Many basketball players – and especially the juniors – want to be the game winning superstar. Yes, we’ve all dreamed about hitting that game winning three pointer, just when the seconds were ticking down and our team was on its way to a two-point loss. The crowd and your teammates lose it as they bear witness to something that only happens maybe once in a thousand games.
But most of the time this isn’t going to happen. It’s for this reason that the saying exists that the best offence is a great defence. It creates consistency, drives stability and produces offensive attacks that couldn’t happen with a subpar defence.
Here, we are going to look at why a champion defence is integral to winning matches:
It’s easier to coach
When it comes to coaching basketball NZ, it’s impossible to create offensive consistency. This is because you can never be sure how many free-throws, layups and three-pointers will be nailed in a game situation. You can elevate your team’s offensive skills regarding shooting, passing, plays etc. but it still remains anyone’s guess as to how well this will work on gameday.
A team’s defence, however, is much easier to coach and much easier to control. You can develop the defence’s effort, execution and intensity to ensure that they will bring it on gameday. Teaching your players to block and shut down shots is much easier than teaching them to nail three-pointers, and this is why developing their skills at the back is just as important as up front!
It backs you up in poor offensive games
Your offence can’t always be on point, but your defence will always be there to back them up on off days. A winning defence can help keep your team in the game on those nights when your power forward simply isn’t putting them in the basket.
Because, not only does a poor offensive night keep points off the board, but it also facilitates scoring opportunities for the opposition. When you keep getting caught in counter attacks due to missed opportunities you will need a solid defence there to block such attacks. With this in mind, a solid defence will be there to inhibit opposition attacks when the numbers aren’t going on your board.
It sets up plays
Having a robust defence-to-offence strategy ensures that you will create more plays than if you focused most of your training on attack. Sure, you might spend long training periods teaching your basketball players how to shoot, and this is obviously essential, but so is the ability to get to a shooting position in the first place.
Given that basketball is an end-to-end sport it is imperative that you have a defence who knows how to turn a ball win into a shooting situation. This is how the game works and this is exactly why you need a robust defensive strategy.
Defence includes all your players
And therefore all your players should know how to do it! Basketball is different to team sports that contain higher player numbers. There are only five players on a small court, and this means everyone is expected to help out in defence. As such, every player should know their defensive role and be ready to assist their teammates in every defensive play.
This is a sport that requires the whole team to assist in defence to create the most surprising, unpredictable offensive plays, and this is the only way a team can expect to be the most consistent on court!
