Swish! Another jump shot hits nothing but net. A couple of plays later the same player drives the ball down the lane at will and nails a tough shot in the lane. A couple of plays later, the same thing happens except the same player now throws the perfect pass at the perfect time to a wide open player underneath the basket for a dunk. And each and every time this happens, it seems like a dagger is being driven into your team’s heart. We’ve all probably played against this type of guard throughout our career at least once.
Well, I know it drives me crazy when it seems like if all I could do is contain this elite player, it would give me a chance to win. Because of this, I’ve given you seven tips that have helped me in the past. And I hope these tips will help you for the next time you face that elite guard.
- Play Underneath – If he’s a great dribble penetrator, but his outside shot is fairly weak, you may want to sag off of him and play underneath screens.
- Pressure – If he’s a great shooter, but ball-handling is not his expertise, you will want to pressure him and stay very close, so that he can’t receive any easy passes or get any room to get off a shot.
- Sag Off Until 1st Pass – If you run into an elite player who can do everything, he will be much more difficult to stop. One thing you can do is sag off until the first pass. When the elite player has the ball, you make that first pass really easy for him and as soon as that first pass is thrown, you deny the pass back to him all the time.
- Deny the Player – You can also deny the player the ball from the start. The player guarding the inbounder completely denies the star player while the defensive player assigned to the star player is on the opposite side. If he were to catch the ball, you could have the player denying the pass sprint back to the person he was initially guarding. You could also use the player guarding the inbounder to instantly form a double team to try to force the star player to get rid of the ball.
- Double Team – If this player is still destroying you, you could flash a double-team at him whenever he touches the ball. Different tactics include double team from the person closest to the ball, from the weakest offensive player, and from the offensive player’s back are few that you could try.
- Take Charges – If you are also playing great help defense, you can take a couple of charges. This will make the player think twice before penetrating, and he’ll start settling for the tough, outside shots.
- Study Tendencies – As you go up in the levels of basketball, it’s important to study the player’s tendencies. You should know what shots they make at a high percentage and what shots they miss at a high percentage. If the player is very good at driving right and scoring the ball, shade them to their left. If the player always hits the corner jump shot, make sure to stay close to them when they’re near the corner. If they catch the ball with space, close out hard and force them to put it on the ground.
When Shane Battier guards Kobe Bryant, he knows he can’t stop him, but he tries to force him to take low-percentage shots. By studying game-film and statistics, Battier knows that if he can force Kobe to take certain type of shots, it increases his team’s chances of winning.
Overall, the biggest thing is to make sure that the defender is focused, staying in front of him, and keeping his feet. For the most part, if you’ve got a marginally quick defensive player, he can stay in front of the elite player, cause him to take tough shots, and contain his penetration.