Building a Man-to-Man Defensive System

Coach Gary Close spent nearly 30 years as a top assistant coach to some of the top coaching minds in Division I basketball history. As a top assistant for both Bo Ryan and Tom Davis, Close knows the ins and outs of how these great coaches built and sustained successful programs.

Close teaches and demonstrates Coach Bo Ryan's dominant half court defensive system, then he breaks down two of Coach Tom Davis' full court pressure strategies. Each of these is brilliantly taught and can be adapted easily into your program.

In this video, you will learn how to control the tempo of a game, disrupt offenses, force bad/quick shots and wear your opponents out with the use of Close's defensive philosophies and 12 effective defensive drills.

Defensive Basics

Coach Close first addresses defensive philosophy and then hits on the rules of his half court defense. A strong defensive philosophy and holding players accountable will allow your team to grow defensively and play at a high level. You'll also be able to use communication and teaching points when talking with players or breaking down film.

He begins with on court demonstration on footwork and stance. A heavy emphasis is placed on the lead foot to cut off the offensive player's path to the basket. Close's rule is that a defensive player must keep their chest up and not expose their numbers to the sideline camera, thus giving up a path to the basket. He then progresses into help position and recover.

Breakdown Drills

Coach Close includes 12 drills to use daily with players, starting with a great drill that is the base of the entire defense: 1-on-1 from the Top. This drill teaches the importance of putting pressure on the ball after completing a disciplined close out. He then adds various other drills and techniques that build the defense. Once players have gone through the basics, the drills progress into live action. Close builds the defense step-by-step and gives you a set of drills to use when installing the half court defense.

Defending Screens

Pressure on the ball is emphasized by Close when defending screens. He details the roles of both the player getting screened as well as the players that are defending the screeners. This way, the players can work together to make it difficult on the offense.

You'll learn how to defend all types of screens, including: down, slip, fade, stagger and ball screens. Close demonstrates how to defend each type of screen in multiple scenarios along with his defensive drill, 4-on-4 Ball Screen Defense, that gives players game-like situations to learn how to defend screens.

55 Pressure Defense

Coach uses on-court demonstrations to illustrate his full- and 3/4-court pressure defense. He shows how to guard multiple press breaks and includes his 55 Pass Reaction drill to teach players to quickly set up pressure defense and create turnovers.

Be a consistent winner by emphasizing defense early and often! With this on-court coaching video, Close gives you three defenses that will allow your team to start winning now.

130 minutes. 2016.