Warm-upGap and deflect7 min
- Two guards pass to each other at the slots; a defender guards one of them, sitting off in a triangle (seeing the ball and their player). On every pass toward their player, the defender steps through the lane and tries to deflect it with the nearest hand, then recovers.
- Passers start slow and lazy, then get sharper so the defender has to read the passer's eyes and arms.
- Theme link: the defender moves while the ball is in the air. That's the whole session.
Block 1Jump on the flight8 min
- Adds: a cutter after the pass.
- The attacker at the top passes to the coach on the wing, then cuts for a give-and-go. As the ball leaves their hands, the defender jumps toward the ball, landing between their player and the ball. If the cutter gets in front, the coach passes back for a layup. If the defender's there first, the cut has to go behind, to the far side.
- 3 reps each, then rotate: attacker → defender → line. Both sides.
- Progress when: the defender lands before the cutter's second step.
- Regress if: the defender jumps after the catch, not during the pass. Have the coach call "Ball!" as they catch, so the defender hears how late they were.
- Cues (questions): "Where was the ball when you moved?" "Did they cut in front of you, or behind?"
Block 2Two out of three10 min
- Adds: the cutter can end up anywhere, so the defender has to go from denying to helping and back.
- Carries on from Block 1. After the cut goes behind to the far wing, the defender opens up into help (inside the split line, seeing the ball and their player). The coach can swing the ball back to the attacker any time, and the defender closes out. Then it's live 1v1 with 4 dribbles max.
- The defender has to get 2 stops out of 3 possessions to rotate to offence. Score gets them nothing; stops do.
- Progress when: the defender is in help before the coach looks, not after.
- Regress if: closeouts are too late to stop anything. Shorten the cut: the attacker stops at the far slot, not the wing.
- Cues (questions): "Two passes away, where should you be?" "When you were beaten, did you keep chasing?"
Water2 min
Block 3Deny and help10 min
- Adds: a second pair, so each pass changes each defender's job.
- Coach at the top, two attackers on the wings, two defenders. When the ball is at the top, both defenders deny (hand and foot in the passing lane). When it goes to a wing, that wing's defender closes out and the far defender jumps back into help, inside the split line. When it comes back, both jump again. Attackers can cut and catch whenever they get open; once one catches, it's live 2v2.
- Rotate pairs every 3 possessions.
- Progress when: both defenders move on the flight of the pass, not on the catch.
- Regress if: the far defender stands with their player. Freeze the pass and ask where the help should be, then replay.
- Cues (questions): "When the ball went away from you, where did you go?" "Could you see the ball and your player at the same time?"
Block 4No dribble, cut to score10 min
- Adds: three attackers passing and cutting freely, with no dribble, so every chance has to come from a cut.
- 3v3 at each hoop (the spare players rotate in after each score or stop). Attackers can only pass and cut: no dribbling. Defenders have to jump on every pass.
- When a cut gets in front of a defender, the coach stops it and asks both sides: the offence did its job; what did the defence do?
- Progress when: most cuts are forced behind.
- Regress if: the offence scores on almost every possession. Drop to 2v2 plus the coach as a passer.
- Cues (questions): "Who moved first: you or the ball?" "Where did that cut go: in front of you, or behind?"
FinisherStops and deflections11 min
- Live 3v3 at one hoop and 2v2 at the other, dribble allowed again. Winner stays: the team that gets a stop or a score stays on, as offence. Swap the groups between hoops every 4 minutes.
- Scoring:
- Defence, 2 pts: a deflection or a steal from a pass.
- Defence, 1 pt: any other stop.
- Offence, 1 pt: any score.
- First to 7.
Huddle2 min
- "When did you move: when the pass was thrown, or when it was caught?" "Which cut beat us today, and where were we when it happened?"
Coach notes
- Decision errors vs execution errors:
- Staying with your player when the ball moves away, or jumping too far and losing them, is a decision error. Ask Block 3's question about where the help should be.
- Jumping late (on the catch, not the pass) is a timing error. The fix is a cue on the passer's hands, not more effort: "Move when it leaves their hands."
- Common failure: the defender jumps to the ball but turns their back on their player. Land facing both, so a cut behind is still seen.
- Common failure: over-denying one pass away and getting beaten backdoor. A hand in the lane, not the whole body; the help behind is there for the backdoor.
- Judge the decision, not the outcome. A defender who jumped on time and still got beaten by a great cut did the right thing. Say so.
Sources
| Source | Used for |
|---|---|
| Shawn Swords — Basketball Team Defense | Blocks 1 and 2 |
| Ken Shields — Building Your Man to Man Defense | Block 3 deny and help positions |
| Chris Oliver — What Coaching Basketball Using a Games Approach Looks Like | Mechanism, Block 4 |
| Tanya McKay — Creating Transition Offense with an Effective Man to Man Defense | Warm-up |
| junior.basketball (original) | Finisher scoring |
Unofficial resource. Drills are adapted from recorded coaching clinics and credited to the coaches named in Sources above; anything marked junior.basketball (original) was written for this plan. Not affiliated with or endorsed by those coaches or the organisations that ran the clinics. Full credit to every presenter.