Stop threes by making them think or shrink.
The three point shot has become a psychological lift for most teams. As a coach, you have to decide how you will play the ball. The ballhandler can shoot, drive right or drive left. The defender on the ball is doing well if two options are taken away. My choice is to take away the strong hand and the three because they are the two most dangerous options. They deserve to win if they can score enough points driving with their weak hand.
We have to give help if the ballhandler drives but the defender has to take away the three by themselves. I ask the defender to have their head opposite the strong side shoulder (head on shoulder).
There are two basic strategies for stopping threes. Shrinking the ballhandler means you have to get close enough to take away everything but the off-balance shot. There are two ways to do this; get close and have your hand up. Most players fail on both counts. I used to say that the defender has to be close enough to be able to touch the ballhandler's shoulder. Now I think I would tell them to be close enough to be able to touch them with their elbow. This combats the general tendency to worry about getting beat by playing off the ball a bit. The defender looks taller when they are close so they are "shrinking" the ballhandler.
The second way to shrink the ballhandler is to raise the hand high. The high hand should be the one on the shooting side, e.g. the left hand against a right-handed shooter. Most players will raise their strong hand so you have to drill this. Players also tend to drop their hand and hold it at an angle instead of straight up. This makes it easier to shoot. I ask the players to have their hand above the shooter's eyes and straight up.
Making the shooter think is the next strategy. Dictating what they can do is already part of it. A defender who takes away options by being close and positioning themselves to take away a side is already in the shooter's head. Sometimes has several shooters who get on a roll and the job becomes more difficult. A defender away from the ball can't help on the ball and take away the shot from someone who shoots immediately. You may have to change strategy here.
One thing you can do against a great shooting team is to change defenses to give them a different look. Some shooters won't shoot the same way when they are open against a zone or man-to-man defense. Making them work the ball up the floor against a soft press can have the same effect. Thinking about they are going to beat the zone or press can hurt shooting. That's why I tell players "Shoot don't think!". That is for another time. Another thing to discuss elsewhere is how to take options away as a team.
We have to give help if the ballhandler drives but the defender has to take away the three by themselves. I ask the defender to have their head opposite the strong side shoulder (head on shoulder).
There are two basic strategies for stopping threes. Shrinking the ballhandler means you have to get close enough to take away everything but the off-balance shot. There are two ways to do this; get close and have your hand up. Most players fail on both counts. I used to say that the defender has to be close enough to be able to touch the ballhandler's shoulder. Now I think I would tell them to be close enough to be able to touch them with their elbow. This combats the general tendency to worry about getting beat by playing off the ball a bit. The defender looks taller when they are close so they are "shrinking" the ballhandler.
The second way to shrink the ballhandler is to raise the hand high. The high hand should be the one on the shooting side, e.g. the left hand against a right-handed shooter. Most players will raise their strong hand so you have to drill this. Players also tend to drop their hand and hold it at an angle instead of straight up. This makes it easier to shoot. I ask the players to have their hand above the shooter's eyes and straight up.
Making the shooter think is the next strategy. Dictating what they can do is already part of it. A defender who takes away options by being close and positioning themselves to take away a side is already in the shooter's head. Sometimes has several shooters who get on a roll and the job becomes more difficult. A defender away from the ball can't help on the ball and take away the shot from someone who shoots immediately. You may have to change strategy here.
One thing you can do against a great shooting team is to change defenses to give them a different look. Some shooters won't shoot the same way when they are open against a zone or man-to-man defense. Making them work the ball up the floor against a soft press can have the same effect. Thinking about they are going to beat the zone or press can hurt shooting. That's why I tell players "Shoot don't think!". That is for another time. Another thing to discuss elsewhere is how to take options away as a team.
posted by Mike MacAdam at 10:29 AM
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