Eric Flannery's Full Court Press Concepts

Eric Flannery's Full Court Press Concepts

The very first rule of Coach Eric's Full Court Press is a ball pressure.

With the hands up, the defender's goal is to make a first pass the hardest possible, and make a player with the ball to pass to the ball-side corner. To make sure that the pass doesn't go straight or to the other side corner, the defender should shade a bit to make that pass as hard as possible.

Second, the players on a first pass should force their players to catch a first pass in the corner. Defender should stay on the player's inside shoulder and close the middle, forcing the player to move toward the corner.

As we can see in the picture above, behind defenders on the first pass there is a middle defender who is in the position to reach a possible long pass. In case of a long pass, this defender should steal the ball or cover up so the ball doesn't go any further.

The very last defender, probably the biggest man in the team, should come a few steps forward but carefully, since he has to stay the closest man to the basket; that's his priority and offense can't beat him over the top. In case that he decides to go for a potential steal, he has to make sure 100 percent that he can catch the ball with two hands, otherwise, it's an open layup for the offense.

After the pass, a defender who was on the ball pressure goes for a trap to double-team a player with a ball. Very important is the way how he will trap; he should retreat a few steps back to get in the line of the ball , and then go for a trap to stop penetration to the middle, such as an L-cut. Another defender is in charge of sideline penetration.

This kind of defense Coach Eric likes to call "Read", since defense reads what offense does.

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