5

Spot Responsibilities......................................................................................6

Early Denial ....................................................................................................8

Once the Ball is Inbounded ............................................................................9

Trapping the Sideline ................................................................................... 10

Middle Pass.................................................................................................. 11

Reversal Pass ..............................................................................................12

Inbounded Middle......................................................................................... 13

Hard Press or Scramble...............................................................................15

Ways to Mix it Up .........................................................................................15

2-1-2 Press...................................................................................................18

Half Court Zone: Zone or Man......................................................................19

Specific Drills for the 2-2-1 Press.................................................................20

Final Thoughts..............................................................................................25

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Introduction and Overview of the 2-2-1 Tempo Press

The team that controls the tempo of the game will usually win the battle, and pressing is

just one of many ways to control tempo. If you are already a pressing team, youprobably already have a good understanding of the importance that tempo has in

impacting the game.

However, when many fans, players, parents and even new coaches think of a full-court

press, they immediately think of aggressive and chaotic man-to-man pressure.

Although this is a great way to create total panic on the court, there are other options

when considering pressing strategies.

A man-to-man press is a great tool for speeding up the game and forcing turnovers.

Sometimes, when teams are under-skilled offensively in the half court, this is a vital

component in their game plan, letting them use their hard-fought defense to create more

shot attempts and easier buckets. However, what do you do if you want to create the

exact opposite effect? Instead of speeding up the game, what if you want to slow it

down? Perhaps you want to limit the total number of possessions in the game or maybe

you simply want to slow down an opponent that likes to run at every opportunity.

I strongly believe that, in order to slow down the tempo of the game, you must be

patient on defense as well as on offense. This is where the 2-2-1,aka Tempo, zone

press comes in handy.

The 2-2-1 press is called a tempo or containment press because it is just that: a tacticused to control and often slow down the tempo of a game. The compact formation of the

zone forces offensive teams and their point guards to patiently advance the ball up the

sidelines instead of attacking the middle of the floor. When the 2-2-1 is executed

properly, it forces long reversal passes from side to side, which runs valuable time off

the clock and therefore slows down the game.

This press is very unique when compared to other presses, such as a 1-2-1-1, a run

and jump, or even a straight man-to-man press. This set allows teams to press

effectively regardless of their speed and length, or rather, their lack of speed and length.

As you might have guessed by now, the whole key to running this Tempo presscorrectly and effectively is PATIENCE.

Unfortunately for many teams, regardless of the players ages and/or skill levels,

patience and tempo are extremely difficult things to grasp. What makes them so hard to

teach from a coaching standpoints that both tempo and patience are relatively

complicated concepts to define. If you are going to use this press, you must teach your

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players how to consistently recognize the exact game tempo that you are striving to

achieve.

Even though the primary premise of the 2-2-1 press is to keep the ball out of the middle

and to force long reversal passes from side to side, with proper instruction andrepetition, the 2-2-1 can evolve into a more aggressive trapping defense as well.

Benefits of the 2-2-1 Press:

Can play it soft to slow the game down or hard to speed the game up

Considered to be a safe press because it does not give up many layups

Forces your opponents into mistakes and turnovers

Does not require extremely quick players to run effectively

Gives you a reason to condition during practice

Eliminates the chance of a fast break/transition game

Wears opponents down mentally and physically

Makes the opposing coach hesitant to substitute

Eats up opponents practice time since they have to prepare for pressure

Can be easily altered to fit your personnel

Builds team unity and team chemistry

Whether you want to slow the game down or speed it up in hopes of forcing a

few turnovers, the 2-2-1 is a great tool to have in your arsenal for controlling the

overall tempo of a game

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Court GeographyCourt Geography

Before we present the inner workings of the press, we must discuss several areas of the

court that will aid you in your attempt to control the tempo.

There are four areas that we are going to discuss. In order to run this press effectively

and properly, you and your team must understand the importance of each area from the

very beginning.

1. Without a doubt, the most important

area of the court for this press is the

middle of the floor. Once the offense

enters the ball into the middle of the

floor, your press is doomed. You must

constantly and emphatically stress theimportance of keeping the ball out of

the middle and always force it down

the sideline. There are many

definitions of middle, but when it

comes to pressing, the middle of the

floor is the space behind your top spot

defenders and in the center of the

court.

2. The second area of emphasis is the

sideline. The entire effectiveness of

the 2-2-1 press is determined by how

well you can force the ball up the

sideline, or alley, as some coaches

like to call it. By forcing the ball up the

sideline, you are physically containing

the ball-handler and, more importantly,

limiting his vision. Without court vision,even skilled point guards will have to

surrender to your defense.

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3. The third important area of the floor is the middle space directly in front of your

top spot defenders. When the offense inbounds the ball against this press, more

times than not the receiver will throw the ball back to the inbounder. Now,

depending on whether the inbounder is also a ball-handler and whether you are

pressing soft or hard, there are some predetermined strategies you can employ.

As long as the offense is merely using the inbounder to reverse the ball from side

to side, you are in great shape.

4. The fourth and final important area on the court may also be the most crucial to

the success of your press. It is called the retreat spot, and when the ball enters

this designated area on the court, your team must immediately sprint and retreat

into your half-court defense.

Spot Responsibilities

The Top Spotsof the press typically belong to the guards. We usually play our guards

here for multiple reasons: our guards are typically quicker and better as ball defenders;

we want our top spots to be able to anticipate possible lob passes when denying, as

well as to take charges when cutters break too hard; and the players in these spots will

also need to defend both the ball and the middle of the court, which is something our

guards are adept at. As important as athletic ability is in our press, being coach ableand possessing a high basketball I.Q. is even more important. The top spots will be

much more effective if filled with intelligent players. In other words, thinking quickly is

just as important as moving quickly! A skill that most players in todays game lack is

court awareness. Your top spot players must always know where they are in relation to

the ball.

The Bluff Spotsare the second layer of the zone press and are responsible for forming

a trap with the top spot and stopping dribble penetration in the middle of the court. The

bluff spot is the most underrated spot in the press, and so we usually play our forwards

here for two main reasons. First, since they are most often taller than our guards, theyform a higher wall when setting the sideline trap and so can get more deflections.

Second, since the weak side bluff spot will more than likely be the second defender

back to protect the basket, we want a good rebounder in this position. The bluff spots let

other players in the press feel confident that they have a powerful backup to stop

runaway ball-handlers. This peace of mind lets the top spots play with complete

freedom and the protector stay mentally and physically aggressive.

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Last but not least is the Protector. This is generally our tallest player, though we will

also play someone here who is slightly smaller if he anticipates well and is a strong

rebounder. It is crucial that this player be completely committed to protecting the

basketand understands the importance of not gambling unnecessarily. The protector will

often be your last line of defense, and so if you dont have an intelligent player

occupying this spot, the opposing team may render your press totally ineffective.

Many coaches fall into the routine of playing the exact same players in the exact same

spots on the press time after time. Depending on what you are trying to accomplish with

your press, this may be a big mistake. Where you position your athletes should depend

on whether you are trying to slow the game down or to create turnovers.

For example, if you want to deny the inbounds pass and put more pressure on the ball,

play your guards in the top spots. If you want to speed up your opponent, you may want

to put your forwards in the top spots and entice the offensive guard to put his headdown and dribble through the pressure. If the offense continually attempts to throw the

long pass before your post player can get down the floor, put your second quickest

guard deep and have your post player defend one of the bluff spots. Your quickest

forward would then rotate up and play the top spot alongside your point guard. By

placing your personnel into the spots that best fit their skill sets, you can give your press

several different looks over the course of a single game and wreak havoc on your

opponents.

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Early DenialEarly Denial

One of the most imperative keys of the press is what happens before the ball has even

inbounded. While this alone does not make or break a press, it will certainly impact the

strength of its effectiveness.

Both top spots 1 and 2mustdeny and force any offensive players in their area out to the

sidelines. Typically, we tell our top spots to start one big step outside of each lane at

the free throw line extended (elbow area). If the offense insists on trying to inbound the

ball in between them, we will have the

top defenders start a little closer

together.

The bluff spots should initially begin

about 7 to 10 feet above the half-courtline, clogging the middle of the floor,

while the protector is as deep as the last

man of offense. This is usually 7 to 10

feet below the half court line on the

other side.

The goal of the preliminary denial is to

guide the opposing guards to the

sideline and allow them to catch the ball

in the corners of the floor. Remember tonever over-deny the offensive players,

since you want the ball passed into the

corner. As soon as the initial denial is in

place and the offensive guards are

going to the corner, it is important that

your players remove the pressure and

allow the ball to be inbounded!!

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Once the Ball is InboundedOnce the Ball is Inbounded

As soon as the ball is inbounded, the top spot must jump to the inside shoulder of the

ball-handler and force the ball-handler up the sideline. The on-ball defender now has

two responsibilities: (1) They must take away the ball-handlers vision and not allow the

diagonal cross-court pass; and (2) they must not get beaten to the middle! After the ball-

handler is pinned against the sideline, the opposite top spot defender must sink to the

middle of the court and deny any cutters flashing to the ball.

The far side bluff spot, X3, must now cheat up on the weak side to discourage the

cross-court pass from O1 to O2.

As in most other pressing defenses, the

cross-court man farthest away from the

ball is usually left open. This is thehardest pass for the ball-handler to make

when facing pressure. Even if the ball is

advanced to a diagonal cross-court

player, your team should have adequate

time to recover by sprinting back and

setting up in its half-court defense.

X4 must fight the urge to go with his man

when his offensive player clears out.

Instead, X4 must patiently positionhimself for the ball-handler to advance

and must be prepared to run at the ball in

hopes of establishing a trap. He may want

to retreat a few steps, making the sideline

path look open, and then get a running

start to set the trap. Ideally, the trap will

be set as soon as the ball is dribbled

across the half-court line so that the back-

court line can essentially be used as an

extra defender.

X5 is simply responsible for protecting the

basket at all costs.

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Trapping the SidelineTrapping the Sideline

Despite this particular presss main purpose of slowing down the game, there is an

element of surprise and aggression that can be utilized to keep the offense off balance

and out of sync.

Once the defenders are in proper defensive position, the offensive point guard will be

left with no choice but to attack and advance the ball by himself up the sideline. Once

the ball is in proximity of the half-court line, X4 will run at the ball in hopes of forming a

trap with X1. This trap will probably only be available the first few times the 2-2-1 press

is used. After that, the offense will

undoubtedly adjust its attack and may begin

to throw long lob passes that can be

intercepted by your defense.

While this initial trap is taking place, X2 must

deny any cutter that flashes to the middle.

This is the closest and easiest pass for the

ball-handler to make, and will often be

thrown automatically out of habit. This pass

should be completely denied the majority of

the time, but it is possible for the defense to

occasionally let the cutter look open and

then step in and intercept the pass.

X3 can now start to cheat up and deny the

pass from side to side or the pass behind

the ball handler.

The third option that the ball handler will

have is to pass the ball up the sideline. X5

must now position himself to fully deny the

sideline pass.

When this sequence is executed correctly by the defense, the offensive player farthestaway from the ball will be left open and he will usually be cross court and deep.

Particularly in lower levels of basketball, players are not yet strong enough to throw the

pass across their body to an open player that far away. Too many coaches get caught

up in the fact that a player is left open and will switch their defensive scheme

unnecessarily. Dont panic! Just because someone is momentarily left open doesnt

mean that he will receive the ball or that he will receive the ball in a position to hurt your

defense.

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Middle PassMiddle Pass

Unfortunately, not everything will always go as planned. As coaches, it is part of our job

to be fully prepared for every situation and then to position our athletes in areas where

they have the greatest opportunity to succeed. Luckily, with the correct guidance, you

too can plan and prepare for the worst scenarios.

The most common setting in which the

ball will be passed into the middle of the

court is when the ball handler is dribbling

up the sideline and passes early before

the defenders have a chance to trap.

When the ball is passed like this, it is

referred to as passing it into the gut of

the defense. This is why it is so essential

that X2 deny any cutters flashing to the

ball. If the ball is passed successfully into

the middle, it is critical that X1 and X4

turn and sprint back into the half court to

set up the defense. However, once the

cutter has received the ball, X2 must

contain the ball handler in order to give

his team a chance to get back on defense

and get a stop.

Any pass like this made to the middle of

the press initiates our retreating rule and

requires all five defenders to immediately

hustle back on defense.

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Reversal PassReversal Pass

After the ball has been inbounded near the corner, the ball-handler really has only one

of three options to choose from:

1) He can take the path of least resistance and dribble the ball up the sideline

where the trap is waiting to happen.

2) He can attempt to immediately dribble through the middle of the press, but that

shouldnt happen if the on-ball defender is doing his job and guiding the sideline.

3) Since he cannot pass directly to the middle because X2 is denying all cutters, the

only other reasonable option is to make a reversal pass to either the inbounder

stepping back in or to the other guard on the opposite side of the court.

If the ball handler chooses the third option and reverses the ball, X3 must then cheat up

and prevent the ball-handler from blowing by the defense until X2 can recover back out.

Once X2 has recovered back out onto the ball, X1 must drop and cover any middle

cutters, while X3 edges back up to half court. X4 is now the cheater and X5 moves to

the new strong side of the floor.

Now that the basics of the press have been covered, we can go further into alternative

strategies that can be used to confuse the offense and, more importantly, the opposing

point guard.

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Inbounded MiddleInbounded Middle

Experience lets us predict fairly accurately what adjustments the other coach will make

during half time and/or timeouts. One of the things that he will stress is not catching the

ball in the corner but rather in the middle of the court in the paint. His reasoning will be

that by catching the ball in the center of the key, the defense will be out of options and

will not be able to trap the ball.

The other adjustment that the other team will try to make is that once the ball is

inbounded near the corner, the guard will simply pass the ball back to the inbounder to

again avoid the trap along the sideline. Regardless of what the offense does, there are

counter adjustments that can be made to once again give your team the advantage.

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One of my favorite things to do when the opposition passes the ball back to an

inbounder(especially if the inbounder is a 4 or 5 man) is to have the X2 player in the top

spot pick up the new ball-handler man-to-man and force him to dribble to his left.

Because most players are not as skilled or as comfortable using their left hand, they are

likely to make a mistake. They may begin to put their heads down and dribble out of

control and definitely will not be able to pass the ball as well with their left hand.

After forcing the ball left along the sideline, X2 must then try to get his shoulders in front

and cut off or turn the ball-handler. While the ball-handler is dribbling full speed,

possibly with his head down, X1 will sprint and attempt to trap from behind just as X2 is

turning him. X3 then cheats up and will deny any cross-court pass back to the opposing

guards.

If a pass is somehow made out of the trap, then everyone sprints back to their

designated half-court defense.

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Hard Press or Scramble

Although the 2-2-1 full-court zone press is best used to control the tempo of the game

by slowing it down, it is still essential that you throw in enough counters to keep theoffense from ever getting comfortable.

One of the things that our team has been doing lately is throwing in a HARD press or a

SCRAMBLE press. The basic formation and alignment is the same as that of a normal

2-2-1. However, instead of patiently waiting until the offense dribbles into your trap at

half court; your team becomes more aggressive and starts to force the action much

earlier.

We have found that this is a great strategy to use sporadically, such as at the end of a

quarter, when coming out of a timeout, or when your opponents second string point

guard is in the game. The temporary but sudden increase in pressure may result in

some quick turnovers and possibly some easy baskets, and then you can go back to

using your normal press.

Ways to Mix it Up

You dont need a million defenses in order to be effective, but you do need to have

counters and variations that you can apply throughout the game. A great way to change

the look of the 2-2-1 press is to simply change the pickup trigger point. A trigger point iswhere the first line of defense is actually lined up.

There are three basic trigger points that a coach can use: full court, three-quarters court

and half court. Anything below half court is just considered to be your half-court

defense.

Because we have already talked about the full-court press, we are going to spend a few

minutes covering the differences between the three-quarters and the half-court trigger

points.

Three-Quarter Court Trigger Point

The three-quarter court trigger point is generally designated between the 3-point line

and the free throw line in the back court. The exact same principles used in the full-court

press also apply in this formation. To eliminate confusion, this trigger point is used only

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when called from the bench or after predetermined situations, such as coming out of a

timeout or after a successful free throw.

One of the biggest advantages of this trigger point is that it gives the illusion of being a

softer defense with wide open alleys to dribble through. Often, point guards will see thepress being backed off and try to dribble through it themselves, which gives the defense

a great opportunity to trap. From a zone pressing standpoint, it is much easier to defend

the dribble than it is to defend quick, attacking passes. The other advantage of this

trigger point is that it shortens the court and presents a lower risk of giving up layups.

The biggest disadvantage here is the possibility of the long pass thrown deep down the

court. The lack of immediate pressure allows more experienced offensive guards to get

a good look at the entire court, and their unimpaired vision often results in passing the

ball to the middle where the press can easily be broken.

Half-Court Trigger Point

The goal of the half-court trigger point is to simply take time off the clock by making the

offense reverse the ball a few times before getting into their half-court offense. Many

coaches and their teams are more afraid of half-court traps than they are of full-court

presses, and as a result play much more tentatively. When run correctly, the 2-2-1 with

a half-court trigger point will rarely, if ever, give up any layups, and so it is a very safe

defensive option. Teams lacking speed can always use this type of formation because

the players do not have far to retreat in order to protect the basket.

A disadvantage of using a half-court trigger point is that it takes a little longer to get into

position, which could give a fast-breaking opponent time to attack before the defense is

entirely set up. Another thing to be aware of is that this type of formation has a tendency

to give up 3-point shot attempts, which is great if you are playing against a below-

average shooting team, but if you are playing against a team with several outstanding 3-

point shooters, this trigger point should be used sparingly.

As with the three-quarter court trigger point, pressing in the half court is also usually a

set call from the bench or a press that occurs in specific situations.

Alternating the Trigger Points

One of the most effective strategies when using the 2-2-1 press (or any press, for that

matter) is to constantly alternate your trigger points. This keeps the offense from

becoming comfortable enough to anticipate the open gaps in the zone press. For

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example, going from full court to half court to three-quarter court and back to full court

will keep the offense guessing as to where the traps will take place. This uncertainty will

most likely result in either an increased number of turnovers and/or steals or will slow

the offense down to a standstill. Either result is great for your defense!

If you are going to alternate trigger points, then try this tactic: Start each and every

defensive possession in the same full-court 2-2-1 formation. If you are doing 1 (full

court), then you are already in position. If you are doing 3 (three-quarter court) or 5

(half court), then have everyone on defense start backpedaling as soon as the ball is

inbounded until they are in the proper position. Insist that your defenders keep the exact

same spacing while retreating into their new positions if the bluff spots are ten feet

behind the top spots in the full-court formation, they need to be ten feet behind in the

three-quarter and half-court formations as well.

Develop a sequence that works for your personnel and that your team can easilyremember. Establish the rule that will you change trigger points each time your

opponent inbounds the ball UNLESS you get a steal and a score then you will return

to the same trigger for the next possession.

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2-1-2 Press

There is an outstandingalternative to the 2-2-1 tempo press that is even more versatile,

can be even more effective, and can control the tempo of the game even moredecidedly, and that is the 2-1-2 full-court press.

The initial alignment of the 2-1-2 places the players in the bluff spots deeper on the

sidelines and moves the protector up to the mid-court area. We call this player starting

in the middle the Trapper. The players in the top spots keep the same positioning.

In its simplest form, the 2-1-2 has the exact same slides and responsibilities as the 2-2-

1, except now the sideline trap is set with one of the top spot players and the trapper

instead of the top spot and the bluffer. The strong side bluffer now has the responsibility

of cutting off the pass down the sideline, while the weak side bluffer has the same

responsibilities as before. With the trapper starting in the center of the court, the offense

does not have the option of throwing its first pass right down the middle. As with the 2-2-

1, this will slow down the offense and the game.

But what makes the 2-1-2 so powerful is all of its possible adjustments! One such

adjustment would be to have both players in the top spots completely face guard nose

to nose with the offensive guard and fully deny the inbounds pass. If and when the

offensive guards screen for each other, the defense simply switches and continues to

face guard. The trapper comes to the top of the key and looks to steal any lob passes.

The offense has no almost no choice but to bring a thirdpass receiver up to relieve the

pressure.

If there is only one guard available to receive the inbounds pass, the two players in the

top spots can double team him and not only make the pass nearly impossible, but

physically wear the offense out. The trapper is then free to look for any cutters breaking

all the way up to receive the inbounds pass.

Heres another great adjustment. If the ball is inbounded near the corner and guided

down the sideline, then the 2-1-2 press is executed as normal with the trap being set at

half court. But if the ball is reversed back to the inbounder, then the trapper sprints to

pick up the man with the ball and the defense automatically morphs into man-to-man.This is especially effective if the inbounder is your opponents 4 or 5 player and your

trapper is a third guard capable of pressuring the ball. These three adjustments will all

help speed up the game.

If you are looking for even more adjustments, try moving the trigger point back to either

three-quarters court or to half court. But whatever adjustments you make, combine them

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with the many options already discussed with the 2-2-1 to develop a complete and

dominant system of pressing.

Half-Court Defense: Zone or Man?

Now the question is, what type of half-court defense should you run to complement your

2-2-1 press?

The general rule of thought has always been that if youre using a full-court zone press,

then you should drop back into a half-court zone. When pressing in a zone system, you

are obviously not matched up with a particular man, but are defending an area instead.

When defenders are then forced to retreat out of the press and match up with an

individual man, three major problems can occur: (1) The offensive player could be allthe way on the opposite side of the floor, making him difficult to find amidst all the

scrambling; (2) When falling back into man-to-man coverage, defenders often retreat

too early in order to find their assigned man, and thus the full-court zone press

dissipates before it can achieve its desired outcome; or(3) Often, defenders are so

worried about matching up with their individual assignments that they leave the player

with the ball and give up an uncontested 3-point shot or a layup. Of course, when that

happens, it is invariably followed with the common But thats not my man! excuse.

If you are the type of coach who insists on only playing man-to-man in the half court,

then you may want to consider having your players match up with the closest player intheir area of the zone and then switching everything later. This way you can play man-

to-man defense but will not face the three main problems discussed above.

Now that you have decided on dropping back into a half-court zone defense, the

question becomes, what kind of zone should you run? There are three major zone

defenses: the 1-3-1, the 1-2-2 and the 2-3. The most commonly used of these isthe 2-3,

although the 1-3-1 seems to be making a recent comeback in popularity.

Each defense has its own strengths and weaknesses, but your ultimate choice should

be primarily determined by your teams personnel. The 2-3 and2-1-2 zones make the

most immediate sense because they are in the same basic formation as the 2-2-1 full-

court press.

Here are some things to consider when determining which half-court zone to use. If your

protector is a post player, then a 2-3 or 2-1-2 is an easy and sensible choice. This also

applies if you have three bigger, slower players on the floor or if you have a dominant

shot blocker that can protect the basket.

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If your protector is either a point guard type or a long, athletic 3 player, then you may

want to slide him up the middle of the lane and use a 1-2-2 or 1-3-1. These two types of

zone defenses also fit teams that play three smaller or quicker players and two bigger

players.

Specific Drills for the 2-2-1 Press

Guard Covers Middle

The successful execution of a 2-2-1 press largely depends on the ability of your players

to contain the ball and keep it out of the middle of the court. To help ingrain this in the

minds of our top spot players, we practice the Guard Covers Middle drill two to three

times a week.

To run this drill, you will need three offensive players. These three players can be actual

team members, coaches or managers. Position your tallest offensive player/coach in

the middle of the floor. The two remaining offensive players should position themselves

as if they were preparing to advance the ball down the floor. O1 and O2 will then

reverse the ball back and forth while the top spot defenders react on the pass.

X1 and X2 will execute the same movements as they would in the press and should

work together as if they were attached with a string. (We have actually heard of some

coaches who have tied a thin rope around the waists of these two defenders in order toemphasize working together and maintaining proper defensive spacing!) One will

pressure the inside shoulder of the ball handler while the other drops and fronts any

cutters (in this case, the third offensive player).

It is important that O1 and O2 be patient and wait for X1 and X2 to drop into their spots.

This is a defensive drill and not the time for the offense to burn the defense. As the

defense progresses and gets faster, O1 and O2 can begin to challenge the defense by

moving the ball more quickly. Then, instead of having a player remain stationary in the

middle of the floor, you can break players into the middle and force the top spot

defenders to front them.

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Back 3 ShiftsBack 3 Shifts

Now that we have discussed how to drill the top spot defenders, we must turn our

attention to the back three defenders. This drill will train the two bluff defenders as well

as the protector to quickly rotate side to side as the ball is reversed.

To run this drill, you need two to four offensive players/coaches. As in the drill above,

you can use players, coaches or managers to perform this drill. Place two offensive

players in the back

court, spaced out from

sideline to sideline, and

the remaining two

offensive players

directly opposite them

in the front court.

O1 starts with the ball.

The closest bluff spot

should be positioned

around half court since

the opposition would be

anticipating the trap.

The opposite bluff spot

should be cheating up

to contain dribble penetration when the ball is reversed. The protector should be takingaway the pass down the sideline.

When the ball is reversed, the cheat bluff spot must bluff at the ball and then recover to

half court. The other bluff spot now becomes the cheater and starts to edge up to O1.

The protector sprints to the opposite sideline and once again takes away the pass down

the sideline.

This can be extremely difficult

for the protector to execute,

especially if he lacks foot speed.The players in this spot need to

have a great work ethic. It also

helps if you work with them to

improve their ability to anticipate

the reversal pass and get a

slight head start.

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Top Spot RideTop Spot Ride

Top Spot Ride is often referred to as Guard Ride and Slide. Regardless of the name,

the purpose of this drill is to emphasize the importance of riding the ball handler and

forcing him down the sideline.

To start, have your players pair up with teammates of equal athleticism. Next, have your

players form two lines on the baseline, one in one corner and one in the opposite

corner. Even though this is a defensive drill,

be sure to emphasize good ball handling

skills on the part of the offense: head up,

strong arm bar, stop and go dribbling, and

hand on top of the ball to make sure a

carrying violation doesnt occur.

Have the offensive player take two or three

hard dribbles down the sideline, stop

momentarily, and then take a few more hard

dribbles and repeat the sequence of dribbling

and stopping all the way down the sideline to

the opposite corner.

The defensive player muststay on the inside

hip of the ball-handler and so must start and

stop right alongside him. Get too far in frontand the ball-handler can go behind his back

and get to the middle. Get too far behind and

the ball handler can cross over or cut off the

defender and get to the middle.

There are two ways for you to rotate your

athletes. You can have the same offensive

player dribble down right handed and then

come back left handed before switching with the defensive player, or you can have the

offense go down with the right, switch, and have the other player come back with his lefthand before switching back to the original player. Either way, make sure all players get

the opportunity to handle the ball with both hands. (We are emphasizing defense, but

working on ball handling at the same time!)

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Guard DenialGuard Denial

This next drill is used to teach our top spot defenders to effectively deny any cutters and

in this drill so that everyone can

allow the offensive player to break back to

o help

our offense.)

force them to the corners.

Begin by having two coaches line up with basketballs on the baseline on opposite sides

of the key. The coaches are going to act as inbounders

get as many reps as possible in a short period of time.

Next, have your designated top spot defenders start at the top spots (right below the

free throw line and one step out from the key towards the sideline) just like a typical

pressing situation. Have the remaining players on the team form two lines at the 3-point

line facing the coaches on the baseline. The players in the line will act as offensive

pass receivers cutting towards the ball. Their objective is to try to cut to the middle of

the floor and receive a pass from a coach. The defenders must jump to the insideshoulders of the cutters and force the action to the corner. The defenders must also be

instructed not to take any fakes towards the corner. We want the ball passed to the

corner, so we are be distracted by a fake and

the middle.

In order to maximize

repetitions, only rotate those

who will play the top spots

through this drill. If your

guards are usually in thesespots, then you can conduct

this drill when you divide

your team up to do position

work. Six to eight minutes

should provide plenty of

work. (Again, emphasize

that the offensive cutters go

hard and make the drill as

game-like as possible. This

will make your defensestronger and will als

y

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24 www.HoopSkills.com24 www.HoopSkills.com

Man in the MiddleMan in the Middle

Ball pressure is a key ingredient to any defense that hopes to create offensive

turnovers. Man in the Middle is not only a great way to practice closing out, but more

importantly is good practice for shadowing the ball and getting deflections.

Divide your team into groups of three players.

Place two offensive players about 15 feet

apart. One of the players has a basketball and

is guarded closely by a defender. On the first

whistle, the offensive players will begin to

pass the ball back and forth while the lone

defender closes out, shadows and pressures

the ball, and attempts to deflect each return

pass. The process is then repeated over andover. On the second whistle, the defender will

stop pressuring the ball and sprint to the

opposite end line and back before changing

places with one of the passers. This will

simulate sprinting out of the trap when

pressing in order to get back on defense.

To make this drill even more competitive, have

each defender count the number of deflections

e achieves while in the middle and then finda way to reward the winner.h

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Final Thoughts

Its not an accident that the 2-2-1 Tempo press is the most widely used full-court press

in the game of basketball. Its safe, doesnt give up many layups, and can be taught toyour team in a relatively short period of time. Its simple enough to be taught and run by

of the press, but have the courage

report we have talked about the 2-2-1 full-court press and many of its possible

pens consistently, then a lot of good things are going to

appen to your defense, but without that commitment from everyone your press will

grade-school teams, yet can be tweaked and adjusted into a complete college-level

pressing system capable of frustrating even the most experienced point guards.

However, a word of warning is necessary. There are going to be times when the offense

is not affected by your pressure and will even occasionally get an easy basket or two. If

you absolutely must, then go ahead and drop out

and guts to go back and try it again later. For some reason, coming back to the press

after faltering a little bit often brings great success.

In this

adjustments and variations, but we have left out something very, very important. Until

now.

One of the major secrets to the success of this press, and any press for that matter, is a

teams overall ability and commitment to recover. Every single player on the team must

be fully committed to always playing in front of the ball, or the press is not going to be

successful in the long run. In other words, once the ball passes over, around, or by a

defender, that defender needs to put his head down and SPRINT to recover and get in

front of the ball again. If that hap

h

never be championship caliber.

2-2-1_tempo_press

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