Jim Shannon: How to Attack Trapping, Changing & Special Defenses

with Jim Shannon,
New Albany (IN) High School Head Boy's Coach;
over 500 career wins;
2016 4A State Champions;
2016 Indiana Boys Basketball Coach of the Year;
2018 IndyStar Indiana All-Stars coach

In high school basketball, if you have a great pressure and trapping defense, you can blow the competition out of the water. In this video, Jim Shannon, the 2016 4A State Championship coach and Indiana's High School Boys Basketball 2016 Coach of the Year, shows you what he does to beat those pressure, trapping, and special defenses!

Though the use of individual drills, breakdown drills and team drills, see how Shannon teaches how to break pressure defenses.

Individual Defense Drills

Attacking a pressure defense is important. Coach Shannon goes through individual drills that build skill and provide your players with the ability to be strong with the basketball while facing pressure. The drills also train players to come and meet the ball against pressure situations.

'Pull Back Crossovers' is a drill that allows players to attack a cone on the floor, retreat dribble away from the pressure, and then change direction with a crossover. This drill teaches your athletes to keep their body between the ball and the defender, and then change direction to attack a different area of the floor. Shannon emphasizes keeping the head up, allowing players to see teammates and the defense.

Breakdown Drills

Shannon gives you four effective breakdown drills for attacking pressure and trapping defenses. You'll see drills that work on multiple skills at once, including recognition of the trap and passing under pressure, plus how to pass out of a trapping situation and how to receive accurate passes while being trapped. Defensively, players will work on trapping, hustle, and getting deflections/turnovers.

The Texas Ringer drill uses the key and trains players to use their pivot, ball fakes, and make strong passes against defensive pressure. Shannon extends this drill into the half court, which forces strong passes and good use of ball fakes. The defense has more area to cover, but the offense cannot throw a soft pass allowing the defense to get into position to deflect or get a steal.

Team Drills and 5-on-5 Situations

Learn four drills to attack pressure defenses in a team and 5-on-5 setting. Drills include: 5-on-6, breaking a 1-2-1-1 press, breaking a half court 1-2-2 half court trap, and beating a box-and-1 set.

You will also see:

• How to give a trapped player three passing options
• How to post up in the center of the court to prevent a steal from happening in a trapping defense
• How to create a scoring system while working on breaking a press

This video gives you a wealth of knowledge on how to break pressure, trapping, and special defenses. If you're a coach who plays in a league where pressing and pressure defenses happen regularly, you'll see the impacts almost immediately!

Produced at the Nike Championship Basketball Clinic in Indianapolis (IN); Fall 2016

73 minutes. 2018.