Basketball Coach

1. #4 always takes the ball out of bounds.
2. #3 lines up on the right side of the floor near the top of the key area and #2 lines up opposite of #3 on the left side of the floor.
3. #5 lines up the free throw line and will turn and set a screen for #1 who is lined up at the top of the key. #1 will cut off the #5’s screen in either direction, but must avoid the corners where he can be easily be trapped. #5 will then break opposite of #1, also avoiding the corners.
4. #2 and #3 should break long first and then come back hard for the ball if #1 or #5 cannot get open
5. #4 will look to make the long pass first, hoping to catch the defense off guard. (Carolina!)
6. Once the ball is inbounded players line up at 45 degree angels to move the ball up the floor.
7. After inbounding the ball, #4 should stay behind the ball at a 45 degree angle.
8. #5 goes “circle to circle”
9. If no one can get open, players should go away from the ball and then come back for a pass.
10. We want to keep good floor spacing and Z the floor.
11. Look to score. ATTACK THE BASKET!

In our diamond press one of our rules is “one and done”. This means that we will trap one time and then get back to our half-court defense. In order to be effective with our pressure we must not only do an effective job trapping, but also do a good job getting back into transition. The Six Person Drill is one of the drills that we use at St. Jerome’s to work on our transition defense.

Three offensive players line up on the baseline, with three defensive players facing them lined up across the free throw line extended. A coach will be on one sideline with the basketball. In each group we will have a 1 and 5 person with the third player being a 2, 3, or 4 player.

The drill begins when the coach tosses the ball towards the offense, as shown in diagram 34. The offense moves the ball down the floor on a fast break. X5 must get back to protect the basket, while X1 must get back to stop the ball near the top of the key. The third defensive player in the drill must touch the baseline before getting back on defense. After touching the baseline X3 will move quickly down the floor and become the third defensive player.

As the middle person on the fast break dribbles the ball down the floor, X1 moves out to stop the ball near the top of the key area. As the pass is made to the wing, X5 who was protecting the basket moves out to cover the person with the ball, as X1 drops back to protect the basket, as shown in diagram 35. Defensively we are concerned first of all with protecting the basket. We do not wish to give up a lay-up, and secondly we want to stop ball penetration, while putting pressure on the ball. The third person down the floor, in this case X3, will go ball side of the point. In this case the ball was passed to the left side of the defense, so X3 will come down the left side of the floor. X3 is now in position to intercept a pass made back to the point or to get in show position between the ball and the person at the top of the key. At the same time X5 is now pressuring the ball and X1 is not protecting the basket.

In the Six Person Drill the coach may have two players touch the baseline, as shown in diagram 36. In this case X1 and X3 must touch the baseline before going back on defense, thus leaving X5 to protect the basket creating a 1 on 3 situstion. What we want to do defensively is not give up a lay-up. We want to force the offense to shoot a jump-shot, even if this means an 8-10 foot jump-shot, which is better than giving up a lay-up. Consequently, X5 positions himself 1 1/2 to 2 steps in front of the basket and takes away any drive to the basket. X5 must not leave the basket area.

X1 and X3 move quickly down the floor after touching the baseline with each choosing a side of the floor, as shown in diagram 37. X1and X3 will try to increase the defensive pressure or be in position to rebound if a shot and already been taken.

Since it is X5’s responsibility to protect the basket, we will give X5 more repetitions in this drill, but it is important that we also put X1 in this drill because X1 must protect the basket until X5 gets into position. In fact, all players must protect the basket at one time or another, so it would not hurt to have everyone work in this drill.

In our practices we try to utilize time and floor space the best we can, so while we are working 3 on 3 in the backcourt, on the other half of the floor we are working on our 3 on 2 half-court drills. Our 3 on 3 drill works with our 4, 2, and 3 players in our diamond press, while our 3 on 2 half-court drills works with our 1 and 5 players.

We start with three offensive players behind the half-court line and with X1 and X5 on the other side of the half-court line, as shown in diagram 29. On the command of the coach, three offensive players go to attack the basket. X1 and X5 must quickly get back in transition defense. X1 must stop the ball and X5 must protect the basket.

X1 stops the ball near the top of the key area, while X5 protects the basket and then goes with the first pass, as shown in diagram 30. As the pass is made to the wing, X5 leaves the basket and goes to the ball. X1 must now drop back to protect the basket. We cannot leave the basket unprotected and allow a lay-up off of our press.

In diagram 31 above, X1 and X5 have switched sides of the floor. This is important because in our press they will end up playing on both sides of the floor. In diagram 32 X1 has put himself in position to stop the ball near the top of the key area and X5 is positioned at 1 1/2 to 2 steps in front of the basket in order to protect the basket.

In diagram 33 the ball is being passed before the ball nears the top of the key or X1. In this case X1, the defender at the top of the key, will go with the ball and the back person, X5, would stay and protect the basket.

In breaking down our press we try to make practice tougher than game situations, so sometimes we will go 4 against 5. This makes the job of X1 much tougher because X1 does not have X5 to help take away the long cross court pass. In this drill the responsibilities if X4, X3 and X2 remain the same, but we are now also working with X1 to read the offense and try to take away the long pass. X1 shows ball side, in diagram 26, X1 is showing towards the left side of the floor. X1 reads the offense and does not get beat by the same pass two times in a row.

In diagrams 27 and 28, X1 is showing to the right side of the floor. In this drill the offense can only throw the ball into the backcourt, because X5 is not present. When the ball is inbounded on the right side, as is beign shown in diagram 27, X4 and X3 form the trap and X2 moves ball side, as we see in diagram 28. X1 will show to the ball, but now has two people to cover, again X1 must not get beat by the same pass two times in a row. We are still limiting the drill to the backcourt.

In diagram 24 we are working on the front part of our press. We are working on influencing the ball to the corner and then on forming the trap. Since we do not have X1 in this particular drill, we will not allow a long entry pass down the floor or any entry pass beyond the free throw line. Later we will add X1 and two more offensive players.

Once the ball is inbounded on the left side, as shown in diagram 25, X2 and X4 form the trap, using the endline and the sideline as two more defenders. X3 moves ball side to take away any pass back to the middle. In this drill and in all drills we emphasize our press rules, so X3 must not get beat by the same pass twice in a row.

At UW-Plateville we teach by the whole-part method. We will introduce a major concept and then continue to break it down and work on different parts. We not only use the whole-part method with our offense and with our defense, but with our press as well. What follows are a few of the drills that we use in breaking down the press.

Some teams will try and beat our diamond pressure by applying more offensive pressure in the backcourt, as we see in diagrams 22 and 23. They will do so by bringing a third person towards the ball in the middle of the floor. As we stated earlier, we cannot allow an inbounds pass to enter the lane area. We will counter this offensive strategy by taking our 4 person off of the ball and putting him into the lane, where X4 will deny any pass into the lane. Then, when the ball is inbounded, we are still in our diamond pressure. X2 and X4 will trap the left side, X3 and X4 will trap the right side, X1 has the next pass up the floor out of the trap and X5 has basket responsibility.

At times we may take the 4 person off of the ball just to give our opponents a different look, forcing them to make another decision.

If the initial or entry pass is made beyond the front line of our defense, as shown in diagram 20, we will get back on defense right away and not give up a lay-up. Remember, we want to get back to the paint and find our people from the inside out. We do not want to chase the ball down the floor. The only exception would be for the person guarding a prolific 3 point shooter, that defender woud pick up their person at the 3 point arc.

In transition, X1 must stop the ball near the top of the key and X5 must protect the basket, as we see in diagram 21. If the offensive player with the ball takes the ball towards X1 then makes a pass, X5 would go with the pass and X1 would drop back to protect the basket. If the offensive player with the ball passes the ball before nearing X1, then X1 would go with the pass and X5 would stay and protect the basket.

In diagram 17, the ball is being inbounded to our left. We are trying to keep the offense on one side of the floor to cut down the area that we need to cover. We try to do so, by having X4 overplay the middle and invite the pass to the near corner.

In diagram 18, the inbounder decides to run the baseline and move from our left to right. The inbounder may run the baseline and move from our left to right. The inbounder may run the baseline after a made basket or after a defensive goaltending call. If the inbounder runs the baseline, we must adjust our defensive press positions. X4 must go with the inbounder and keep pressure on the ball. X3 moves from one position to the right side of the floor, as X2 moves from the left side to show position. X1 will go ball side moving from left to right. X5 will go from right to left to cover the cross court pass.

Diagram 19 shows our new press positions with the ball now on the right side of the floor.