If you want to be the best basketball player that you can be you want to be able to play both sides of the basketball. You need to be able to play defense. Defense is very important in the game of basketball. You look at players like Michael Jordan, D Wade, and Kobe Bryant and they are all great defenders. Playing defense is very simple but it takes hard work and you also have to commit your self into playing it. There are two types of defenses. There is on ball defense and off ball defense.
When playing on ball on ball defense you want to stay low. Most people think playing on ball defense is with your hands but they are dead wrong. The proper way to play defense is with your feet not your hands. You want to be able to stay in front of the ball handler. Sometimes you might get beat off the dribble and It happens but one mistake I see people do when they are beat is give up. That’s a no no you will get sat on the bent if you are part of a basketball team for that. When you get beat off the dribble you want to keep working hard to get back in front of them. You want to contest every shot and the only way you will really be able to do that is by staying in front of your opponent.
When playing off ball defense you want to follow your opponent around the court. You want to keep your eyes on him/her at all times and you also want to keep your eyes on the person who has the ball. Like I said it’s very simple but you have to commit yourself. Practice this and I’m sure you will be a good defender in no time.
Defense is a very important part of the game. One thing my coach always said was to watch the persons hips that you are defending. The hips will tell you where they are going and what they are doing. He also always said to stay in their “bubble”. You want to be on them when they get the ball instead of running to them when they have the ball, then you get burned. You give good advice for someone wanting to learn how to play the game.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you that defense is a huge part of the game. My high school basketball coach used to tell us that you can have an off day on offense and not be making all your shots, but defense is all about hustling and there's no excuse to be having an off day on defense. Another clever trick I learned to be able to read the player when on ball defense is to not watch their hand or face, but their waist. They will always lead to where they are going with that. I also always tried to have a hand on the players back or be sure they knew I was pressuring them, but not enough that they could step around me and blow past me to the basket. I always liked zone defense better than man to man though!
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