Defense is the most neglected phase of the game of basketball. The second sentence of the basketball rulebook says that "The purpose of each team is to throw the ball into it's own basket and to prevent the other team from scoring." To many people, the second phrase of that sentence is ignored, as if defense is something you do until you get the ball or it is a time when you can catch your breath until you are on offense again.

Whenever I have had the opportunity to speak before any players at a summer camp or clinic or whenever I address my fellow coaches at a clinic, I pose a challenge to them. I challenge them to try to think of any basketball team that has won a championship of any kind on any level, be it high school, college, or pro without a sound defense. I have never heard of such a team.

If you wish to be a successful coach in organized basketball, you must realize how important a fundamentally sound defense is. You must reorient your thinking. It is offense that wins games, but defense that wins championships. Offense gets the attention of the fans. However, lay ups, the easy baskets, the other team calling time out to break your momentum are all the results of team defense.

Defense should be played one way: aggressively. Most teams react on defense. They wait until the other team makes a move and they react. You will make many mistakes in this type of approach. That is because you are playing at a pace dictated by the opposition. You are playing on their terms. The offense has the advantage. They not only know when they are going to do something, they know where they are going to do it. Their offense will already be in motion by the time a reacting defense starts to move. You should initiate the action on defense. Force the other team to react. They will make the mistakes as you are now forcing them to do things that they have not practiced. You will win more games. There are numerous reasons for pressure defense and among them are:
· to control the tempo of a game (to speed up or even to slow down a game)
· to create an unfavorable psychological atmosphere
· take advantage of a shot clock (if your league uses it)
· create turnovers

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Pressure defense is not only used to steal the ball. Besides the reasons above, there are many other reasons to press. And not all reasons suit all teams.

In any game, one of the following conditions apply:

· The opposition is faster than your team.
· The opposition is slower than your team.
· The opposition is the same speed as your team.

Besides the speed differential, the most important factor as to whether a team will be affected by pressure defense would be the skill level of a team. If they cannot handle the ball, or they only have a few players capable of handling the ball, they will be greatly affected by pressure defense. If their skill level is much better, they will not be affected as much. Regardless of the situations named above, your team can benefit from pressure defense. However, your team must realize your objectives behind the decision to press. Tell your team the reason that you are pressing. If it is a special game situation, tell them that you know that the opposition has difficulty going to their left. If you are playing a high scoring team, you may want to use a delaying press. If the other team has only one good ball handler, a trapping press will force this player to pass.

In any game where a shot clock is employed a press will definitely serve to reduce the amount of time that a team has to set up and execute their offense. If a team has an excellent perimeter offense a press can help to disrupt them. By pressing the other team and not allow them to bring the ball up the court at their own rate, they can force the offense to use anywhere from 8 to 12 extra seconds advancing the ball beyond mid-court.

Zone pressure has many inherent advantages. Some of them are:
· Big men are kept close to the defensive basket for defense and rebounding.
· Quicker players are allowed to be around the ball, thus maximizing their assets.
· It forces more than one player to attack your defense. (And many players pass poorly.)
· You can 'hide' players on defense. (e.g. most teams come down the court to their right. Put the less effective defenders on the opposite side)
· You can run many variations of defense while in the same zone press. (e.g. Deny the first pass, wait for the pass and trap, allow only short passes and slowly fall back)
· You can disguise defenses while running these different variations

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This report will deal with the 1-2-1-1 press. You can apply most of the principles of this defense to other zone presses, however. There are two basic and most widely used zone presses: the 1-2-1-1 and the 2-2-1. The zone press was first made famous by UCLA in the 1960's and the 1970's when they won so many national championships. When reminded of this, most people think of Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bill Walton as the dominating players that they were. What most people do not remember is that they were dominating even when they did not have these players. In 1965, when UCLA won their first title under John Wooden, they were 30-0 and had a 6'4'' center named Edgar Lacey. Yes, UCLA was always talented in those days, but they were not always big. There were also many other teams that were talented then also. But UCLA was alert, aggressive, played as a team, and had a stifling defense.

As remains true in all defenses, you do not have to be gigantically tall, or very fast, and you do not have to be very strong. These characteristics are all helpful, however. The only things that you MUST have are a great deal of pride, an aggressive attitude, and you must believe in your defense.

There are five positions in the 1-2-11 zone press:
1 - Point He must have excellent body defense, fast feet and good anticipation
2 - Wingmen They must be both good body defenders and better than average sprinting speed
1 - Four Man He must have the best anticipation of all your players and have the greatest desire for the ball. (This is the most important position.)
1 - Five Man He must be the best inside defender (usually a big man) and a good lateral rebounder.

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The basic set up is as follows: (See Diagram #1). The following rules always apply:

1. The ball must always be thrown in front of the defense. It is up to the defense to play behind the closest possible recipients of a pass. These people must be defended loosely (i.e. invite the offense to pass to them). Any other players must be played more tightly (i.e. to discourage any pass to them)
2. The Four Man must go to the ball side. Even when the ball is out of bounds and the passer is waiting to inbound the ball, the Four Man must draw an imaginary, straight line between the ball, himself, and the far end of the court. Once he has done this, he must look to match up with the offensive player closest to him.
3. All players must stay within the line of the ball. In other words, if the ball is thrown to a player who is even with the foul line, it will make no sense for the point to stay close to the basket. He must retreat to within the line of the ball and get even with the ball.
4. The Point Man must stay between the man with the ball and the far side-line and influence the man with the ball to the sideline. (This takes some getting used to by inexperienced players.)
5. All clamps must be made to make the dribbler either pick up the ball or at least contain him. It is a cardinal sin to allow a dribbler to get through a clamp. A clamp is two players using the side line and/or the end line to trap the ball handler. This takes practice to control a dribbler in this manner.
6. NO ONE may permit the dribbler to advance up the floor uncontested. It makes no sense in this defense, or any defense for that matter, to play someone without the ball while a dribbler is going to the basket with no one on him. Teach your players to recognize this and attack the dribbler if the defense has broken down and help is needed.
7. Once the dribbler has picked up the ball, all clamps must be made toe to toe and knee to knee. Try to visualize this. The two defenders, usually a point and a wing, clamping the ball and standing in such a way that their bodies form the legs to a right triangle. (See the point and the wing closest to the ball in Diagram #2)
8. This rule especially applies to the Five Man: Never give up a lay up. This is self-explanatory and there are no exceptions. No matter who has gambled and made a mistake, no matter if it may leave someone else open, the Five Man must go at someone who is about to make a lay up. He may have to give up a jump shot. He may confront a dribbler about to score a lay up when he knows that the dribbler will pass to another player for a sure lay up. This is ok. He has forced the extra pass. He has allowed his team a bit more time to come help. The extra pass requires more steps in the offense. (i.e. the dribbler must pick up the ball, pass it accurately while on the run and the receiver must catch it and shoot his own lay up) and a greater chance for a turnover. But the key is the mental attitude here. Never quit on anything. Challenge everything. Instill an attitude in your team that any unmolested movement, pass, dribble, etc by the offense should be considered a personal insult to their abilities as basketball players.
9. This rule applies to the Five Man only: Play the farthest man back. The Five does not have to be very close to this player. Because he is so far from the ball, he will have plenty of time to react if the ball is thrown his way. Just make sure that he is close enough to intercept any pass to the furthest player back. The converse idea is important here. If the farthest player back is not that far back (e.g. at mid court) this will allow the Five Man to come back to mid court.
10. This rule applies to the Five Man only: Go opposite ball side. Just as the four goes ball side, the Five Man will do the opposite. This will balance out defensive responsibilities on the floor.

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In the last three rules (the ones that apply to the Five Man), never give up a lay up is the most important rule. If a rule must be broken, understand the priorities here. If the farthest offensive man back is on the ball side and the Four Man is already covering someone else, the Five Man must take the farthest man back and disobey the last rule about being opposite.

The last rule applies to everyone to some degree and is the hardest to understand and learn. This rule requires a great deal of hustle and mental quickness. Here it is: Whenever the ball is passed over a wingman's head, all players must rotate up one position. (See Diagram #4) You must drill this aspect until it becomes reflex and second nature. Don't expect the players to remember this in a game. If you drill this sufficiently, it will happen automatically.

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Notice in Diagram #2 that the ball is to be influenced in front of the first three players (Point and the 2 Wing Men). and from there to the near side line. Also note the movements of all five players. As soon as the ball was picked up by the offense and taken out of bounds to be passed in bounds, the Four Man went ball side to play the nearest man behind the Point and Wings. The Five Man went opposite ball side, but more importantly, played the farthest man back. As the point and the wing that is ball side try to contain the ball handler, the other wing, or opposite wing (thus named because he is on the opposite side of the court in relationship to the ball) goes to the middle. The only place where a pass can be made that is not contested would be back across the basket to the other side. In other words, passing backwards or horizontally is not permitted. The Point Man must influence the ball to the closer side line. The Wing Man on ball side, hereafter called the Wing Man, must not allow the dribbler to go up the side line. The Wing Man opposite ball side, hereafter called the Opposite Wing, must cheat into the middle of the floor to the top of the key. It goes without saying that every defender must play closely to any player to any player in their area to discourage a pass, or if one is thrown, to be in a position to steal it.

See Diagram #3. On the swing of the ball to the opposite side, (a horizontal pass) the same rules apply. The Point Man must influence the ball to the near side line. (The difference here is that the other side line is now the near side line.) The new Wing Man (new because the ball is now on his side) must execute a hedging move to prevent the ball from being thrown over his head. This means that he must wait until the Four Man can come into the ball side behind him. Once the Four Man can get over in position, the Wing Man may now pressure the ball.

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The new opposite Wing Man must go to the top of the key to shut off any pass into the middle. The Four Man, as was mentioned before, must go to the new ball side to cover any offensive men in that area. The Five Man must also still cover the farthest man back. Once the ball is passed around by the offense, the defense may get caught in between people as they try to get their new assignments. This is a potential problem. You always want your team to be aggressive, but in some cases, for them to run at the ball would be foolish. This would be when teammates are not in position yet. The term that you want your team to understand is: apply intelligent pressure. The Wing Man should not run blindly at the ball if the Four Man is in the process of coming across the court to get to the new ball side. Use intelligent pressure. Once the Four Man gets into position, then go up on the ball. Otherwise, the ball will be passed over his head.

Diagram #4 deals with the pass over the head of the Wing Man. In this case all players must rotate up one position. The Point Man goes back to the middle to become the opposite Wing Man while the original Wing Man drops back to become the point. The Four Man becomes the Wing Man. The Five Man comes up to the ball side to become the Four Man. The most important move of all is for the opposite Wing Man to SPRINT to the other end of the court to become the new Five Man.

These are the basic moves of the 1-2-1-1 zone press. The press will work, but you must believe in it. Practice the press, but before you do, break down each phase of it first and practice that phase. First have two defenders practice trapping one dribbler. Next have players practice moving on the release of a pass, not the reception. A suggestion would be to put six players in a large circle with two defenders in the middle. The offensive players that form the circle cannot dribble. Their job is to pass to one of the other players that form the circle. They must pass quickly and try to prevent the defenders from stealing the pass. The defenders in the middle will work together as follows: one player will go after the ball. The second defender will cover the person that receives the first pass. When one defender chases a pass, the other defender will fall back into the circle and cover the next pass. The focal point of this drill is that the defenders must move to the offensive player when the pass is thrown, not caught. This encourages and develops an aggressive attitude. You want defensive players to anticipate and hustle.

The final rule of this press (or any press) is the most important one: hustle. Remind the players that they are human and that they will make mistakes. If they hustle they will correct many of those mistakes. I am a firm believer that some success comes from ability but most of success comes from attitude and hustle. Remind the players that hard work will always beat talent when talent does not work hard.

The philosophy of pressure defense is to make the other team play your game. It is not a bad press if you do not always steal the ball. The other team is still running as much as you want them to. Their offense is being sped up at least enough to force them into poor percentage shooting. They are not being allowed to rest. As long as the other team is not getting lay ups from the press, it will be an effective weapon.

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