(Rental)-Defending Ball Screens

Open Practice: Defending Ball Screens and Transition Defense

Oakland University men’s basketball coach Greg Kampe has developed a defensive system that has helped the Grizzlies battle some of the top programs in the country. Kampe, the third-longest tenured coach in Division I basketball, has over 500 career wins. His success can be traced directly to his up-tempo offense and his outstanding transition defense.

In this video, Kampe opens the doors to an Oakland practice and shares practice drills, concepts, and more. You will see nine defensive breakdown drills as well as how to build your transition defense. Finally, Coach Kampe covers ball screen defense in an attempt to limit opponents’ scoring opportunities.

Transition Defense

The first priority of any transition defense is to get back quickly and protect the rim against an easy basket. Coach Kampe begins his talk about transition defense by identifying three things that are absolutely necessary: 1) protect the basket, 2) stop the ball, and 3) defender any trailers. Coach then demonstrates three drills that are included in the first part of every Oakland practice early in the season:

• 5-on-5, 5-on-4, 5-on-3 Drill: The defense works on protecting the rim in a disadvantage situation until teammates can recover and get matched up.
• DDM to Transition Defense Drill: Players learn to sprint back on defense after running an offensive set to protect the rim.
• Pro Drill: Defenders compete in a multiple of disadvantage situations ranging from 2-on-1 to 5-on-4.

Ball Screen Defense

With a team full of similar sized players, switching on ball screens makes sense. In situations where mismatches can be created, Coach Kampe teaches the hard hedge. Both of these concepts are developed in a pair of drills. The 3-on-3 to 50 Drill teaches players to aggressively switch on ball screens. The 4-on-4 Pitch Out drill is where players recognize whether they should switch or hard hedge.

The 4-on-4 Continuous Screening drill gives players repetitions to help in the fighting of down screens. The 3-on-3 Cross Screen drill shows you a unique strategy for intercepting passes on screen aways. The 4-on-4 Down Screen/Cross Screen drill puts both tactics together and challenges players to defend screen-the-screener actions.

Coach Kampe is one of the most respected coaches in the nation. His video can help any coach at any level improve on defense to play with anyone on their schedule.