Eduardo emailed me recently and sent in this [tag]drill[/tag] for [tag]defense for basketball[/tag] that he uses with great success with his team. I’ve included it here for you to try with your team.
From Eduardo…
We had success with this [tag]basketball[/tag] drill as far as competitiveness and constant floor sense. First, divide your team into two teams with different colored jerseys (we used reversible jerseys). Line the two teams along their respective sideline out of bounds (line starts approximately at half court).
Take the first two members of team one and put them in the middle of the lane (one at free throw line, one at middle of the blocks). Do the same thing on the other end with the other team.
The drill begins with three members of either team (white always starts with the ball for us) and move towards the other team’s two [tag]defenders[/tag]. The three [tag]offensive players[/tag] will try to score early because after making 3 [tag]passes[/tag] or taking 1 shot, the first guy in line for the defensive team will run in to play defense against the three offensive players.
Once the offense scores or turns the ball over, they immediately turn into [tag]defense[/tag] (either man or [tag]zone press[/tag]). The three defenders now must move the ball up the floor past the three defenders. If these three offensive players get past half court, they go three on 2 against the two defenders already standing in the front court. The other three defenders who were pressing simply go to the back of their line. The drill continues back and forth.
Added intensity we’ve added:“ Take away out of bounds and make the kids go after all loose balls. Make certain skills worth points rather than scoring (such as if you need to work on [tag]rebounds[/tag], make offensive rebounds with good put back worth one, defensive rebounds with good outlet pass worth two, or whatever) to help work on points of emphasis.
Lots of other additions can be made to this drill…have fun with it!