(Rental)-Defense & Rebounding Drills

Tom Izzo Defense & Rebounding Drills

Michigan State under head coach Tom Izzo has been one of the premier basketball programs in the nation for the past decade-plus. Izzo’s teams have won 11 combined Big Ten regular season and tournament championships and have made seven Final Four appearances. Izzo’s Spartans are known for their physical, intense style of play that includes aggressive man-to-man defense and an emphasis on rebounding. In this video, Coach Izzo shares his “Defense Wins Championships” approach to the Michigan State program.

You will see whiteboard sessions, a live practice session, and a unique look inside Izzo’s defense through interview segments with the Spartans coach. Coach Izzo also explains his program’s philosophy of team defense including transition defense, his approach to rebounding, and the six-eye approach to defensive positioning in the half court.

Live Practice Session

Watch as Coach Izzo puts his players through 10 practice drills that help build the Spartans man-to-man defense. Each breakdown drill gets players numerous reps and builds the foundational defensive principles needed. The drills include:

• Jump to the Ball and Negaunee Drills: Players work on defensive positioning, pressuring the ball, and denying cutters.
• Three Man DHO Switching Drill: Teaches two strategies for defending dribble handoffs
• Pin Down & Flares Drill: Teaches strategies for defending common off-ball screens
• Beat and Belt Drill: Challenges players to deny flash cuts to the high post and adjust to stop the back cut

There is also a whiteboard segment where Coach Izzo shows you a couple versions of his Shell Drill. On-court demonstration is added to show each layer of the drill.

Defending Ball Screens

Coach Izzo provides you with a number of options for countering the talents of your opponents. The Ball Screens drill focuses on the two defenders involved in the screen action and helps them refine their technique. The Continuous Ball Screens drill gets the entire team reps working on defending ball screens. Players work on defending shooters off the dribble, drivers, and stretch 4s and 5s.

Rebounding and Transition Defense

Coach Izzo uses the whiteboard and on-court demonstration to show you his two favorite rebounding drills. They are two versions – 2-on-2 and 5-on-5 – of his famous War Drill. The session ends with a 6-on—5 defensive scrimmage.

As you will see throughout the entire video, Coach Izzo works to instill a tough, hard-nosed mentality into all of his players. The concepts and practices presented are proven and can help any program improve its team defense. Rent this rebounding drills DVD today.