Winning Through Ball Control

   
   

The team in white is using the double-post attack.

The other purpose for trying to keep the
ball from these “post” men is that of pre-
venting them from making assists to a
team mate. A defensive man may upset
the other team’s offensive play by getting
a hand just far enough in front of the
“nost” to bat passes away from him.
When a team depends heavily for their
scoring on some giant placed near the
basket, it may pay to put a defensive man
on each side of the giant, then attempt to
cover the rest of the offensive men with a
type of modified zone defense. For teams
playing straight zone, a good procedure is
to play a guard behind the giant and to
fade a front-line man back in front of him.
- The four-man zone with the extra man
playing the giant, man-for-man may be a
partial answer. Any defense based on two
men playing one opponent assumes that
looser playing of the other offensive men
is worth the risk. A well-balanced team of

reasonably accurate long shots makes such ©

defensive tactics questionable.

Planning Recovery of Offensive Re-
bound. Whether or not a team has a set
offense, it should have considerable drill in
the types of plays that it seems to find
successful for scoring in a game.
plays should have added to them an under-
standing (and a practiced learning) of

The W

separate competitive scrimmage tries, con-
forms to recognized principles of teaching,
and it is consistently carried out in each of
the following set-ups.
The second stage, three offensive men
on two defensive men (Diagram 2). In

32

These

(Continued from page 10)

which men should try for offensive-board
rebounds. The most general practice is to
have two men, in addition to the shooter,
get into position to attempt rebounding in
case the shot is missed. This practice is as
worth while in the fast break as it is in the
deliberate offense. With practice, these
three rebounders can force the defensive
team into a held-ball situation some of the
times in which they do not actually get the
ball. Even a held-ball at the offensive end
of the floor is an advantage well worth the
extra effort. The two men not engaged in
this offensive rebound-play must fall back
into positions from which they can check
any fast break by the opponents.

If a team has height advantage, it may
be somewhat successful at offensive re-
bounding with only two large men crash-
ing the offensive board. The double-pivot
offense is an example of this style. The
usual procedure is to keep three men, fif-
teen to thirty feet from the offensive bas-
ket, weaving and shooting long shots with

“an occasional feed and cut inside. The two

big men on the “posts” stress hook-shoot-
ing, jump-shooting, tap-ins, and an occa-
sional screen for a cutter. The three outer
offensive men are so situated as to nullify
almost entirely any fast-break attempt by
opponents.

(Continued from page 11)

this situation the two defensive men are
being opposed by three offensive players,
according to the principle of a strata of
man-for-man defense and a strata of the
zone principle. The front guard is placed
seven feet in front of the guard shown in

After Violations by Opponents

The clever ball club rarely gives up the
ball to opponents because of violation.
Double-dribbling is chiefly a beginner’s
error. Occasionally a player will forget
the three-second rule restricting the of-
fensive free-throw lane and half-circle, and
thereby cause his team to lose possession
of the ball. :

Some seasoned players stretch the walk-
ing and running restrictions to the limit
that the officials will permit, in order to
gain positional advantage. They are usu-
ally clever enough to readjust their move-
ments if the officials begin to call viola-
tions on them. The skillful “post” player
may slide his pivot toe occasionally if he
finds the officials somewhat lax. The
defensive team may be able to cause vio-
lations by playing very close man-for-
man with automatic switching on the
screens. The offensive team may, thereby,
be forced into a speed and tenseness which
will upset their movement patterns. They
may commit themselves by leaving their
feet to pass or shoot, only to find that the
defense has them completely covered. In
this situation the offensive man prefers
alighting with the ball to throwing it
wildly. A called violation allows his
team mates more time to readjust to de-
fensive positions than an interception.

Some defenses are planned to cause
opponent violation of the ten-second rule
in regard to getting the ball across the
mid-court line. The procedure is to try
to check the offensive team in its own
back-court for ten seconds. Stress is put
on stopping long passes and on stopping
dribbling. The rebounder is checked as
long as possible, the next receiver is

_ checked, ete. The defense plays so as to

encourage passing backward by the of-
fense. One of the defensive techniques
in this delay process is to stop any of-
fensive dribbler, then fade back instantly.
Two defensive men may double-team the
dribbler until he is forced to pause. The
fading back results in the covering of
the offensive men ahead of the dribbler
by a five man semi-zone. This checking

and fading back ahead of the ball, and

repeating the process until the mid-court
line is crossed, takes speed and practice.
It is a somewhat risky defensive strategy.

atchdog of the Basket

Diagram 1. This is a tandem defensive
formation. The rear defensive guard has
dropped back to a position about five feet
directly in front of the basket and the
front guard plays about seven feet in front
of his team mate. The expectant attitude

THE ATHLETIC JOURNAL