10 ways of defensing the fast break.

Ever since Frank Keaney and Piggy Lambert pioneered the fast break in the 1930s, it has remained one of the great staples of offensive basketball. Players love to play it, coaches love to teach it, and fans love to watch it.

A good fast break can, of course, be devastating, and heaven [and John Wooden) help the coach who doesn't come prepared to defense it. But, of course, for every offense, there is a defense; and that holds true of the fast break.

There are strategies that can reduce the effectiveness of even the best running teams.

1. Offensive rebounding. The better breaking teams love to rip the ball off the boards, make the quick outlet, and go! Ergo, every offensive rebound you make can eliminate a potential fast-break opportunity by the opponents.

To get your share of offensive rebounds, you must design your offense with a backside rebounder at all times. Secondly, you must place a lot of emphasis on offensive rebounding; how to avoid being boxed off the offensive boards and how to convert the rebounds into put-back points.

2. "Jam" the rebounder. This simple maneuver attacks the break at its inception, providing that crucial extra second or two for the defenders to get back and protect the basket.

Technique: As soon as the rebounder's feet hit the floor, the nearest defender should jump up close to the man with arms raised as close as possible without fouling. This "jam" technique can prevent the rebounder from making a quick outlet pass, thereby disrupting the timing of the break.

3. Deny the outlet. Many teams, especially those who use a point guard, like to outlet the ball to the same player time after time in virtually the same location on the floor.

A scouting report can reveal this strategy and enable you to exploit it. You can assign a man to pick this player up immediately upon a change of possession and deny the outlet pass to him.

Or the defender can start edging toward the outlet receiver and dart in front of him as the pass is released.

4. Instant conversion. Attributed to former Oregon State coach, Ralph Miller, this maneuver is based on the concept of immediately guarding the player who was guarding you when possession was lost.

While this could result in an occasional mismatch, Coach Miller thought it was much more important to get immediate coverage of the rebounder and outlet receiver.

5. Post the guards. By posting your guards on offense, you can bury the opponents' guards on the baseline around the congested lane area, making it harder for them to get to the outlet areas upon change of possession.

If the opponents are going to fastbreak, force them to do it with their bigger, slower, less talented people.

6. Get back. Practice making the transition from offense to defense and getting everyone back to the foul-line area in 3-4 seconds. Players must be taught to turn and run back to protect the basket.

7. Stop the ball. The first player back must pick up and stop the ball-handler from driving all the way to the basket. The player leading the break must be forced to pick up the dribble and pass the ball.

8. Teach 3-on-2 defense. Diag. 1 illustrates the conventional defensive positioning and movement. X1 is designated to stop the ball, while X2 covers the first pass.

Good point guards will follow their first pass to the ballside elbow or "T", making it difficult for X1 to rotate up to cover the pass back. If X1 attempts to cover this second pass, he will expose the basket for an easy lay-up or dunk [ILLUSTRATION FOR DIAG. 2 OMITTED].

Hubie Brown advocates a better strategic move. He has X2 cover not only the first pass, but the second as well, leaving X1 underneath to protect the basket [ILLUSTRATION FOR DIAG. 3 OMITTED].

9. Teach 2-on-1 defense. In this common situation, it is the lone defender's job to keep the offense guessing, hoping to buy time until help arrives. This is accomplished with the buff-and-retreat maneuver.

As the ball-handler approaches, the defender fakes a move toward the ball, retreats a couple of steps as if to cover the second offensive player, then repeats in an effort to create indecision and force as many passes as possible.

10. Control the tempo. Teams that rely on the fast-break attack tend to become frustrated when the defense slows them down. They become impatient to the point of taking more chances defensively, opening them up for scoring opportunities off backdoor cuts and other pressure-release tactics by the patient offensive team.

After a while, they may become so desperate to run that they will end up making bad decisions and taking ill-advised shots when they get the ball.

By teaching your players some of the above techniques, you can improve their preparation and increase their confidence against the good fast-breaking teams on their schedule.