When it comes to playing basketball, your athleticism really isn’t up to you. You can train all you want, but some people just have better genetics when it comes to being able to jump high and move at lightning speed. So how can you defend a player that has all this speed over you? Good question.
There are a few things you could do in order to guard a faster player including, giving them space, allowing them to shoot (test their jump shot), forcing them to either go left or right, try and be a little bit physical, getting back on defense (Avoiding fast breaks),and lastly have a short memory (adjust your gameplan accordingly.
- Give Them Space
- Allowing Them To Shoot (Testing Their Jumpshot)
- Forcing Them To Go Left Or Right
- Try and Be a Little Bit Physical
- Getting Back On Defense (Avoiding Fast Breaks)
- And Lastly Have a Short Memory
Give Them Space
When you crowd a faster player, you allow them to play to their strengths. This is because the further up you are on them, the easier it is for them to blow by you. Instead, try giving them a little space so that they can’t attack you as easily.
Once they choose to try and go to the hoop, being that you have the space, you can react and then cut them off, making it much harder for them to use their strengths.
A great example of this is how the Spurs guarded Lebron James in the NBA finals. They knew that his jump shot lacked, so allowing him to shoot perimeter shots, won them those finals. Since then Lebron has improved a lot when it comes to shooting, but it worked that year.
Allowing Them To Shoot
That brings us to our next point, allowing them to shoot, which is pretty much aligned with giving them space. Often times, when players grow up with a speed advantage over the competition, they rest on their laurels. They really don’t need to work on their jumpshot, because they can just get to the hoop and finish with ease. This isn’t necessarily always true, but by allowing them to shoot, you can test their shooting ability.
The worse their shooting is, the more you can lay off of them and give them space. You can even play more help defense because of this, helping your team as a whole. Just make sure you don’t give up any backdoor cuts, because they are going to be able to blow by you if they do.
Forcing Them To Go Left Or Right
The next tip, is to shade to either left or right. This will allow you to basically predict exactly where they’re going to go. This in combination with the space you give them, will make it much harder for them to blow by you or get the easy finish.
When deciding which way to shade, figure out which hand is their strong hand. They may be good with either hand, but chances are if you shad them towards the opposite side of their shooting hand, in most cases they will have a harder time getting to the basket effectively.
Try And Be a Little Bit Physical
Physicality is good, if you don’t over do it. If a player is fast, little bumps here and there could throw off their balance, not allowing them to blow by you as easily. You just have to be careful that the refs don’t see you being physical, as this could end up costing you some fouls.
Being active doesn’t even necessarily mean being physical though. It may mean being a pest when it comes to their dribble, and other things such as that.
Staying physical while also staying low will make them extremely uncomfortable, making it harder for them to score.
Getting Back On Defense (Avoiding Fast Breaks)
Fast breaks are a fast players bread and butter, they know they can get down the court much faster than any other player and they tend to take advantage of that. When guarding a player like this you want to make sure that as soon as a shot is up, you need to get down to the other end. Otherwise, they will get a fast break and score with ease.
It’s important to encourage the whole team to do this as well, because chances are if you’re back on the other end by yourself there’s still a chance they could score in a one on one situation.
Have a Short Memory
The best players have a short memory, meaning they don’t get too down on themselves when things aren’t going well. Adjust your gameplan accordingly as the game goes on to match up with their tendencies.
For example, you may find out at half time that they’re a player that is fast, can shoot, has a strong right hand, but struggles dribbling with their left hand. Once you come to this conclusion, you can switch up your game plan to guard them closer (to defend their jump shot), and sit on their right hand (so they have to use their bad hand). This will:
A. Not allow them to shoot
B. Not allow them to use their speed as much because their left hand will slow them down.
You have to be able to really assess the player in order to come up with this effective gameplan. But in the end, having a short memory and being able to adjust on the fly will help you guard faster players more effectively.
In Conclusion
Guarding faster players isn’t always fun, but you can find fun in it by figuring out what their tendencies are and using your basketball IQ in order to stop them. If you found this helpful, please share it with people on social media. Also if you want to see related posts click the tags below: