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| The Drill: Defensive Combo | ||||
 Chris & Donovan
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An assistant with the Seattle Storm and Lakeside, Chris Bown has made his mark with individual player development. His second column on drills helps players refine their defensive fundamentals. | |||
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Defensive Combo Drill Requirements: One ball, two coaches/passers and 2-12 players.  The players each get a partner and start in opposite corners of the floor. One player is the offensive player and one is the defensive player. The coach is standing on the same side of the floor at the opposite end’s 28-foot line. The ballhandler starts dribbling the ball in a zig-zag fashion from the sideline to the free-throw lane line (she works a variety of different change-of-direction moves). The defensive player is working on keeping the player in front of her, pressuring her to the sideline and turning her without getting beat.
Once the player gets past the halfcourt line, she passes the ball to the coach who is stationed at the 28-foot line on the sideline. The offensive player makes a ball-side cut to the block and posts up. The next phase of the drill takes place at this point. The defensive player tries to defend the cut by getting ball-side and getting a hand in the passing lane. Once the offensive player gets to the block, the defender tries to get around and front the post, denying the coach an easy pass to the post player. Or you can work on whatever defense that your want your post defenders to play. From here you can go to either option 1 or 2. Option 1 (this works on one-pass-away denial defense): The coach will dribble the ball to the top of the key. The offensive player breaks out from the post to the wing and back two times. The defender is working on his defensive positioning with a hand in the passing lane, trying to allow the offensive player to receive the ball only outside the three-point line. On the second trip out, the coach passes the ball. On the catch, the defensive player “pushes” the ball to the baseline. Once the offensive player ends her dribble and picks the ball up, the defensive player plays dead-ball defense without fouling. The offensive player passes the ball out to the coach goes to the block and breaks out to the wing again. This time the players are live. Option 2 (This works on two-pass and cross-court closeout defense): The offensive player breaks out to the opposite wing while the defensive player gets to the middle of the key in a “help-side” position. Once the offensive player gets to the wing, he will move toward the baseline making sure that the defender is keeping the ball-you-man triangle relationship. The offensive player then will come on the free-throw line toward the ball. The defender must go and meet the cutter at the lane line opposite the ball to disrupt them on their path. The coach will pass the ball to the offensive player while she is on the opposite wing. Once the coach puts the ball above his head signaling the cross-court pass, the defender should be on the alert that the cross-court pass is coming. She then will sprint to the offensive player and close out, preventing the open jump shot. Ensure that the player is low on the closeout and that the footwork does not allow the offensive player to go around the defender to the middle of our defense. On the catch, the play is live. Players switch roles on the opposite side of the floor and coaches switch sides of the floor once everyone has completed the drill on that side. Coaches also can keep count of how many defensive stops the team achieved. Note: I would like to thank Gary Kloppenburg of the Storm/Sonics staff for teaching me these drills. He uses these as a staple for reinforcing the techniques of his defensive teachings. Chris Bown is an assistant coach with the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, in charge of individual player development, and with the Lakeside girls varsity basketball team. Chris also does individual training and can be reached at 206-794-9046 or cbown93668@aol.com. A graduate of the University of Washington, he has been the head coach for girls varsity basketball teams at Holy Names Academy, Seattle Academy and American Indian Heritage School. This is his second stint at Lakeside as an assistant to Sandy Schneider. Chris also has been a math and physical education instructor at St. Paul School and Seattle Academy. More Chris Bown Columns: Half-Circle |
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