That will neutralize a quicker player. But you have to put on your armor and you have to go after him because that is what it is going to take. So, we are talking about a person that has some mental toughness to him.
We are talking about Level Two Defense, which means you attack your opponent. Not just contain them. That is an unusual concept for defense of a player is it not? If you set the phase, you want them to react to you. You do not want to have to react to them especially if they are quicker.
We are talking about ball denial. Tell me about denying the cats. We are talking about belly up defense when the offensive player receives the ball. We are talking about boxing out in very situation. These are all critical to taking away the rhythm and comfort zone of your opponent.
On defense, you must be physically strong even if you are not physically big. You can become stronger just by getting in a weight room doing push ups. Multiple push ups and sit ups at night will help you even. But you can get stronger even if you cannot get a lot bigger right away by getting in the weight room.
A study was done in Irish State University about ten years ago on strength training. Put their basketball program for the first time into a strength training program. Every player on average increased in three weeks time 25% in strength. Did they increase 25% in size? No. But their physical strength increased 25%. Can that be a value? Sure it can. You have to take advantage of it.
And of course, on defense, hold your opponent under their normal scoring average points per game. Talked about that a little bit earlier with the shooting guards did not we? That should be a general rule for every playing position is it not especially through here. You take their most versatile die or what?
Now here is a good thing to know, and you ought to write this down, when you are playing defense, there is something you have to understand, where the mind goes, the body will follow. What do I mean by that? I mean if you can get to the point that you play Level Two Defense and you get inside the offensive players head, you get inside their minds, their bodies will follow and you will see it happen on the court. I have seen a lot of players, they were better players than me but because I could play Level Two Defense like I denied the ball, they had moved without the ball for the first quarter of the first half. They realize they were not getting the ball. And it starts stunning. Second half, my job was easy.
So far in the guys head, they had made it easier for me to score. You know why? When he went down on the defense as if what was he thinking about? He was not getting his shots, right? Where your mind goes, the body will follow. Everything always starts with defense.
Red Arback, the most successful NBA Coach of all time with nine NBA championships said the following, “Defense is just hard work. There will be nights when your shots will not fall but you can play defense every night.”
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