Bob Huggins on Defense

 How do you get your players to play so hard?
o Run – in practice
o Sit – in games
 In practice, players would run 22’s but wouldn’t touch all the lines
o Set up a treadmill set at 17mph
o Make a kid run on the treadmill for 44 sec
o He can’t cheat the treadmill, and if he doesn’t run fast, he’ll fly off
 Tape a “help” line on the court every day
o From rim to rim, middle of the court
o Guys need to straddle the help line
o If they’re not at the help line, they go to treadmill
 DRILL
o 2v2 Sprint to Help Drill
o Coach up top
o Player at each wing (offense & defense)
o Pass to one wing, other wing must sprint to help line
o We do this every day during practice
o If they don’t sprint and straddle the help line, they go to treadmill
Nike Basketball Clinic – Las Vegas, NV – April 30 – May 2, 2010
Taylor Harris – Metro State College – tharri54@mscd.edu
 On defense, we want guys to be closer to the ball than their man is
 To get through the screen, throw your arm out and hit the screener
 Go back and look at game film regarding opponents passes
o Passes that hurt you are direct passes
o Not lobs or bounce passes
o Direct passes set up easy shots
 Philosophy: “You can through it over, under, or around us, but you can’t throw it through us”
Closeouts – We work on closeouts more than anyone in the country
 Closeout to outside, high shoulder
o Prevent middle penetration
 As coaches, do you do things in practice not knowing why you do it?
o Think about those drills that you do “just because”
o Do you have time for all those drills?
 Everyone speaks of spacing – what is it?
o 15-17 feet
o Close enough so you can make a direct pass
o Far enough where 1 guy can’t guard 2

 you don’t get beat off of 1st shots – you get beat by 2nd and 3rd shots
 Shoulders point to where the ball is going to be thrown – not the eyes
o Teach players to read shoulders, not eyes
 Key to rebounding: Staying lower than your opponent