Basketball Training and Drills Coaching

Attacking Full-Court Pressure, Part Three: Strategic Spacing

Oct 24, 2019

3 Min Read

By Mark Seeberg

Retired Assistant Coach, Loyola Academy

Teach your team to space properly so one defender can’t guard two attackers.

Now that we’ve gone over the nature of pressing defenses and the attack box, I’ll explain why drifting away from your defender may actually make you easier to guard.

Lesson 7: Don’t drift.

This is a recurring problem in most press attacks. The tendency is to move away from one’s defender because we think that will make us more open. But in reality, the opposite occurs.

Either by design or not, the front line of a pressing defense will often grow increasingly aggressive, exerting more and more pressure towards the endline. If the midcourt attackers drift down the floor, the defense is rewarded because the lone midcourt defender and his deep teammate can then guard both midcourt attackers and the offensive deep man. A pass over the top of the defensive front line has to travel too far, giving the midcourt and deep defenders a chance to contest or even intercept it.

But if the midcourt attackers follow the front line defenders toward the endline, they shorten the passing lanes, making it impossible for the midcourt defender to reach the ball. The pass goes over the frontline and suddenly we’ve created a 3-on-2 break.

In the illustration below, the two midcourt attackers show how drifting away from the ball actually makes them less open, since any pass to them will take greater “air time”. This gives defenders #1 and #5 an opportunity to pick off the pass. By drifting away from the ball, they’ve effectively placed a sixth defender on the floor—time.

In the next illustration, the opposite has occurred. As the frontline defenders grow more aggressive, moving closer to the endline, the two midcourt attackers move with them, maintaining their original spacing. This shortens the passing lanes, making it virtually impossible for the single midcourt defender to guard both midcourt attackers. The inbound pass goes over the front line and the offense immediately has a 3-on-2 break.

That’s why the general rule is “Don’t drift.” When your defender moves up, you move up with him, staying close enough behind him to receive the ball. If your defender retreats, you retreat with him. This principle applies everywhere on the floor. Let’s take a look at two more examples.

In the illustration below, the two midcourt attackers are too far from their trapped teammate. They haven’t adjusted their positions in relationship to the ball. The lone midcourt defender can effectively guard both of them. But if #3 steps up and to the middle, and #4 simply steps up, they shorten the passing lanes and the midcourt defender is forced to make a choice between them.

In the next illustration we see a similar situation. This time the offside guard and midcourt attacker are too far from their trapped teammate. Like the diagram above, they haven’t adjusted their positions in relationship to the ball. Both must step in the direction of the ball to force defender #2 to make a choice.

The challenge, particularly for younger, less experienced players, is learning to adjust their positions as the ball and the attack box move up the floor. This isn’t something you master by studying a playbook. It can only be learned through daily, live four-on-four or five-on-five experience. Only by playing the game can you learn and grow in confidence.

Lesson 8: Move quickly but don’t rush.

A short lesson this time, but an important one. Most mistakes against full-court pressure occur at the end of the dribble. Don’t let your players give up their dribble prematurely, and when they do, don’t be anxious to get rid of the ball. Tease the defense—fake one way, throw the other. Let the defense name the offensive opening.

Next up is Attacking Full-Court Pressure, Part Four: Test the Defense.

Mark Seeberg was an assistant basketball coach at Loyola Academy in the powerful Chicago Catholic League for nearly twenty years. He was also a student trainer for the Notre Dame men’s basketball team during the Austin Carr era, 1967 – 71. Today, Seeberg runs a blog on college basketball, Better than a layup.