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Guest Blog Author Matt Hackenberg @CoachHackGO
The first thing we have to nail down is WHY. And there is a couple reasons WHY your transition defense might be bad:
- The emotional state of the players.
- The technique being used.
The emotional state of the players breaks down a bit further:
- They are too frustrated to react properly.
- They are not motivated to react properly.
Players being too frustrated or not motivated enough to get back on defense is an all too common occurrence. A player makes a turnover or misses layup, and they jog back on defense. They want to show everyone in the gym they are disappointed in themselves, making the mistake a “look at me” moment.
To fix this issue, we need to start to drill down on and demand a proper mistake response from our players. It is the constant messaging to our players that no one cares that you just made a mistake, and we need to, as Coach K would say, get on to the “next play.”
We emphasize quick transitions from making a mistake to moving on to the next thing. And in this case, the next thing is getting back to build a strong team defense.
This all comes down to building PRIDE to compete for something bigger than any individual player. If players don’t have pride to get a stop, they won’t have any urgency to join their teammates in trying to get a stop when the odds don’t look favorable to do so, which is a common occurrence after a turnover or a missed layup.
Your messaging should be consistent on having pride to get stops and moving on to the “next play.”
Then, you reinforce those habits.
As the coach, you can reinforce those habits using a carrot or a stick. I always prefer to use the carrot first.
The carrot is simply a reward for the proper behaviors.
You can reward your team to get back by setting a team goal of 10 or fewer transition points given up in game. If they reach the goal, they get a reward – maybe donuts the next morning at practice.
If the carrot doesn’t work to get them to do what you need them to do, then you use the stick.
The stick is simply negative consequences for improper behaviors.
The best stick you have as a coach is the bench. By stating, and following through on the messaging, that players that don’t run back on defense will be immediately pulled out of the game, you are deploying the stick method.
You now have methods to control the emotional state of your players in the moment of truth in converting from offense to defense. Now, let’s look at the techniques:
First, you need to break down on a granular level what you’re looking for in transition defense. This involves outlining the expectation to SPRINT back and get matched 5v5, and what kind of communication they should be having with their teammates
You can break down disadvantage situations, and how you want the protect the basket and play from the basket out.
Even though it seems basic, a lot of players don’t know until you show them and set the expectation for how they should react in transition defense.
Obviously, conversion defense is a part of every full court basketball game, so you have plenty of chances to work on it. If you’re looking for a drill, my favorite drill for training the transition phase of defense is called “Louisville.”
Using “Louisville,” you can isolate the transition phase of the game so that it does not get lost among all the other facets of the game of basketball. “Louisville” looks like this:
To see video of “Louisville” being used as a small sided game, CLICK HERE.
So there you have it, addressing transition defense through the emotional and the technical side of things.
Best of luck coaches,
-Coach Hack
The diagrams for this email were pulled from my guide on the “Wolfpack Defense System.” It’s the defensive system I’ve used most of my coaching career. It is a heavy ball pressure and heavy help gap defensive system. It covers the defense in great detail, as well as connected elements to defense like rebounding and transition defense. If you’re interested in installing the defensive system, CLICK HERE.
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