GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY'S BUILDING THE FULL COURT SCRAMBLE By Eric Konkol Assistant Basketball Coach George Mason Univeristy Applying effective full court pressure is an excellent way of taking your opponent out of their comfort zone in two simple ways. Its immediate effect is placing duress on the ball handlers, potentially forcing dribbling on passing errors, well before they get across half court and into the scoring area. In the long term, the effects of persistent pressure, constant guessing, and an increase in tempo can cause additional physical and mental fatigue on your opponent and give you a great opportunity for success. Nearly eight years ago, Jim Larranga inherited a George Mason University men’s basketball program that suffered through seven losing seasons including four last place finishes in the Colonial Athletic Association. After implementing an intense style of pressure defense that includes the Full Court Scramble, George Mason now has the most wins in the CAA as well as four postseason tournament appearances in the past six years. At George Mason, we believe that being successful at the Full Court Scramble requires three inner qualities before our players ever step onto the floor. Our three-part philosophy includes: attitude, commitment, and class. First, everyone must have a positive attitude. Each of us makes a decision each day on what type of attitude we will have. We emphasize enthusiasm, passion, along with hard work in our program. There is going to be adversity, and how we bounce back is vital. Secondly, everyone must be totally and unconditionally committed. We must work hard to improve every day, no matter the circumstances. It is easy to work hard when things are going well, but those who are totally and unconditionally committed work hard even during tough times. Thirdly, everyone must act in a first-class manner. We must represent the program with pride and respect. We understand that our actions impact not only ourselves, but also our teammates, coaches, university and family. Once we deliver this philosophy to our team, we are ready to get on the floor and build the Full Court Scramble. Full Court Scramble Drills On the court, the Full Court Scramble requires three essential fundamentals before we practice our 5-on-5 situations. They are: 1. Apply extreme pressure on the ball handler 2. Anticipate the pass 3. Effectively trap the dribbler In order to excel at these three fundamentals, we spend time each day in our pre-season individual workouts as well as our team practices on drills that incorporate these fundamentals. In addition, although we are developing our defense, the offensive players in each drill must work hard to make game-line plays to make each drill effective. These drills are: 1. Nose on the Ball 2. Anticipation Drill 3. Herding Drill Nose on the Ball “Nose on the Ball” requires the defender to work very hard to influence the ball handler to crossover at least three times before half court. We call it “Nose on the Ball” because we want our defenders to do just that. Our defender isn’t looking to gamble and steal the ball. His goal is to make the offense’s job very difficult. Diagram 1. 1. In Diagram 1, the defender passes the ball to the offense and closes him with hands high and quick choppy steps. 2. The offense then quickly zig-zags up the court with the defense closing guarding and making him crossover at least three times. 3. At half court, the offense picks up his dribble and the defender immediately pressures the dead ball by closing the space between them and “mirroring” the ball with both hands. After a count of two, the offense passes the ball to a coach at half court. 4. In Diagram 2, the defense immediately jumps to the ball and denies the pass back to the offense. 5. The ball is passed to the offense and the zig-zag dribble continues to the end line. Anticipation Drill Diagram 2. The “Anticipation Drill” works the defender to quickly anticipate the direction of a pass. The defender is concentrating on deflecting the basketball three times to get out of the drill. 1. In Diagram 3, the defender begins in the middle of the free throw line facing half court. Two offensive players stand with their inside foot on the elbow, also facing half court. A coach stands on the circle at half court, with a ball, facing the players. 2. The coach passes the ball quickly to one of the players at either elbow. The defender in the middle Diagram 3. tries to anticipate where the ball is going and get a deflection. The Diagram 4. coach can utilize pass fakes and no- look passes to make it difficult. 3. The defender stays in the middle until he gets three deflections. Herding Drill The “Herding Drill” focuses on two defenders trapping a dribbler and then running out of the trap once a pass is made. The offensive player’s goal is to dribble as quickly as he can in straight lines to the left or right. We do not want him to use a variety of risky moves. Diagram 5. 1. In Diagram 4, the offensive player begins underneath the rim with a ball. The two defenders begin where the lane line extended meets the three-point line. A coach stands at half court facing the players. 2. As soon as the dribbler begins in one direction, the two defenders try to “herd” him into a trap. It is important that they do not get beat! They must use the sidelines as another defender and work together. 3. In Diagram 5, the dribbler crosses over, the defenders close up the space between them and force a trap. The trap must wrap up the dribbler and now allow him to step through the trap. 4. Once the trap is made and after a two-count, the passer throws the ball to the coach at half court. The defenders then sprint out of the trap, run the coach down, and either tip the ball out of his hands or block an attempted lay up. Full Court Scramble Defenses Now that we have built a strong foundation with our philosophy and drill work, we are ready to work with our players 5-on-5 in our five full court scramble defense. Our five full court defenses are: 1. Full Court Man 2. Quick trap 3. Slow trap 4. Twist 5. 55 George Mason University's Building the Full Court Scramble PART II By Eric Konkol Assistant Men's Basketball Coach George Mason University Applying effective full court pressure is an excellent way of taking your opponent out of their comfort zone in two simple ways. Its immediate effect is placing duress on the ball handlers, potentially forcing dribbling or passing errors, well before they get across half court and into the scoring area. In the long term, the effects of persistent pressure, constant guessing, and an increase in tempo can cause additional physical and mental fatigue on your opponent and give you a great opportunity for success. (See Part I: Building the Full Court Scramble in Vol. II/1st Quarter of ABQ) Full Court Scramble Defenses Now that we have built a strong foundation with our philosophy and drill work, we are ready to work with our players 5-on-5 in our five full court scramble defense. Our five full court defenses are: 1. Full Court Man 2. Quick trap 3. Slow trap 4. Twist 5. 55 Full Court Man Our Full Court Man sets up the rest of our scramble defenses. There are no traps in this defense, but extreme pressure is placed all over the floor. 1. In Diagram 1, each defender is guarding their man while the ball is taken out. X3 attempts to deflect any pass that comes in. The rest of the defenders deny the inbound pass but also try not to get beat with a long pass. 2. In the Full Court Scramble, we switch like size players. When O2 screens for O1, X2 switches and tries to deny O1. 3. In Diagram 2, the ball is inbounded to O1. X2 incorporates the “Nose on the Ball” drill and applies pressure to O1 by turning him at least three times. The other defenders are up the line, between the ball and their man, faking at the dribbler to make him think a trap may be coming. Diagram 1. Diagram 2. Quick Trap Quick Trap begins just like our Full Court Man. The first pass is denied, however, if a pass is entered, the man guarding the ball out of bounds quickly traps the receiver. 1. In Diagram 3, X3 pressures the inbounder, X2 and X1 switch the screen, and the ball is passed to O1. 2. In Diagram 4, on the pass, X3 immediately traps the pass receiver with X2. X1 splits the space between O3 and O2 and anticipates the next pass looking for an errant one. X4 splits O2 and O4, X5 falls back with O5 and is the goaltender. Diagram 3. Diagram 4. 3. In Diagram 5, the pass is made out of the trap to O3, X1 rotates to him. X3, who left his man to trap, must now go to where his help came from and guard X2. 4. Now we are in our basic Full Court Man. X1 applies “Nose on the Ball” on O3. X2 denies O1 from getting the ball and the other defenders are up the line, between the ball and their man, faking at the dribbler to make him think a trap may be coming.