Basketball Press Defense

From the Coach's Clipboard Basketball Playbook

Basketball press defense extends your defense into the opponent's back-court. Before teaching a press defense, first decide whether an uptempo, pressing defense is best for your team. Do you have team quickness, well-conditioned athletes, and a good bench? Will your players buy into it and be committed to a pressing defense?

There are man-to-man and zone presses. Our favorite (high school varsity level) is the full-court matchup press defense, initially pioneered by Rick Pitino at Kentucky.

Key Press Defense Principles

• Keep the ball out of the middle
• Trap along sidelines and in corners
• Rotate quickly behind the trap
• Always protect the basket

Advantages of a Good Press Defense

A good press can create back-court turnovers, steals and easy baskets for your team. So it is an offensive weapon as such, and a way to come from behind, or a way to break open a close game, and a way to wear down a slower, less well-conditioned opponent.

It may help nullify the opponent's "bigs", who may labor to get up and down the floor. You can turn the game into a track meet, rather than a slow paced game that favors the opponent's big post players.

The press keeps the opponent off-balance, changes the tempo of the game, and often has the opponent doing things they don't normally like to do. The opposing coach is often forced to use valuable time-outs. It favors a well-conditioned team with a deep bench, and with more substitutions, allows more of your players to get playing time.

Disadvantages of a Press Defense

Considerable practice time is required to develop a good, cohesive press. Also, remember that any press is a gamble (especially trapping defenses). You risk giving up the easy transition lay-ups, and you have to be willing to accept that fact.

If your players are not well-conditioned, fatigue can become a factor. Your players may be more apt to foul and get into foul trouble, so a good bench is very valuable in this regard, as well as the fatigue issue. You might want to press only in certain situations (e.g. after a made basket), or certain times of the game, as a surprise tactic.

See Transition Defense for important principles that apply to all press defenses.

Categories of Press Defenses:

Presses can also be categorized based on where the press starts on the court:

• full-court ("80"), with a defender guarding the inbound passer (e.g. 1-2-1-1 zone press)
• 3/4 court ("60"), with nobody guarding the inbound passer (e.g. 2-2-1 zone press)
• half-court ("40") where the press starts at, or just beyond, the half-court line (e.g. 1-2-2 Viking press)

Zone Press Defense

Structured pressure defenses using zone alignments to trap, control passing lanes, and create turnovers.

Zone presses have the defenders start in a certain formation, such as a 1-2-1-1, 1-2-2, 2-2-1, etc. and feature pressuring the ball and trapping.

Specific Zone Presses

• 1-2-1-1 "diamond" zone press
  - with this classic press, try to tip the inbounds pass, trap the first pass in the corner, or along the sideline. Vulnerable along the sidelines at half-court, but you can adjust to a 1-2-2.
  
  
• 2-2-1 zone press
  - this 3/4 court press permits the inbounds pass (to the corner), waits for the ball-handler to commit, and then aggressively traps and rotates.
  
  
• Coach Sar's 3/4-court 1-2-2 press
  - Coach Ken Sartini's adaptable 1-2-2 pressing system.
  
  
• Paul Murray's 21 Full Court Press
  - part man-to-man and part zone, this 3/4 court press confuses and forces opponents to deviate from their game plan.
  
  
• 3-1-1 3/4-court press
  - a zone press that you can use against teams that show a "3-Up" press-breaker. A 3-2 adjustment is included.
  

Full-Court Man-to-Man Presses

Aggressive man-to-man pressure designed to disrupt ball handlers, deny passes, and force turnovers.

• Full-court "pressure" defense
  - simple man-to-man defense extended to full-court. Excellent for youth teams, and easy to teach, requiring less practice time. Players use the same concepts of man-to-man defense - on-ball, deny and help-side, just extended to the full-court. Little risk, or gambling. Probably less effective at higher levels where good ball-handling guards could break it down.
  
  
• Bob Kloppenburg's Full-Court SOS Pressure Defense
  - transition and full-court aspects of the SOS defense.
  

Match-up Press Defenses

Hybrid press defenses that combine zone positioning with man-to-man responsibilities for flexibility and unpredictability.

• Match-up Press Defense
  - a more complicated "system" of presses compared to simple zone presses and involves a fair amount of practice time. We teach this at the freshmen and JV levels, and fine-tune it at the varsity level. It has the advantage of always having pressure on the ball no matter what press-breaker the offense uses.
  
  Unlike a zone press, our defenders all match-up with someone when the ball is inbounded... much like man-to-man defense. So it doesn't matter what press-breaker the opponent uses. Techniques such as "cut & double", "run & jump", and "run & double" are drilled.
  
  Full-court ("80") matchup presses use various alignments (1-Up, 2-Up, 3-Up and 4-Up), as well as a "staggered" press, and two deny presses, "81" and "61". We use these drills "Match-up Press Drills", and see "Teaching Basketball by Progression".
  
  
• Run and Jump Press
  - Coach Forrest Larson's "Simplified Run and Jump".
  
  
• Trapping with a Trailer Defender
  - from Coach Joao Costa, a matchup press where the trailing post player sets the trap.
  

Half-Court Press Defenses

Pressure defenses that begin near mid-court, focusing on trapping and forcing mistakes while maintaining defensive balance.

These presses are less of a gamble, since all five defenders are back in the half-court. Easier to teach and conditioning is less of an issue.

• 1-2-2 Viking Press Defense
  - a very effective half-court press. The ball is forced to a sideline and is trapped as it comes across half-court, in the half-court corner on either side, while the other defenders look to intercept a poor pass made out of the trap.
  
  
• 2-2-1 Half-Court Press Defense
  - another half-court trapping press defense.
  

Deny Press Defenses

Designed to deny the inbounds pass and disrupt the offense before it begins, often used in late-game situations.

We are trying to either intercept the inbounds pass, or get the 5-second call. Defenders play in the passing lanes between the ball and their man.

In a close game, deny the inbounds to get the ball back after a made basket, or whenever the opponent has to inbound the ball. It can also be used from time-to-time during the course of a game as a surprise tactic. Several deny presses are presented as adjustments to a main press.

Deny Presses are Included with These Presses

• Man-to-Man Pressure Defense
  - "41", a full-court deny press defense.
  
  
• 2-2-1 Zone Press... a deny press is included.
  
  
• Match-up Press Defense... "81" and "61" deny presses are included.
  

Press Defense Drills

Drills to teach trapping, rotations, communication, and defensive pressure needed to run effective press defenses.

Tip: Start with simple trapping drills and build up to full-team press situations. See more defensive drills here.

• Press Defense Drills
  
  
• 4-On-4-On-4 Full-Court Transition Drill
  
  
• 5-on-3 Transition Defense Drill
  
  
• 5-on-4 Transition Scramble Drill
  
  
• Press Deny Drills
  
  
• Trapping Drills
  

In summary, the press that you select should be based on your level of committment to press defense, the age and skill level of your players, the amount of practice time that you have available, your teams's quickness and athleticism, and the depth of your bench.

How you use the press is also key. Do you want to use it the entire game, to fatigue your opponent and make their "bigs" less effective? Or do you want to use it as a surprise tactic?