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| Tuesday, February 4 Updated: February 5, 1:09 PM ET Playing 'man' isn't as simple as it sounds By Fran Fraschilla Special to ESPN.com |
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First off, the term "man-to-man" defense is misleading. In order for any team to play an effective man-to-man defense, all five players on the court must work together. While there is much individual responsibility in this defense, the ability to help each other is vital. The proverbial line, "a chain is only as strong as its weakest link" fits perfectly when we talk man-to-man defense.
There are also as many different varieties of man-to-man defense as there are flavors at Baskin-Robbins. Kansas prides itself on over-playing all passing lanes to take its opponents out of their offense. Dick Bennett's Final Four team at Wisconsin not only did not over play in its man-to-man schemes, it "packed" its defense inside the 3-point arc, daring teams to shoot contested outside shots. Marquette, meanwhile, prides itself on "scouting report" man defense, where Tom Crean's man defenses will change based on the strengths and weaknesses of the Golden Eagles' opponents. When building any type of man-to-man defense, a team must consider any number of aspects and must decided what the defense will emphasize. Here are some questions coaches ponder in building their man-to-man defense:
A team's quickness and athleticism will determine how far up the floor it can pressure and still be able to be in position to provide help for teammates.
Teams must decided whether to front the post or double-team the post when the ball goes inside.
When building a man-to-man defense, teams must decide on a goal for the defense. There are four points of emphasis that my players could recite in their sleep. I've always believed that the more you emphasize, the more you complicate things. But, the goal of our defenses at Manahattan, St. John's and New Mexico was to STOP THE BALL. That was our primary concern, and it came from containing penetration and keeping the ball out of the paint. It is the primary responsibility of all five defenders. We want to protect from the basket out.
Points of Emphasis
1. Ball Pressure
2. No Splits (or penetration)
3. Contest Shots
4. Rebound the Ball
Philosophy
1. Create a logical, progressive and consistent system.
2. The defense is predicated on prolonged, intelligent and intense pressure.
3. You can't play pressure man-to-man defense unless you play hard for 40 minutes.
4. All five players must work together because the defense is only as good as its weakest defender.
5. Players must be in great mental and physical condition to play defense. Basketball is a game of continuous action. On defense, we must move from one task to another spontaneously. This is developed through habits and repetition in your drills.
Guarding the Ball
Ball Pressure
1. Shoot the ball Ideally, we want to force the ball to the outside of the court, where there are less options for the offense. So, out top we will force the ball to the sideline; and on the wing, we will force the ball to the baseline. Here you see that X1 forces the ball to the sideline and X3 forces the ball to the baseline.
Penetrating Passes
Help Defense
Shrink the Floor
No Splits
Help the Helper
Fill and Sink
Off-The-Ball Defense
Denial Defense
1. Guard to forward passes (Diagram 10) Ideally, a good denial stance will force a player to go back door, or take him further away from the scoring area. Often, we will deny a particular play, or player, according to our scouting report defense.
Jump to the Ball
Catch-And-Shoot Defense
Lock and Trail
Guarding the Curl Cut
Post Defense
"Red"
"Blue" This is our our defensive tactic for double-teaming the post man. We want to force the good offensive post man to pass the ball back out and, if possible, turn the ball over with a bad pass. When X4 comes to double, a post-to-post double team, the X3 and X2 "zone the help side". (Diagram 21) They form what we call a "Weakside I" and are ready to play cutters to the basket. (Diagram 22)
Defensive Rebounding Here are some thoughts as we talk about rebounding:
1. We want to make the "first hit" when the shot is taken. We think "body and ball". Hit a body and get the ball. Solid defense is a team's and player's "great equalizer". Your team may not be as quick, as athletic or, as big, or, even, as skilled as your opponent. But, you can be sounder in your defensive approach, and you can play harder than your opponent and be very successful. So, it is no coincidence that the best teams each season who can combine the physical abilities necessary, along with the commitment to work to be great defensives teams, are usually playing deep into the NCAA Tournament come March.
Send in your Hoops 101 questions. Fran Fraschilla will answer a few each week as the season continues.
"Being from the Philadelphia area, I get to watch some good college basketball especially in the Big 5. The team that has impressed me the most this year is St. Joseph's. Their defense has suffocated just about every team they've played including Penn a few nights ago. All they seem to be doing is playing man-to-man just like many other teams in the country. Why is their man-to-man that much more effective than other teams? Also, what is the difference between Coach Martelli's style of man-to-man compared with Dick Bennett's up the line/on the line style and the style's of other coaches?" Great question. As you probably know, we just did the St.Joe's-Villanova game on Monday and it was a "defensive clinic" and easy to see why the Hawks are 16-3 and have the best defensive field goal percentage in the nation. First of all, because of the tremendous quickness of their guards, Jameer Nelson and Delonte West, they are able to disrupt an opponent's offense by really applying pressure on the ball coming up the court. Their quickness allows them to gamble in the backcourt and still get back into position to play good half-court defense. St. Joe's does a great job of switching with its guards so the Hawks handle screens well and eliminate easy scoring chances. Though their frontcourt is not physical, they are long and challenge a lot of shots, especially when the guards gamble out front. The underrated thing about all good defenses, which St. Joe's does extremely well, is contesting shots. No good shooter wants someone flying at them with a hand in their face. With the Hawks, you get very few "easy looks" in your offense. With regard to Dick Bennett, the former coach at Wisconsin, a true defensive "guru", I hope I have some interesting observations for you. The concept of "on the line/up the line" is one in which the defenders away from the ball play "on the line of the pass" or in the "passing lane" to make it difficult to make an entry into the opponent's offense. "Up the line" refers to the idea of getting away from your man towards the ball to help support the defender guarding the ball in case there is dribble penetration. Bennett popularized this style while at Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where he, generally, had quick athletic defenders like Terry Porter, who could play in the "passing lanes" and still be able to support on dribble penetration. When Bennett got to Wisconsin-Green Bay and, then, to the University of Wisconsin, he changed his man-to-man philosophy 180 degrees. Because of his teams' lack of quickness, he adjusted and "packed" his defense inside the 3-point line, which helped his teams' ability to guard the drive and forced opponents to beat them with jump shots. And, any cut into the lane was met with physical contact. This kind of dramatic change in philosophy takes self-assurance and awareness of what your team needs in order to get the job done defensively.
"Why have teams stop running 1-3-1 zones? I remember in the early 90's this was the base defense for both UNC and Kansas. Is this part of the larger trend for playing more man-to-man defenses than zone? Without Valvano and Pat Kennedy is anyone running 'gimmic' zones?" Thanks for the question. The type of 1-3-1 zone that both Kansas and North Carolina have used in the past is called a "point zone". It starts out in a 1-3-1 alignment, but the point guard at the top of the defense "matches up" man-to-man with the ballhandler and the "5 man" (center) stays in the middle of the lane. Everyone else matches up to man based on who the point guard takes. It is, in effect a "match up zone" that shows a zone alignment but becomes man to man. The 1-3-1 zone that you will see extended, sometimes, out to mid-court is a trapping zone that is not used as frequently as in the past. It is primarily used to speed teams up or to keep them from holding onto the ball for an entire possession. The "Box and 1" and the "Triangle and 2" are good examples of "gimmick" or "junk" defenses. In the "Box and 1", the defense is in a zone with two defenders out top and two defenders under in a "box" with a man-to-man "chaser" on one player. In the "Triangle and 2", there are two chasers and a zone alignment with two big guys under and a guard out top. These "junk" defenses can really throw a team out of its offensive rhythm if they are not prepared for it. Jimmy V was a great "game" coach who always had a feel of when to use the "junk" defense. Because so many games are televised today, the "junk" defense is not as big a surprise today as in the past, but still has a place as an occasional defensive weapon.
"I have noticed that many teams are running three- and sometimes even four-guard lineups in college basketball right now Is this due to a lack of skilled post players or an abundance of good guards What is your opinion on the 3/4 guard lineup? Also, who do you think is the most underrated guard in the country?"
Ryan, A smaller team can spread the floor on offense and make it difficult to guard you man-to-man. And, on defense, they can be effective pressing full-court or playing zone. It would be very similar to a football team using four-wide receivers, one running back and no tight end to spread the field. When we cover the "Princeton attack" on March 4, you'll see that they can easily play with four interchangeable guards and a post man. In terms of underrated guards around the country, here are few that I have seen that I really like: Delonte West (Saint Joseph's), Victor Williams (Oklahoma State), Steve Blake (Maryland), Reece Gaines (Louisville), Kirk Penney (Wisconsin), Marcus Banks (UNLV), Brooks Hall (Dayton) and Justin Hamilton (Florida).
"Just a FYI about the Triangle Offense and Tex Winter. As a Marquette alum I have to correct you, Tex Winter started the Triangle Offense in his first college coaching job at Marquette University, not at Kansas State where he later coached. In fact, there was an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel earlier last month as Marquette celebrated its 50th anniversary of the National Catholic championships with Tex at the helm and it got into the Triangle and the origins of it at Marquette." Sorry for the misunderstanding. You are absolutely right about Coach Winter and Marquette University. Because he was only at Marquette two years, most people became aware of the "Triangle Offense" at Kansas State, where he won a number of Big Eight championships. But, your point underscores what a great contribution he has made to the history of basketball. By the way, I was fortunate enough to be at the Marquette-Wisconsin game in December which, as you know, was the night they honored Coach Winter and the 50th anniversary of Marquette's National Catholic Championship. Fran Fraschilla spent 23 years on the sidelines as a college basketball coach before joining ESPN this season as an broadcast analyst. He guided both Manhattan (1993, 1995) and St. John's (1998) to the NCAA Tournament in his nine seasons as a Division I head coach, leaving New Mexico following the end of the 2001-02 season. |
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