Full Court Man-to-Man Press Defense

with Matt McCall,
University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) Head Men's Coach from 2017 to 2022;
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Head Men's Coach from 2015 to 2017;
2016 NCAA Tournament appearance;
2016 Southern Conference Tournament Champions;
2016 SoCon Regular Season Champions;
2016 SoCon Coach of the Year;
University of Florida Men's Assistant Coach from 2011-2015;
Florida Director of Basketball Operations from 2006 to 2008 (NCAA Champions in 2006 and 2007)

Learn the secrets to the full court press defense that led the Florida Gators to their back-to-back National Championships in 2006 and 2007! Coach Matt McCall, an assistant coach at Florida at two different stops earlier in his career, has continued to implement the same full court press at Chattanooga and now UMass with great success.

In this video, you will learn the basic principles to the run and jump press, drills to develop the defense, adjustments that can be made versus different strategies and more. This video will help you increase the pressure you inflict on your opponent and force more turnovers.

Goals of the Press

Coach McCall first explains what this type of press aims to accomplish. You will learn the five goals for the press defense as well as five things that must be avoided. Through the use of game film, you will see how four basic rules guide the decisions of defenders on the court as they try to force different trap situations. Coach McCall shows how defenders will close traps and rotate into interceptor positions on the inbound pass, speed dribbles up the sideline, when the dribbler turns, and even opportunities for multiple traps in the same possession. You will also learn how UMass motivates athletes to play with energy through the tracking of hustle stats.

Press Defense Drills

Six different drills for building the press are detailed. These drills will reinforce essential fundamentals in the defense such as getting matched up, applying on-ball pressure, closing the trap, and rotating to intercept passes. The 4v4 Around the Cone drill is a fantastic multi-purpose drill for building your full court press along with your half-court offense and defense.

A strength of this defense is its adaptability versus different strategies that your opponents will use. Adjustments for six different scenarios that can be challenging are described in this video. You will learn how to avoid putting your center into risky match-ups, challenge poor ball handlers to initiate the offense, defend sideline inbound situations, and more. Coach McCall also shares how the circumstances of the game will dictate the extent to which you press.

This is an excellent video if you want to install a full court defense for next season or are looking for new ideas to improve a press you already run.

50 minutes. 2021.