Transition Defense
- Designate “get back guys”. “Get back guys” are not permitted to attack the offensive boards and are always responsible for getting back. Normally, our 1 and 2 are responsible for getting back on the RAISE of the shot. We feel getting back while the shooter is in the upward movement of his shot gives us the necessary time to be set on defense. We feel like holding players accountable to their “job” is very important on the defensive end.
- Sprint to the pack on the change of possession. Most players, including myself as a player, would rather jog back or backpedal and watch the offensive action coming towards them. We want to hold our players accountable to turn and sprint. There is nothing more selfish than not sprinting back on defense.
- It is not good enough to be back, we need to be set. We want to be ready to help and defend actions before the offense starts its attack. Love this quote from SUN TZU ON TRANSITION DEFENSE: “Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy will be fresh; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.”
- First 3 steps are the most important (3 seconds to get across ½ court). When running sprints in preseason, this is something very easy to focus on.
- NO BUDDY RUNNING! TEAM mindset not ME mindset. “Buddy running” is simply jogging next to your man instead of sprinting back and helping a teammate or getting set on defense before any offensive action begins. Coaches must not allow players to jog back under any circumstance.
- TALK & POINT! We have to demand our players to verbally call out whom they are guarding and point to their man. We have found showing lack of communication on film to be helpful in having our players understand why communication is important.
- Open shots beat you a lot more than mismatches. We want to be a team that challenges every shot. In today’s game with so many players being able to shoot the “3”, we would rather have a mismatch than allow an open shot, especially from “3”.
- No time to talk to refs. Commit to sprinting back vs. complaining to officials. If you are doing your job for us, there is no time to talk to officials during the action.
The “secret sauce” to transition defense is holding our players accountable. Simple concept but very difficult to follow through on a daily basis.
JOG = LOSE SPRINT = WIN
SUN TZU ON TRANSITION DEFENSE = “Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy will be fresh; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.”
