Molly Miller's Pressure Defense

Teaching Press Defense, 3v3 Defensive SSG, FREE SSG PDF

GCU’s Molly Miller

This week on A Quick Timeout podcast, Grand Canyon University’s Molly Miller breaks down her pressure defensive philosophy, She shares teaching cues, drills, and more!

Q: Trapping is usually one of the cornerstones to a good press. What are your triggers for trapping?

Miller: We try to get turns. When you can see the back of someone’s head, and they’re going to turn into an opportunity. And it goes into depth of certain sections of the floor. We’ve got red, green, and yellow sections on the floor.

When you’re so close you can guard two. That might not be a dead-on trap. I call it gobble - in the gaps. If you’re in the gap and playing big and wide, and someone is coming at your gap. If you can get your fingertips on it. Not a chest stop because that’s an easy “Draw, kick.”

And then we’ll trap off a lot of ballscreens. You bring a second defender to the ball, and we’re going to use that to our advantage and try to trap them and rotate out of it.

Listen to the full interview…

Also available on Apple Podcasts.

Watch the interview with film breakdown…

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SSG of the Week: 3v3 Help and Rotate

Here’s how it works: Ballhandler chooses which cone to go around. Defender runs around the other cone. Weakside low man helps to stop the dribbler. Original on-ball defender peels to guard the helper’s man.

Here’s how to teach using this SSG: If the ballhandler see arms while driving to the basket, score it. If he sees chest, land in 2 feet OR counter (with a Barkley, Nash, or Euro). If there’s late rotation on weakside, spray. If the corner defender stunts too far, kick it.

Looking for more small-sided game ideas? Here are 35 Small-Sided Games Playbook for Player Development.

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Film Edit: Jalen Brunson’s Finishing Package

I get asked by coaches, “How do you stay connected with your team in the summer months?” One of those ways is through our team group chat. Our staff sends quotes, stat graphics, and even short film edits for players to watch.

All that to say… This would be one of those film edits to send to your team. It’s a full minute of Jalen Brunson finishing in the paint and around the basket. Stride stops, Euros, floaters, spin moves, same foot/hand, reverses. All intelligently used based on where his defender and where help defenders are located. Think of how much more effective your players could even 2/3 of these moves!

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1v1 SSG PDF Resource

Here’s a thank you for subscribing to the newsletter, opening the email, and actually scrolling all the way to the end. It’s a PDF with 10 1v1 SSGs. Enjoy!