40 Minutes Baseline-to-Baseline Defense by Vic Schaefer

with Vic Schaefer,
University of Texas Head Women's Coach;
2023 Big XII Coach of the Year;
2x Big XII Tournament Champions (2022, 2024);
Mississippi State University Head Women's Coach from 2012 to 2020;
2x SEC Regular Season Champions (2018, 2019);
2019 SEC Tournament Champions;
2018 Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year;
2018 Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) National Coach of the Year;
2018 & 2017 NCAA Championship Runners-Up;
2017 ESPY Award - 'Best Upset' (ended UConn's record 111 game winning streak to go to the National Championship game);
3x SEC Coach of the Year (2015, 2018, 2019);
2018 SEC Regular Season Champions - 16-0 record;
2016 NCAA Sweet Sixteen;
Texas A & M Associate Head Coach from 2003 to 2012;
2011 NCAA National Champions

Vic Schaefer transformed the Mississippi State basketball program. His success is in great part due to the intense defensive pressure his players put on their opponents.

In this video, Schaefer goes in-depth on how he has been able to get his players to consistently execute their defensive principles, as well as play with the type of intensity necessary to compete at the highest levels.

Three different teaching methods are used throughout the video. Coach Schaefer uses whiteboard discussions to show basics surrounding his defense. He teaches with a team other than his own on the court, and also teaches from one of his own, live practices. Each session is as valuable as the next in learning how Schaefer instructs and instills the concepts of his defense.

Daily Defensive Drills

These "Daily Defensive Drills" are included in each of Coach Schaefer's practices throughout the season. Each drill is a foundational element of the defensive concepts he needs his players to apply. The drills include:

Defensing the Floor - This 1-on-1 full court drill is a great way to get your team down in a stance and ready to defend the ball.Mirror Drill - This is a sprinting drill that forces the defender to get past the person with the ball and re-initiate on-ball defense.Shell Drill - While almost all coaches have a form of Shell Drill, Schaefer's has attention to detail and variety. This is not just your regular Shell Drill!

Key Defensive Concepts

Some key components to Coach Schaefer's defense are:

• Hard denials one pass away.
• Great ball pressure.
• Keeping the ball on one side of the court.
• Moving on the pass.

Coach Schaefer addresses these concepts throughout the video. Each defensive idea is taught completely and also repeated on the floor in a live action setting. Much of the drill work that is done is in a 2-on-2, 3-on-3 or 4-on-4 format. This competitive setting keeps the players engaged throughout.

Zone and Press Defense

Schaefer includes two other defenses that his team uses. First, he introduces his 15 defense, which is a 1-2-2 zone. With this, he breaks down each player's responsibility and shows how the defense almost morphs into a 2-3 zone. Next, Schaefer spends some time working on and teaching his full court run and jump press. This high-paced pressure defense can cause havoc on the court.

Other concepts covered include defending down screens, ball screen defense, jumping to the ball and avoiding getting your face crossed, and defensive rebounding.

There are also two rebounding drills/competitions included in this video. Each emphasizes the importance of blocking out and moving feet to hold the block out. These competitive drills work on the fundamentals of rebounding while also allowing players to get after it in a game-like situation.

This video is loaded with a full complement of defensive strategies and drills to help you and your team put together an entire defensive scheme. If you want to change the way your team plays defense, if you want to play with the type of intensity that is necessary to achieve greater goals, then the lessons in this video are exactly what you need.

132 minutes. 2018.