How to Become a Better Basketball Defender

Video Transcript

"Hi my name is Oz Pineda, I'm a professional basketball coach here in Miami, Florida. First of all to be a good defender you need to be able to be tenacious, have a big heart, and an understand your role. On every team not everyone can score the basketball. Some guys take on a role as defender stoppers on the team. In the NBA, you have guys like Bruce Bowen and Roger Bell that have found their niche in the NBA, and they have been able to play for ten years just because they are defenders. One of the things you can do to be a better defender is work on your legs. First thing you have got to do is you have got to have a good defensive stance. You have got to be able to be low in your stance. You want your feet about shoulder width apart. You don't want your feet too close or too far that means you are off balance. You want your feet shoulder width apart, you want to be in a low stance, an athletic position stance with your hands above your elbows, and your hands moving. I like to say I like to have hands active where you are moving, chasing the ball, and really getting after it. You can do defensive slides where you slide it can be on a sidewalk if you don't have a basketball court, your backyard. Just slide along in a low stance with your feet never coming together, you want to always have those feet shoulder width apart. Another thing you can do to be a better defender is play one on one, and just work on just pressuring the basketball, and being active in hounding people. If you can be a good defender you will be able to create turnovers for your team or disturb the other teams best offensive player to be able to get them off rhythm on their shots. But basically to be a good defender takes a lot of heart, and you don't have to be the most talented or the most skilled, but you have to have a willingness to play hard, and be able to get after people. And understand that if you can do that there will be a place for you to play on the team. As I said Bruce Bowen has played ten years in the NBA just because he could defend."