Open Practice: Defending Ball Screens and Transition Defense

Long time Oakland University head coach, Greg Kampe, is one of the top mid-major coaches in the country. His uptempo style of play has been a signature of the Oakland basketball program for over 30 years. He is the third longest tenured coach in Division 1, behind Jim Boeheim and Mike Krzyzewski. With over 500 wins, he is fourth among active D1 coaches in wins at his current school and finished third all time in wins (147) in Summit League play.

Over the course of his career, Greg Kampe has had to develop a defensive system that gives his team the best chance of competing against some of the toughest opponents in the country. Meanwhile, his uptempo style of play has been a signature of his program for over 30 years. Coach Kampe has successfully maintained an attacking offense while also keeping an outstanding transition defense.

Coach Kampe opens the doors to his practice to share the defensive concepts and practice drills that have led his teams to success at Oakland. With nine defensive breakdown drills, you will learn how to build your transition defense, shut down ball screens with a system for defensive switches, and handle off-ball screens to minimize your opponent's scoring opportunities.

Transition Defense

Getting back quickly to protect the rim is the first priority to any successful half-court team defense. Coach Kampe outlines three things that all transition defenses must do: protect the basket, stop the ball and defend players trailing the ball. Using the whole-part-whole method, he starts out in the full court with three drills that emphasize these principles. These drills are are always the first part of every Oakland early-season practice because they're so important.

• The 5-on-5, 5-on-4, 5-on-3 Drill will challenge your defense to protect the rim in a disadvantage situation until teammates can recover and get matched up.
• The DDM to Transition Defense Drill will force your players to sprint back on defense after running an offensive set to contain offensive players who already have a head start down the court.
• The Pro Drill is a great way for your team to compete through multiple disadvantage situations ranging from 2-on-1 fast breaks to 5-on-4 in transition.

Ball Screen Defense

If you have a team of like-sized players, the simplest way to neutralize your opponent's ball screens is to switch on defense so your team never has two players guarding the ball. In situations where switching would create an unfavorable matchup, Coach Kampe will instead hard hedge the ball screen.

You'll see how Coach Kampe develops these concepts with two drills that break down ball screen defense. In the 3-on-3 to 50 drill, your players will refine the technique needed to aggressively switch ball screens. In the 4-on-4 Pitch Out drill, your athletes will learn to recognize when they should switch or hard hedge.

You will also learn how to defend against down screens and perimeter cross screens with three drills that focus on how to beat both types of off-ball screens. The 4-on-4 Continuous Screening Drill will give your players quick repetitions to help them master getting through down screens and taking away your opponent's scoring options. The 3-on-3 Cross Screen drill will show you a unique strategy for intercepting passes when your opponent screens away on the perimeter. Finally, the 4-on-4 Down Screen, Cross Screen drill puts both of these tactics together to challenge your players to defend screen-the-screener actions.

These practice drills will give you defensive strategies to compete against the toughest opponents on your schedule!

120 minutes. 2016.