How to Play Team Man-to-Man Defense in Basketball

A high-flying team that scores a lot of points is fun to watch, but it is proven time and time again ....DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS! In this article, we are going to explore the main aspect of a strong team "Person-to-Person" (a.k.a."Man-to-Man") defense. This is referred to as "Ball-You-Person". The "Ball-You-Person" concept will keep each player focused on the two most important defensive strategies: 1. Only the person with the ball can score 2. You are primarily responsible for stopping the person that you are guarding ("Person") from scoring.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Basketball
• 3 or more players

1. DETERMINE THE PERSON ON THE OTHER TEAM THAT YOU ARE GUARDING. This is the person that you are responsible to prevent from scoring and getting rebounds. In order to match up with your opponent, you should match up the attributes or strengths of your opponent with your defensive strengths. For instance, if there is an opposing player that is tall and strong, the tallest and strongest defender should play against them.
2. STAY BETWEEN YOUR PERSON AND THE BASKET AT ALL TIMES. In order to effectively prevent your person from getting easy baskets and grabbing rebounds, be sure to always stay between your person and the basket so they have to go through you to get to the basket. This also applies when your person does not have the basketball.
3. DETERMINE THE AMOUNT OF SPACE BETWEEN YOU AND THE PERSON YOU ARE GUARDING(you do not want to just hang on your player as you will be out of position to help your teammate-See Step 6). You determine this by counting the number of passes that your player is away from the ball. You should add 5 feet for every pass that your player is away from the ball. If your player is close enough to the ball that they could be the recipient of the next pass, you should be within 5 feet of them. If it would take 2 passes to get the ball to the person you are guarding, 10 feet is a safe distance. Please note that your player could be 30 feet from the ball and still get the next pass but this pass would be in the air for a long time and would give you time to recover to the person you are guarding.
4. MAKE A TRIANGLE BETWEEN THE PERSON WITH THE BALL, YOU, AND YOUR PERSON.This is called the "Ball-You-Person" triangle.
5. SEE THE BALL AND YOUR PERSON AT THE SAME TIME. When your person does not have the ball, be able to see the ball and your person at all times. This will allow you to achieve the key objectives of stopping the person with the ball and being responsible for the person that you are guarding. There are two ways to see both the ball and your person at the same time:
   1. Focus straight ahead and use your peripheral vision to see them both
   2. Swivel your head quickly back and forth to see them both
6. BE PREPARED TO HELP YOUR TEAMMATE. By keeping your eye on the ball at all times, you are prepared to help your teammate if they are beat by the person with the ball.
7. BE PREPARED TO BOX OUT YOUR PLAYER WHEN A SHOT IS TAKEN. It is your responsibility to keep your player from getting a rebound.

Tips & Warnings

• When your person has the ball, your total focus is stopping that person from getting a good shot or getting in a position to make a pass for an easy basket.
• It takes a lot of repititions in practice for a team to fully grasp the "Ball-You-Person" concept.