Controlling Game Speed & Tempo with 1-2-2 Press Defense (Plus, Maximizing Shell Drills)

with Keith Urgo,
Gonzaga College High School (Washington, D.C.) Head Coach;
Fordham University Head Coach from 2022 to 2025;
2023 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year;
Fordham Associate Head Coach from 2021 to 2022;
Penn State Assistant Coach from 2012 to 2021;
Villanova Assistant Coach from 2010 to 2012;
Villanova Director of Basketball Operations from 2008 to 2010;
played college basketball for Fairfield

Utilizing a press defense is a way for teams to control tempo and dictate what your opponents can do on the offense. Fordham University's Keith Urgo has created a winning style of play that has helped Fordham finish with back-to-back Top-10 in the nation defensive efficiency ratings.

Through the 1-2-2 press, Coach Urgo highlights the best ways for players to learn the basic rotations to speed up a team that wants to grind out games in the half court and slow down teams that want to use their transition offense to put pressure on your team once they get the ball.  

In this video, Urgo shows you proven methods for flowing into your half-court defense and influencing your opponents toward the sideline, baseline and forcing them into tough, highly contested 2-point shots. 

Three-Quarter Court, 1-2-2 Press

Good pressing teams understand that it's not about forcing turnovers, but rather, the ultimate goal of a press is to force your preferred type of tempo and impose a specific pace-of-play upon your opponent. By controlling tempo through full- or three-quarter court pressure, you place your opponents in situations that they find difficult or uncomfortable.

Coach Urgo shows how you can use the 1-2-2 press to speed up a slow team or slow down a fast team. This style of play is great for your program to dictate a game's tempo toward one that works in your favor. Demonstrating the drills that he uses to teach press rotations, Coach Urgo highlights several that he has found to be effective teaching tools, including a '3-on-3, Full-Court Drill,' where players must communicate with one another on who has the ball and who  is responsible for providing help. In the drill, players must fly around the court and influence the ball handler toward the sideline. With the top person in the press being one of the most important defenders, they have to take small steps towards the ball handler and big steps back to help take away any chance of getting the ball to the middle of the floor.  

This style of play is perfect if you are looking to put pressure on your opponents and have it flow directly and smoothly into your half-court defense.

Shell Defense, Defensive Techniques

Being ranked in the Top-10 in the nation for defensive efficiency is no easy task. Doing it two years in a row, showcases your team's dedication and emphasis on defensive pressure. By forcing tough, highly contested 2-point shots, Urgo's teams have consistently displayed a solid half-court defense. 

Coach Urgo highlights the best methods for teaching players how to 'help,' 'sink' and 'fill' to protect the paint. Using his version of the 'Shell Drill,' Urgo shares how to teach 'help,' 'sink' and 'fill' techniques. 

Beginning with basic positioning and on-ball pressure, you'll learn teaching techniques for playing 'head and hand on the ball' defense and 'swiping up' to force opponents to feel uncomfortable and away from the basketball. Coach Urgo shows how they teach help-side defenders to learn to defend while positioned in a boxing stance and how to keep their head on a swivel, always watching both ball and man.  

Learning to properly close out and influence the basketball is a daily habit for Coach Urgo and his program. Urgo shows how they emphasize and teach which hand to close out with proper footwork and how to pressure the basketball as defenders.  By forcing opponents to shoot tough, contested 2-point shots, you will stifle the best shooters and limit your opponent's scoring opportunities.  

Coach Urgo has his team playing at the top of the Atlantic 10 Conference and performing as one of the best defensive teams in the country, year-in and year-out. By influencing toward the sideline and baseline, you can create a defense focused on tough, highly contested field goals. Furthermore, by combining tenacious half-court defense with a stifling 1-2-2 three-quarter court press, you'll have a tough defense to play against.

This is a must-watch defensive video for coaches at all levels. Coach Urgo presents the information in an easy-to-follow format that allows you to easily add these schemes into your own defensive system. Plus, your players will love possessing the ability to control the tempo of games and play in a style that best fits their abilities as a team.

Coach Rating: 5 Out of 5 Stars. 'This is a really thorough video that describes two different ways to use a 1-2-2 three-quarter court press. I loved the way Coach Urgo presents his half-court shell drill and the emphasis he places on influencing toward the sideline and baseline!'

80 minutes. 2024.