(Rental)-Bob Hurley's Drills for Defensive Mastery

Bob Hurley’s Drills for Defensive Mastery

For 45 years, Bob Hurley Sr. was the head basketball coach at St. Anthony’s High School in New Jersey where he captured 28 state championships, won four national championships, and produced hundreds of quality players that went on to play at the college level. Hurley is well known throughout the coaching ranks as one of the most knowledgeable in the business. In this video, you will be presented with a plethora of knowledge from one of the best coaches in the world.

Philosophy

For Hurley, all players must follow a pattern of daily habits that help mold not only successful players, but successful people. Hurley has taught and modeled these habits throughout his four decades-plus as a coach and his teams have been remarkably consistent as a result. In addition, Hurley sets the expectation that practice will always be harder than games. Hurley establishes this at the beginning of every season and it helps players strive to work on their weaknesses to improve the team.

Drills

Each year begins with Hurley teaching the basics of defense. It all starts with the stance and progresses to footwork. Hurley emphasizes desire and hustling after loose balls. It is these types of things that have helped him establish himself as one of the great coaches at the high school level.

In addition to defense, players must master the basics of rebounding, which include proper positioning and attacking the glass on either end of the floor. Here, Coach Hurley introduces a series of drills designed to make players better rebounders.

• Superman Series: Hurley demonstrates five different drills that can be used to develop an absolute stud rebounder, no matter if the player is a post or a guard. Each drill focuses on the fundamentals of rebounding including using two hands, being strong with the ball, and even using a shot fake after an offensive rebound.
• 6-Man Closeout: Defenses today must be able to contest shots from the perimeter and be prepared for the drive when a post player sprints out to set a ball screen. This drill helps teach ball screen defense under game-like conditions.

At the conclusion of the video, Hurley shares his thoughts on offensive celebrations. He teaches his players to eliminate them because once a basket is scored another offense is ready to push the ball up the floor in an effort to score. Hurley’s defenses are so good because after a made basket they sprint back on defense to prepare for the next possession.

Whether you are a rookie coach or a veteran of many years, Coach Hurley has some wisdom for you in this 61-minute video. With a list of honors a mile long, Coach Hurley knows a thing or two about successful defense and he shares it with you in this video.