Teams that struggle to slow down the opposition in transition will benefit a ton from Greg McDermott‘s “Circle Transition Defense” drill. The Creighton University head coach uses this drill to force his players to communicate and match up on defense when the other team is flying down the floor, looking to score.

Circle Transition Defense

Drill Summary: 10 players split into teams of different colored jerseys. Next, players form a circle of alternating jersey colors in the lane and start running in the circle. The coach chooses a player to pass the ball to, and the team with the corresponding jersey color becomes the offensive team and attacks the bucket at the opposite end of the court, while the defense must find a man and match up. Once the offensive team gets a shot up, the defense takes the ball the other way back on offense.

Keys to the Drill:

1) Sub in a third team if you have 15 or more players.
2) Match up on defense.
3) Communicate.
4) Relax and play!

This video came from Championship Productions’ video “Open Practice with Greg McDermott.” View other world class Basketball videos!