Using the Sideline as an Extra Defender

These five defensive possessions from the January 12, Victory Baptist game prove two things: the defense should use the sideline as an extra defender when given the chance, and the Eagles players do a great job of listening to their coaches and learning quickly.
The first three possessions, taken from the first half, show the Victory Baptist guards dribbling hard up the right sideline, which often happens when a team faces defensive pressure in the backcourt. An objective of our defense is to put enough pressure on the ball to get the ball handler to get "out of control", which essentially means that his focus is solely on the task of driving past his man, and therefore not on finding an open teammate or getting his team into a good offensive set. In this situation, it is important for the on "the ball" defender's teammates to help when the ball handler starts to beat his defender up the court. Because the ball handler is dribbling up the sideline, the "help man" has a great opportunity to use the sideline as an "extra defender". In fact there are two potential "extra defenders" during these plays, the sideline and the halfcourt line, not to mention the two actual defenders that have an opportunity to trap the ball handler.
Rather than take this opportunity, three different Eagles shy away from the potential contact and allow the ball handler to advance the ball up the sideline. One play results in a foul against the Eagles and another in a basket for Victory Baptist. During none of the first three plays do the Eagles take advantage of the opportunity to trap the ball and either force a turnover or otherwise wreak havoc on the offense.
Yet the Eagles quickly learned, after a halftime lecture, how to stop the ball from advancing up the sideline, as is evident in the next two possessions taken from the second half. Kip Custer (#10 blue) and Nathaniel Crown (#24 blue) both, on consecutive possessions, help the "on the ball" defender by cutting off the path up the right sideline. This causes the offense to work much harder and leads to a deflection in the first possession and a turnover in the second.

2 on 1 (Give it up)

There are a number of things in this clip for a coach to love. Let's start with the end of the clip as it provides a good transition from the last post. Kip Custer (#10 white) gets the ball in the open court with a teammate, Austin Crown (#2 white), in position to attack one defender, a "2 on 1" fast break. Since Crown is slightly ahead and the pass is faster than the dribble, Custer wisely passes him the ball. He then "gets wide", making the defender "make a decision" between stopping the ball and defending the pass. The defender steps in Crown's path, and Crown passes the ball to Custer for the layup. Great execution!

As with the last post, the fast break is made possible by a team defensive effort. Austin Crown helps Brian Wilson (#4 white) when he is screened by Crown's man near the top of the key, only to recover to Crown's original man when the pass is made to the "roller". Matt Miller (#14 white) aggressively denies the easy pass to the Panthers' best player (#23 black), forcing him to catch it in an awkward post position. Custer helps Miller make #23 take a tough shot and Miller boxes out, rebounds, and makes the outlet pass to Custer to start the break, all while falling to the floor.

2 on 1 (Keep the ball)

In an earlier post, I briefly described the proper way to execute the "2 on 1" fastbreak. In this post and the next post, the two basic options are illustrated by various Eagles. This post ends with Matt Miller (#14 white) demonstrating what to do when the defender fails to step in front of the dribbler and stop him from driving all the way to the basket. In this scenario, as Miller shows, the ball handler should drive all the way to the basket and shoot a lay up. A key to making this work is spacing. The two offensive players must be wide enough so that the defender cannot stop the ball and recover to the other man once the pass is made. We say that we want to "make the defender make a decision." If he decides to play the man that does not have the ball, which he is essentially doing by not stepping in the ball handler's path to the basket, then he has made the decision to give up a layup to the man dribbling.


Even great "2 on 1" plays are made possible by an entire team working together. Watch Nick Brucker (#34 white) hustle back on defense once he realizes that he is out of position defensively after the opposition gets the defensive rebound following Kip Custer's (#10 white) miss. Brucker goes from being the last man to transition to defense to being in great defensive position, allowing Custer to contest the Panthers' shot. Brucker then gets his hand on the rebound and causes it to be secured by his teammate, Miller, starting the "2 on 1" break.

In the Passing Lane (one pass away)

In an earlier post, I talked about the importance of playing defense with the feet rather than the hands. Great man to man defense starts with the player guarding the ball. Making the ball handler constantly "turn" creates the chance for the ball handler to turn the ball over to the defense. The next key is for the defender that is guarding the offensive player closest to the ball, and therefore the player that is most likely to receive the ball in a good position to hurt the defense, to deny the pass by placing the back of his arm in the passing lane while facing his man, while at the same time seeing both his man and the ball handler. This is a tough job (we call it defending the man "one pass away") because the defender has the responsibility to help his teammate that is guarding the ball if that teammate's man drives to the basket. We call managing these two responsibilities "walking and chewing gum". It is very important to the success of the defense.


Matt Miller (#14 white) does an excellent job in this clip of being in the proper position to steal the pass without sacrificing the proper defensive fundamentals. The best thing about this possession is that Miller would not have been out of position to defend his man even if he had not been able to steal the ball. The defender often completely takes himself out of the play and leaves his teammates in a vulnerable position when trying for a steal. Miller does no such thing because he exercises the proper fundamentals. He also converts a three point play after the steal.

Look up! (again)

Staying with the theme of getting great shots by attacking the defense before it is set, and doing so by advancing the ball with the pass, Matt Miller (#14 white) turns a "3 on 3" break into a layup with an exceptionally placed pass to Austin Crown (#2 white). The pass in this clip, and the shot for that matter, is not recommended to all players at all levels as both require a degree of skill not shared by all. It was an impressive play, and one that helped get the Eagles on track early in the game for an impressive victory against the Columbia Panthers.

Look up!

An important concept for basketball players to understand is that it is much quicker to advance the ball up the court with the pass than with the dribble. As long as the player is open and able to handle the ball well once he gets it, it is always smart to advance the ball with the pass, since it is easier to score against a defense that is not set. If the player that receives the ball does not have an advantage or an easy shot, he can always pull the ball out and give his teammates time to get into the offense.


It has been encouraging to see the Eagles play as unselfishly as they have. During this possession, Nathaniel Crown (#24 white) secures the defensive rebound, and he is able to start the fast break by dribbling straight up the middle of the court. He quickly sees Austin Crown (#2 white) ahead of him and advances the ball to him with a nice chest pass. This pass and the fact that Matt Miller (#14 blue) runs the court aggressively on the opposite side from Austin Crown, allows the Eagle to have a "2 on 1" fast break opportunity. Austin Crown properly takes the ball all the way to the basket for the layup because the defender fails to step in front of his path. Had the defender placed his body in Crown's way, the proper play would have been to pass the ball to Miller. But he didn't and Miller was there for the possible offensive rebound, which in the end was not needed, as Crown converted the layup.

Play D with your Feet

A defensive principle that we teach is to "play defense with our feet, not our hands." In the case of defending the dribbler bringing the ball up the court, we believe that if the defender aggressively moves his feet and gets his body into the path of the dribbler, causing him to "turn" (which basically means doing anything that he wasn't planning on doing before the defender impeded his progress) enough times, that the chances are high that the ball handler will "give" the defender the ball. So there is no need to "reach", which causes fouls and opportunities for the defender to get beaten to the basket. The defender needs only to wait for the ball handler to make a mistake. Then he can accept the gift and go the other way to score.


Austin Crown (#2 white) shows us how this is done in this clip. After cutting the dribbler's path off with aggressive defense, the ball handler loses control of the ball after attempting to dribble the ball behind his back. Crown is then able to grab the ball and go score a layup on the first defensive possession of the new year.

Team Defense and Team Offense

The Augusta Eagles have won three straight and five of their last seven games. The players have improved tremendously on the defensive end, with the entire team eagerly embracing the concept of team defense. The Eagles are also exercising much better shot selection and teamwork on the offensive end, resulting in higher shooting percentages and significantly higher scoring totals (for the Eagles).
In the first seven games of the season, ending with the Garden City Classic, the Eagles scored an average of 57 points per game, while the opponents of the Eagles scored an average of 65 points per game. In the last seven games, beginning with the December 8th contest against the Columbia Panthers and ending with January 14th win against the Low Country Wildcats, the Eagles have reversed these figures, scoring 64 points and giving up 52 points per contest.
An even more encouraging statistic is the performance of the team since the holidays. The players worked very hard over the break and committed to a total team effort. In the new year, the Eagles have scored an average of 72 points per game and have only surrendered 49 points per outing. At the same time, the contribution by the Eagles' bench in minutes played and all other statistical categories has skyrocketed.
The selected clip illustrates the improvement in the Eagles' team defense, rebounding, and shot selection. After ball pressure on the perimeter provides an opportunity for a Panther ball handler (#24 black) to drive to the basket, Brian Wilson (#4 white) steps into the offensive player's path to stop the drive and force an extra pass. Nathaniel Crown (#24 white), whose man is on the opposite side of the court relative to the ball, is in the proper defensive position (the middle of the lane), which allows him to "help the helper" and step in front of Wilson's man. A tough jump shot is forced. Kip Custer (#10 white) is in perfect position to box out Crown's man, and he wisely does so. The Eagles have great rebounding position and they come away with the ball.
The Eagles then unselfishly move the ball from one side of the court to another against the Panthers' zone. All five players touch the ball at some point in the possession and they are constantly looking to attack the basket with the drive and the pass. As the defense is forced to work and the offense continues to move the ball and its bodies, Kip Custer finds an opening and buries the mid range jump shot.

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This clip reinforces a point made by Pat Knight (Bobby Knight's son): "Even terrible motion is good motion." (paraphrased) After the offensive player in the corner passes the ball to his teammate above the top of the key, he cuts through the paint rather than staying in the same spot. That causes Matt Miller (#14 blue) to follow him through the paint, opening a driving lane on the right side of the court for the ball handler. Had the player in the corner stayed in one spot, Miller would have been there to help his teammate and keep the ball from penetrating into the paint. Although several Eagle players still could have prevented the eventual layup, the movement by the offensive player made their jobs tougher.
The next clips will be taken from the January 5th, Columbia Panthers game. Stay tuned.

Solid Defensive Possession Ending Unfortunately for the Eagles

During this possession, the Augusta Eagles (defense) make the Upstate Eagles work extremely hard to get a shot. On three separate occasions, an Eagle defender comes off of his man to "help", stopping the dribbler from penetrating into the paint. The defense nearly causes a turnover. After thirty-three seconds of mostly fruitless work from the offense, they are forced to settle for a contested three point shot. The defense is in great position to grab a defensive rebound. Unfortunately, the shot is made, proving that sometimes a team can play solid defense and still give up a basket. The Eagles can be confident, though, that defense like this will end poorly for their opponent far more often than not.

Great defense!

This is footage from the December 17th, Upstate Eagles game. The Augusta Eagles play good team defense and force a turnover, leading to a basket and a chance for a three point play by Nathaniel Crown.
The Upstate Eagles' post player(#42 white) has a significant height advantage over Kip Custer (#10 blue), but Custer is able to neutralize that advantage by forcing #42 to get position "up the lane" rather than closer to the basket. Then he is able to deflect the post pass that comes from above the top of the key (a bad angle to make such a pass). The ball lands in the hands of the offensive player in the corner. Good defensive pressure by Matt Miller (#14 blue) prevents the offensive player from passing the ball into the post. As is often the case, that pressure results in an opportunity for the offensive player to drive along the baseline.
This is the point where the team defense shines. Kip Custer steps away from his man to cut off the drive, and Nathaniel Crown (#24 blue), who was in the proper help position, "helps the helper" and picks up Custer's man. Brian Wilson (#4 blue), who has correctly dropped from the top of the key into the paint into the "line of the ball," provides another body to clog up the lane. The offensive player tries to pass the ball to the post player amidst all of this traffic, and the ball lands in Brian Wilson's hands.
The turnover leads, as is often the case, to a great scoring opportunity on the other end of the court. The defense gets caught out of position, with the tallest player late to get back into the lane, allowing Crown to score a layup and have a chance for a three point play.
This clip illustrates the effectiveness of team defense. If a team plays individual defense, which effectively mean that five players are each playing one on one, a defender inevitably gets beaten (which makes sense since he is the one back pedalling), and the offensive player has a clear path to an easy shot. But, playing team defense allows the Augusta Eagles, in this example to effectively play 4 against 2. Once the ball is in the corner, the only Upstate Eagles that are in scoring position are the players in the corner and the post. Once the player in the corner drives, Custer and Miller eventually seal off his path, and Crown and Wilson take care of the next pass that can result in a score. A "4 against 2 game" has a much higher chance of success than five "1 on 1" games.