Breakdown Drills for Building the Pack Line Defense

Every coach's biggest defensive challenges are forcing low percentage shots and keeping players out of foul trouble. Saul Phillips' "pack line" defense has just the right balance of intensity and containment to achieve this goal.

While many coaches use a variation of this defense, Coach Phillips' presentation focuses less on philosophy and more on practical implementation. Coach Phillips, a former Bo Ryan assistant, takes what he learned from Coach Ryan and other great coaches who used the pack line defense and shows his audience how to implement it through a variety of drills. Regardless of the size of your coaching staff, you will be able to use every drill effectively.

Coach Phillips opens the presentation by explaining why a team should play the pack line defense. By containing the dribble, preventing penetration and keeping the offense out of the paint, the pack line almost assures that the other team will have to consistently settle for shots. Getting these contested jump shots is one of the biggest keys to playing this defense.

Coach Phillips shares a few simple, easy-to-implement drills that help players quickly learn their responsibilities within the defense. These include:

• 1-on-2 drive. This drill focuses on playing great 1-on-1 defense as well as the basis of the pack line's success, which is to help defense on dribble penetration.
• 2-on-2 closeout. Teaching proper spacing and quick weak side help are the focus of this competitive drill.
• 3-on-3 Shell. While stopping dribble penetration, proper rotations forces the longest pass possible. At the same time, this drill also focuses on the perimeter players' responsibilities and reactions when the ball is entered into the post.
• 4-on-4 Shell. In this learning-by-doing drill, Coach Phillips explains proper reactions to a variety of offensive executions, such as America action, floppy action, screen-the-screener action, and pick-and-roll action.

These drills have enabled Coach Phillip's teams to use the pack line defense to even the playing field when facing more athletic teams.

If you're thinking about adding the pack line defense to your arsenal, add this DVD to your coaching library today.

Produced at the Fall 2014 Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Clinic.

51 minutes. 2015.