June 20, 2003, Newsletter Issue #115: FEET TO YOUR RESPONSIBILITY

Tip of the Week

Where your feet are enables you to get to the places that you need to be, depending on what you need to do in the following situations.

Obviously, if you are an on ball defender your feet need to be facing the ball, but also ANGLED in the direction that you wish to make the dribbler go.

If you want to deny a pass, your feet should be towards your man in a "closed stance" with your arm extended and your hand in the passing lane. Your chin should be to your shoulder so you can still see the ball.

When you need to be in position to help a teamate who is guarding the ball, you have "dual responsibility" (1/2 ball and 1/2 man). Your feet need to be facing the ball/man/line(an imaginary line from the ball to your man). This puts you in position to either help on a dribble drive, deny a pass if your man cuts(flashes) to the ball, or recover to your man if he recieves a pass.

If your man flashes to the ball, now you go from a help defender to ballside defender and you may need to deny a pass. Your feet would adjust from facing the ball man line ina an "open stance" to a closed stance, as in denial defense explained above.

When it is time to rebound, first you need to block out by facing your man and making sure that you are between him and the basket. Then you need to pivot and face the ball coming off of the rim, so you can go get it.

Throughout each defensive possession, if you KNOW your responsibility, and keep your FEET TO YOUR RESPONSIBILITY you are almost always in position to make the play.

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