Kyle Keller's Open Practice: Defense Drills, Close Outs & Rotations, Guard & Post Skills, and Optimizing the Ball Screen Offense

with Kyle Keller,
Texas A&M University Assistant Coach;
Stephen F. Austin Head Coach from 2016 to 2025;
2022 Western Athletic Conference Regular Season Champions (WAC);
2020 Southland Regular Season Champions;
2020 TABC Division I Men's College Basketball Coach of the Year;
2018 Southland Conference Coach of the Year;
In 2019, Keller coached the SFA Lumberjacks to one of college basketball's biggest upsets of all time (#1 ranked Duke - home - at Cameron Indoor Stadium)

• Learn the secrets of building a high pressure defense that leads to turnovers and steals
• Build up from on the ball defense to rotation or scramble defense that creates a fun style of play
• Learn the 31 full court pressure defense that has frustrated and worn out teams and cause them to take bad shots and commit turnovers
• Over 4 and half hours of defensive pressure and offensive actions you can use in your practices

Defense wins championships. Kyle Keller has known this from his earliest days in coaching working alongside Hall of Famers Bill Self and Eddie Sutton. Teams that dominate and are smoother on the defensive side of the floor are what control the tempo. Setting that tone early on helps establish who you want to be as a program and lets your players know your teams’ identity. In this generous, 2 full day Open Practice video resource, Coach Keller lays out the groundwork for building a high pressure defense that has been ranked in the top 10 in the country the past several years through forcing high numbers of turnovers and steals. Balance this with an offense that uses some of today’s best actions - and you have a recipe for success - as the Kyle Keller-coached Stephen F Austin program has enjoyed over the last 10 seasons.

Practice Session 1:
Layout your foundation with closeout defense and on ball pressure to show how you will pressure the ball 94 feet from the basket. This creates a ‘havoc’ style of play that takes opponents out of their offensive scheme and makes them play at a faster pace.

In ‘closeout drill’, players are learning to have their butt to the basket and jump to force sideline/baseline. This puts the offense right into your trapping situations when they get to the wing. Players will learn how to get their elbow into the body of the offense and have their outside hand up to take away vision. This sets the tone early for how to teach pressure defense.

In ‘31’ you will learn how to slow the ball down and put pressure on the point guard. When they cross half court you will push them into a double team especially if your opponents use a sideline ball screen. Coach Keller walks his players through rotations and positioning as they trap on the sideline and force only a skip pass out.

In ‘Guard Work/Post Work’ Coach Keller uses breakdown drills to teach how to be in the passing lanes and create confusion with the ball handler as they try to attack the paint. By building helpside defense and learning how to jump passing lanes players will learn to anticipate and when to shoot gaps.

By pressuring the passing lanes it creates tough wing entries for any offense. Post players are working to defend the horns action that has become very popular in today’s game.

In ‘4v4 into closeout’, players are working on locks and elbows, hearing their teammates' voices, with priority on taking the ball and putting pressure on the ball. Using big steps, players cut off the ball handler and make them feel uncomfortable. In this 4v4 drill you will see how Coach Keller builds in actions their teams will see during the season. From defending the down screen to wide pin downs, players are communicating and getting through screens to keep constant pressure on the ball.

Out of this, Coach Keller finishes with defending dribble penetration and kick out so he can teach his players how to scramble out to recover to good shooters. Players have to know when it is their responsibility to get out and defend off of any drive and kick.

Practice Session 2:
With more of an offensive game focus, Coach Keller lays out ‘5 Game’ so players can work on their ‘roll and replace’ action along with drive and kickouts. By attacking the paint with post feeds and drives, they are continuing to put pressure on their opponents. This style of play is fun and exciting for your entire team!

In ‘Post Feeds’, Keller uses breakdown drills to teach what they do when the ball goes into the post and how they react off of the post entry. These cuts allow spacing and give guards an opportunity to get easy buckets around the rim. On a kick, your team will love the ‘1 more pass’ that Coach Keller emphasizes to create a great shot!

In ‘Transition and Full court 5v5’, players are working on offense-defense-offense. You will see how Coach Keller flows easily into their half court offense and looks for the pitch ahead to continuously attack the rim. By hitting the open wing, your team will be in attack mode as soon as you get a defensive rebound.

Creating a high pressure defense puts teams on their heels. They have to learn how to play faster than they want. Decisions don’t come as easy as they would like. This style of play has helped the Lumberjacks be one of the best in the country in forcing turnovers and steals and having one of the best winning percentages over the last 7 seasons. Your players will love to get out and pressure the ball and force the tempo of the game!

Customer Review: 5 Out of 5 Stars!
-”This is one video you need to add to your must-watch list if you are looking at how to install and run a pressure defensive system! Great break down drills and points of emphasis when teaching all of the drills!”

286 minutes. 2024.