The Attacking 'Press Offense' to Exploit Pressure Defenses + Empowering Your Team Culture

with Dan Hughes, Seattle Storm (WNBA) Head Coach from 2018 through 2021;
2x WNBA Coach of the Year (2001 & 2007);
2x WNBA World Champion with the Seattle Storm (2018 & 2020);
USA Basketball Women's Assistant Coach (2020 Tokyo - Gold medal);
2019 USA Basketball Women's USA AmeriCup Team Co-Coach (Gold medal) San Antonio Stars (WNBA) Head Coach from 2005 to 2009 and then 2011 to 2016;
Cleveland Rockers (WNBA) Head Coach from 2000 to 2003;
More than 30+ years coaching experience - with 20+ years as a professional coach in the WNBA and serving as a coach of both men's and women's programs at the college and high-school levels;

Coach Hughes demonstrates several different entries within his press offense that give it different looks that have helped him take advantage of an aggressive defense, as well as special plays and in-game tactics that keep any type of pressing defense on its heels. 

The two-time WNBA Championship-winning coach also knows what it takes to build a championship culture. Building a culture where players and staff are working together to make the program better are what separate the good teams from the great ones.  

Coach Hughes has been a part of some amazing team culture efforts in his time as a coach. From World Champion teams with the Seattle Storm to winning Olympic Gold with USA Basketball, Hughes understands the importance of fostering a winning team culture. He pulls back the curtain on his process and experiences and offers a blueprint you’ll be able to follow and employ!

‘Press Offense’ – Controlling Tempo & Attacking Defenses

Coach Hughes goes through several ways he’s learned to overcome a pressing team throughout his coaching career. One key to this style of play is the development of solid point guards- one who doesn’t wilt under pressure. Through your point guard, regardless of the system of offense you utilize, the success of that lead ball handler will help you figure out ways to create advantageous situations against any pressing defense.

Coach Hughes also stresses the importance of your team learning different defenses and how those opponents are trying to trap you while learning and practicing the individual skills necessary to handle those pressure defense situations with confidence. 

Outlining three different passing options that fuel his ‘Press Offense,’ Coach Hughes demonstrates why and how each of these attacking options are effective versus just about any type of defense your team will face – whether it’s a man-to-man press, a 1-2-2 zone press, three-quarter court pressure or a run-and-jump press.  

Ultimately, there will be times where you need a last-second press offense play or a home-run set to back off the defense and take the pressure off your players. Demonstrating the home-run set, Coach Hughes shows ways how to free up your best shooter and use screens as a slip off tactic to either get your best shooter an open look or slip off a screen and get a wide-open layup. This is great to add to your playbook and gives your players the confidence to beat the best pressing teams even under daunting, high pressure circumstances. 

Empowering Your Culture

Developing leaders is the primary objective of anyone who goes into coaching. Coaches teach players how to win, how to build good habits, how to persevere during times of adversity and how to work together as a team.

To accomplish the task of developing leaders, the players must feel empowered and held accountable to their role in building their team chemistry. Coach Hughes finishes this video with a deep-dive look at how he has built lasting relationships, inspired his players to grow, developed a winning culture, and always managed to find solutions to team problems that ultimately benefit everyone. By mastering the keys of building a real winning culture that empowers everyone, coaches will discover the heights a team can achieve by working together. 

Coach Hughes covers communication within a program – including the keys to good communication between staff and players. He provides examples from his own team’s growth in team communication and how he made it work as a point of focus, and continually improve over time. He also discusses the importance of building open communication and trust between players and between players and staff. In today’s game, you’ll often see that the teams with the best team culture often end up being the best team in their respective sport. Coach Hughes provides a lesson on culture building that works – whether it is a sports team looking to win a championship or a company that’s looking for strategies to bring their employees together and grow their business – it all begins with empowering the culture.  

In this must-watch video for coaches at all levels of basketball, Coach Hughes outlines the system he’s used to overcome a pressing team by attacking and exploiting the weaknesses inherent to being overly aggressive. Plus, you’ll learn valuable methods for empowering your team and helping them to build a great culture.  

This is a video you will definitely want to add to your coaching library!

79 minutes. 2023.