Defensive Transition - Its About Time ? (by Alan Lambert)

Introduction

In my forty some years experience as a player and coach, one area of the game looms in my mind like a man sinking in quicksand.  What I'm talking about and today's teaching topic is defensive transition.  Few players do it with enthusiasm. Failure to do it costs your team easy points. More commonly it is one of the primary causes of infighting amongst teammates, because someone's mistake or failure to get back leads to that easy score.  

To be perfectly honest there may be nothing in the game that takes more energy and optimism out of a team's play than failure to get back and stop your opponents transition. So why do I choose this subject as this month's Playground Pointer?  Primarily because I want to show you player's and coach's that it's not about stopping every fast break.  It's about making the effort every time and stopping some of the breaks.  It's really about time don't you think ?

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Nine Commandments of Successful Play making

Many coaches see the team’s smallest player who can dribble the ball into the front court and enter it to the wing as the point guard. To me, this is like seeking a quarterback to receive the snap from center and hand-off to a running back. I need more, want more and demand more from a point guard. I envision a quarterback in a West Coast or Fun n Gun Offense.

The lead guard requires a special skill set. He leads his team, acts as a catalyst on defense and a play maker on offense, knocks down big shots and creates easy opportunities for teammates. They understand the game, while an increasing number of players, at all levels, rely strictly on physical abilities, failing to develop the game’s mental aspect.

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When and Where to Play a Trapping Defense 

The trick to playing a trapping defense is to have a signal as to who will trap, and who will cover the remaining positions.  In general on any trap with two players the trapper committing should have a code name, something like FIRE or STRIKE.  This man commits to the double, while the remaining three players must leave their man coverage momentarily to form a zone triangle up to anticipate the pass out and protect the basket weak side.

Normally this zone triangle must put two floating players in the paint high and low whenever a trap occurs outside of the lane to cover any quick passes to cutters down the middle which might results in a quick score.  The same would be true if you called 25 RED CORNER, 1 and DONE where you would pick up at half court, and trap the first deep corner pass.  Regardless your three remaining players must zone up to protect the high and low basket and the most dangerous pass back out.

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To Become a Shooter (by Otis Birdsong)

When I stepped out onto the court before a game, whether it was in college or the NBA, I had only one thought running through my head – what is my role defensively tonight?  No, I wasn’t trying to decide how best to get my shots off or even what moves I would make to get my teammates open.  I wasn’t thinking about my offensive game at all.  I was preparing to shut my assignment down while playing team defense.

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