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OFF-ball DefenceAREASOFEMPHASISGUIDELINES FOR COACHESDividing the court for defensivepurposes into ball above or below thefree throw line will help determine whohelps when and from where.• Denial and containment pressure.Establishing OFF-Ball defensive positionin the ball-you-man situation allows fora consideration to either deny the passor “allow the pass, but meet the catch”,then control the dribble and one on onethrough effective ON-Ball defence. Thisis a fundamental choice out of the flattriangle. In the line of the pass or off theline of the pass? That in essence iseither denial or containment throughpositioning.Denial, as an all out effort, mayultimately create containment and thereare degrees of pressure to be applied.So tactically a coach will determinetheir style preference and philosophybased on their personnel andperceived ability. In denial defencethere are different techniques employedby coaches depending on their beliefs.Denial technique is either having ahead or a hand in the line of the pass,with positioning one step off the line ofthe pass. On ball-side defence it isnormally accepted that the closedstance is the preferred technique. Forthe help-side it is normally an openstance. The further up the passing linethat a defender plays the further it willincrease the distance of the close out.The national system preference is todevelop a more effective defensivestance with good vision; the openstance or “pistols position” whenplaying OFF-Ball to players on the helpside.So the help-side defence is openstance with an ability to reverse pivotand open up against dribblepenetration when help and rotation isrequired. We wish to play moretowards the line of the pass for bothpass denial and for closer close outmovement against the skip pass andflare cut. Generally the defender will betwo steps (defensive slides) off theoffensive player, with an ability toadjust to play closed denial one stepoff the player.• Defending the post. Post defencefollows the same concepts andprinciples for all OFF-Ball defence.However, there is closer positioning inthe ball-you-man stance. Predominantlypost defence is played one step off theoffensive player. Good footwork andpositioning is essential for effective postdefence due to the encouragement ofbody contact to establish a positionand deny any pass. Over reliance oflength and strength as opposed toposition should be discouraged in postdefence particularly with juniors.Ultimately strength and size will benegated at higher levels so while theyare important to gain an advantagepositioning and outworking the post areparamount to effective post denial. It isimportant in remembering that the“offense wants contact, but defencewants space!”122