Craig Neal: Breakdown Drills for Teaching Half Court Man-to-Man Defense

Building a defense that is in the right position and communicates well is a challenge.

Craig Neal has built the New Mexico Lobos into one of the toughest teams to play against. In this presentation, he teaches his defensive philosophy, beginning with stance and working his way up to 5v5 shell that includes ball screen defense. Using a style similar to pack line defense and teaching his players to guard for two dribbles, Coach Neal builds a strong paint presence - forcing teams to beat them away from the rim.

Breakdown Drills

Coach Neal shares six drills to teach the individual on-ball defensive techniques that have allowed his teams to consistently rank among the top field goal percentage defensive teams in the nation. Using these drills in practice, you will:

• Learn how to get your team talking on defense all over the court
• See how to get your team practicing defensive closeout technique from different angles
• Witness the Rodman Drill that will help your team become superb rebounders
• Learn the 2-on-1 Build-up Drill to improve your transition defense
• Learn the Toughness Drill taken from Doc Rivers of the Los Angeles Clippers that encompasses many of these teaching points into one drill

Shell Drill

The classic shell drill is a great way to help teach your team defensive philosophy. Coach Neal shares a unique way of implementing the shell drill to teach defensive principles. He uses towels to demonstrate to players how to not hand check and use their feet to guard in the half court. Coach Neal also demonstrates the proper way to defend a baseline drive and a middle drive without giving up a layup, discusses the befits of tracing the ball with one hand while on defense, and shows you how he gets players to jump to the ball.

Guarding Pick & Rolls

The game of basketball has become a game of pick & rolls, and if you cannot effectively guard a pick & roll, you will not have an effective defensive team. You'll learn strategies such as: hard hedge, flat hedge, Ice, Trap and Hot, all of which can stop the pick & roll. As he demonstrates the types of ball screen defense, Coach Neal also explains how to tell if these are the right types of ball screen defense for you. He explains how you should scout your opponents, what adjustments to make as your opponent adjusts to your defense, and how you should defend ball screens.

Coach Neal gives you the keys to effectively building an elite defensive philosophy, starting from the fundamentals and progressing to advanced techniques. His on-court demonstrations with players give you a great visual look at how a Division I men's head coach creates a smothering defense.

"I learned at least 5-6 new defensive pointers and tips from this video. He gave me a new perspective on how to coach defensive basketball." - Customer Review

Produced at the Spring 2014 Las Vegas (NV) clinic.

77 minutes. 2016.