The No-Middle, Pressure Defense Edition
No-Middle Masterclass, 3v3 SSG for Help & Rotate
No-Middle Defense with Tim MacAllister
This week on A Quick Timeout podcast, WKU’s Tim MacAllister breaks down Chris Beard’s No-Middle Defense. He shares the defensive philosophy, break down drills, ideas for competing against modern offenses, and stories from his time on the Red Raiders’ staff.
Q: Sometimes, it’s communicated as “Well, our guys just don’t play hard enough” when teams don’t defend well. Effort was a part of your culture. How did you all achieve that?
MacAllister: You have to hold them to a standard that is so high that they don’t think they can do it. And then when they do it, it needs to be rewarded and pointed out.
I love disadvantage drills. We used to play a ton of 4 guarding 5. When I worked for Adam Kennedy, he used to like doing 3 guarding 4. Teaching the multiple efforts. And then, making the guys get multiple stops. As your flying around, you can’t make the excuse, “Well, we don’t have another guy.” Duh, that’s part of the drill.
And when you hold them to such a high standard that they don’t even think they can reach it, and then they do reach it, I think that you’re able to push them even harder as far as being able to go past what they think they can do.
Listen to the full episode…
Also available on Apple Podcasts.
Xs & Os Breakdown: 3 Principles in Chris Beard’s No-Middle Defense
A few years back, I wrote about the Red Raiders’ use of the No Middle Defense in their run to the Final Four. Three principles were key to their success in that tournament. Check out that blog post (film clips included) on the FastModel website.
Pressure, No Middle Man-to-Man Defense with Randy Sherman, Radius Athletics
In this masterclass, Radius Athletics' Randy Sherman dives into pressure man-to-man defense - how to teach it and how to develop players who are high level defenders, both individually and as a unit.
Deciding between Pressure Defense and Containment Defense
Teaching Defensive Concepts
Customizing the Defense for Your Team
Coach Q&A
Below is a clip from that masterclass. Click here for the full masterclass.
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SSG of the Week: Help and Rotate 3v3
Here’s a game we play out of 3v3 and even 4v4. Set up an advantage for the ball-handler (i.e., defender on his hip). When the defender is beat on the drive, low man (“goalie”) helps, and players rotate.
Installing No-Middle, Pressure Defense
In this video podcast, Radius Athletics' Randy Sherman breaks down the teaching points for installing pressure man-to-man defense. Click the button below to watch.