Youth Man-to-Man play
Youth Man: Influence the Dribbler
- Court
- Half court
- Length
- 10 steps
About this play
The on-ball defender does not just stay in front; he decides where the dribbler goes. This play runs the no-middle rule through a whole possession: on the wing the defender's inside foot is high and his chest is turned to send the dribbler toward the baseline, where a post defender is waiting to wall him off; in the middle of the floor he turns him toward a sideline. The ball goes wing, corner, back out, across, wing, and both drives end against help. Why the defense chooses the baseline: a baseline drive sees only one side of the floor and runs into a second defender, while a middle drive sees everything and collapses the whole defense; the defense concedes the drive it can help on and forces the offense into the help. Where the advantage lies: a dribbler who is steered into a wall has to pick up and pass back out, and the pass back out is a pass the defense is already set for. Common youth mistakes: squaring up to the dribbler (which concedes both directions), the inside foot low (which opens the middle), and the help defender arriving after the dribbler instead of before. The no-middle rule here comes from Breakthrough Basketball's No Middle breakdown and Coach's Clipboard's man-to-man principles; give them a look for the drills that teach it.
