Blind-side post pressure cooking.

A double-teaming artifice that will help undersized teams defense a quality post player

Can an undersized basketball team that plays man defense contain a quality post player? It isn't easy, admittedly, but it can be done.

Over the past 10 years, my teams have accomplished it at both mid-sized and large-sized high schools. Our key has been adaptability - using our talent and good team-help principles to shut down the opponents' penetration, 3-point shooting, and best post player.

Since we don't have size, we have to resort to guile or, more specifically, our "Blind-Side Post Pressure Technique."

Some of the "experts" who've watched us believe we pressure the post from the weak-side. We prefer to call it the "blind-side" because it more accurately describes the effect we want to create: "an unpleasant surprise on the side away from the post's line of vision," as opposed to the side away from the ball (weak-side).

What we do, in effect, is attack the post quickly and take away his vision to his teammates. Our technique is based on the way it is often done in the NBA. We have adapted their techniques to fit our needs against average or guard-oriented teams with a quality post player.

Note: I would not recommend this technique against teams with several quality post players.

The first step in effecting blind-side pressure is to have our post defender (x1) cut off the baseline the moment the ball is passed inside to the post [ILLUSTRATION FOR DIAGRAM 1 OMITTED]

This cut-off is essential because it forces the post player to turn toward our oncoming blind-side defender (x2). The post player is now double-teamed, with his vision blocked off from his teammates.

If the post player can pass the ball back out to the wing, as shown in Diag. 2, our blind-side defender (x2) will usually be able to recover back to his original position without requiring any sort of defensive rotation.

Note: We don't concede this pass back to the wing. The wing defender (x1) denies it while x5 and x2 harass the post player hoping to create turn-over or bad shot.

If the post player passes the ball out to the perimeter, as shown in Diag. 3, a quick defensive rotation will be required, with the closest defender (x3) taking the ball. He must sprint at the receiver with his arms up to impede the quick ball-reversal pass.

The blind-side defender (x2) quickly reads the play and sprints to pick up the open man, who, in this case, is at the wing.

Note: If the open offensive man on the perimeter in Diag. 3 were to set up in the corner instead of the wing, x2 would simply cut straight across the lane to cover him.

Diag. 4 shows our blind-side defender (x2) sprinting out to the top when the ball is passed to the weak-side wing, who is quickly covered by x3.

Diag. 5 depicts a finely honed switch on a play immediately following the pass out to the weak-side wing. Upon receiving the pass from the post, the wing player drives straight to the basket.

x2 and x4 then make an excellently coordinated move. x4 moves out to pick up the dribbler, while x2 pulls out of the post trap and veers over to cover x4's man at the post.

Some offenses like to combat our blind-side technique by having their post player pop out toward the baseline or high post. We won't double in such situations because we have already achieved our goal of forcing the quality post player from his high-percentage scoring position.

Other offenses will try to upset us by sending a cutter through the lane. This can often be a difficult move to defense. We simply have out nearest defender cut the player off.

As shown in Diag. 6, we keep our weak-side post defender (x4) in a position that enables him to pick up a cutter or drop back to his man at the post.

TEACHING PROCESS

We spend time teaching our blind-side player to coordinate his approach with the post defender. As mentioned, we want him to sprint toward the post position the moment the pass is released to the post, keeping his hands up to block the post man's vision and force him to lob the ball rather than pass it more quickly and accurately.

We also want our defender to establish a chest-up position on the post player - to prevent the post from stepping or pivoting in the direction of the weak-side.

Our final step in the teaching process is to teach our defender to recognize the various possibilities and to rotate accordingly, always remembering that every time we use two defenders to pressure the ball, we leave a man open - forcing our three remaining defenders to cover four offensive players.

Rather than looking negatively at this situation, we choose to look at it as an opportunity to get a quick steal for a basket.

Many post players are not good passers, especially against strong defensive pressure or when required to make a quick decision on a pass to the weak-side of the floor. We continually try to exploit this weakness.

Why not use a ball-side man to pressure down? For several reasons: it opens up an easy return pass for the pressured post player, it leaves a good perimeter shooter open, and it provides fewer opportunities for producing turnovers.

Perhaps the greatest benefit of the Blind-Side Post Pressure Technique is not what it accomplishes physically, but what it achieves mentally.

Any time a team can play man defense and win, regardless of its size, it is going to instill a great pride and confidence in the players. They will cease worrying about their size and think more about going out to "dictate and dominate."