THREE IMPORTANT THINGS ABOUT DEFENSE:
1. The percent you let your opponents shoot. Take the favorite spot away from the best shooter.
2. Number of second shots they get. Eliminate them.
3. The number of offensive turnovers you have.

SIX WEEKS PRE-SEASON CONDITIONING PROGRAM:
1. We lift three days a week and run three days. This is a strength and toning program. It is not a bulk program.
2. We run 220's. We add one each day until we reach 15. We run it under 32 seconds at forced intervals of one-and-a-half minutes. We think this teaches them about the capabilities of the human body and about breaking the pain barrier.
3. We think our best weight exercise is the "clean". We also use half squats, toe rises,leg extensions, step ups, leg curls, splits and bench jumps.
4. Strength is very important to individual defense. A player who lacks ability can sometimes make it more with strength. Therefore, we believe that the superstar can also benefit.

A DEFENSIVE PHILOSOPHY:
1. We believe that man defense is basic for a sound defensive system.
2. Zone is a change up. We use 1-3-1 and 2-3. It is surprising to find out that some very good teams don't handle zones well.
3. You need full court man and zones.
4. You need to teach special defenses--Box and 1, Triangle and 2, Run and Jump, three-quarter court traps, etc. Even if you don't spend a lot of time on them, you need to know how to attack them.
5. Conditioning is vitally important to defense. We spend six weeks pre-season on conditioning.

DEFENSING THE STARS:
1. Offensive rebounds by the opponent is the most important half-time statistic.
2. Keep the star from the ball--at least some of the time.
3. Know how he gets his shots. What move does he make or how does the pattern spring him. Check for disguise patterns.
4. Make the star do something he doesn't want to do.
5. Where can you get help? Who can you sag? Many stars are low post threats.
6. Put pressure on the man who is the "key" to the offense.

Launch Defensing The Stars