Expert: Michael Muro - 10/17/2005

Question
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Followup To
Question -
Our team plays CYO 5th grade basketball and we entered a tounament with teams that play all year round. My questiopn is the opposing team played a very aggressive man-on-man defense and we played a zone. it was hard for us to even get the ball into play when out of bounds. Should we also play a man-on man against a team when thier much better, I noticed when we put pressure on them they also made mistakes?
Answer -
Hi John,

They always say, " Press a pressing team". So the answer to you question is yes I would play a team like that man to man if you have practiced man defense. You can also play zone like you did and try to slow them down. Your game plan has to be geared toward you teams strength. Just because a team is supposed to be better don't change what your team does best. You can make adjustments but don't change your whole teams philosophy. Good luck!  


Whats a good drill for in-bounding the ball when the opposing team has a good man-on-man pressure defense? Our kids kept telegraphing the pass?

Answer
Hi John,

Here is a great coaching site that covers everything; practice plans, conditioning, plays, fundamentals, shooting, you name it covers it. On the right hand side it has differnet subjects you can choose from. At the bottom of that right hand coloum it has out of bounds plays. Good luck and if you need anymore help please write back.

http://www.coachesclipboard.net/IndexMac.shtml