Dana Ford: Elite Switching Defense with Counters for Various Offensive Actions

with Dana Ford,
SMU Assistant Coach;
Missouri State University Head Coach from 2018 to 2024;
2023 NABC Team Academic Excellence Award;
Tennessee State Head Coach from 2014 to 2018;
2016 Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year;
2016 NABC Regional Coach of the Year;
Illinois State Assistant Coach from 2012 to 2014;
Wichita State Assistant Coach from 2011 to 2012;
Tennessee State Assistant Coach from 2009 to 2011;
Chipola College Assistant Coach from 2008 to 2009;
played college basketball for Illinois State

Coach Dana Ford has developed a system that has been utilized to stymie some of the best offenses in the country. In this on-court presentation, he shows how to defend against common offensive looks and concepts as part of a multiple defensive system.

Defending Against 5-Out Offenses
The cornerstone of Coach Ford’s defense has been running a switching man-to-man defense. He shows how this defense can defend against five-out offenses by establishing a defensive side by reading shoulders and forcing the drive in one direction to establish a strong side and a help side.

Once a defensive side is established, the rest of the defense can be constructed to defend against five-out alignments. The furthest player from the ball is required to “fill the paint.” The nearest player to the ball in help is the “flood guy” who must get wide and be ready to guard against three-point shots.

With ball-side defense, the player one pass away will have his butt to the ball and will deny anything. Finally, the player defending the strong-side corner will play the scouting report.

Switching Man-to-Man Defense Adjustments
Coach Ford has been using a switching man-to-man defense in recent years with success. Because of the nature of the defense, his teams have had to adjust to better deal with different offensive tactics. A couple of examples include how to deal with defending slips and backdoor cuts. Using the example of a fade screen with a slip, Ford shows the “high/low” technique to deal with these concepts. The defender who is highest will take whoever is coming high while the defender who started low takes whoever is coming to him.

There are also times where the defense will face a mismatch. To deal with the mismatch, the defender caught in the mismatch must work to “deny the next pass.” An example of this comes when a smaller defender gets stuck in a mismatch against a bigger post player.

When defending a ball screen, Ford will use a defensive tactic called a “pop switch.” This is used to take away a ball handler who tries to get downhill against a switch on a ball screen. To prevent splitting defenders, the defender switching on to the ball must be foot to foot with the ball screener. At the same time, the player who fills the paint must cover slips to the basket with a “meet and greet.”

Defensive Adjustments to Other Common Alignments and Tactics
One defense that is used to defend against a post player that cannot be switched on to is “50 Black.” This defense will have the main defender who is tasked with covering a dominant post player to not switch off his man. Another situation where there is not a switch is off an Iverson cut. The reason presented is that this can create confusion as to who can fill the paint. Showing the action from a 1-4 high alignment, Coach Ford has the defender go over the first screen and under the second screen for a wing coming off of two screens. Out of an alignment called “Omaha,” Ford shows how to defend against a 2-3 high alignment. The player defending the post stationed at the nail will drop off and be the fill-the-paint guy. The help-side wing defender will be the “flood guy.” With the pass into the post for an X-cut, the post defender must wait for the ball to be put on the floor with “high/low” concepts in switching the cut by the guards.

This excellent video will surely become one of your go-to resources for building an elite, formidable defense!

73 minutes. 2024.