What is Man to Man Defense?
Man to Man Defense is when the 5 players on the defensive team each guard one player on the offensive team. Among of the different types of defense, this may be the simplest out of all of them. However, it is very hard to run a great man to man defense. This takes a willingness for all 5 players to work very hard on guarding their individual player.
Advantages of Man to Man Defense
1) Harder for the offense to get space
A man to man has every defender matched up to every offensive player. If done successfully then the offensive player should not ever get open. We all know that is never the case but that is the attempt. Unlike a zone where multiple players may be responsible for guarding a player, a man to man eliminates any confusion as to who should be guarding whom. Once the assignments are given then everybody on the team knows who is guarding whom. Since every offensive player is accounted for then they should not be able to get open because a defender should be right there with them.
2) Matchups can be set so the best defender is guarding the best offensive player
In a man to man defense the matchups of who is guarding each player can be set beforehand so the best defender can be assigned to guard the other team’s best player. The 2nd best defender can be assigned the 2nd best player and so on for all 5 guys. Matchups can also be set in a way to try and give the defensive an advantage over offensive players. If a player is really short on offense then the tallest player on defense may be assigned to guard them to create a situation where the offensive player is unable to shoot the ball against the much taller defender. A quick defender may be assigned to guard a slow offensive player in trying to create a speed advantage for the defense. Defensively matchups can be assigned to create possible advantages for the defense and disadvantages to the offense.
3) Rebounding is made easier
Turnovers and rebounds are two of the biggest predictors of the winning team in my opinion. The lack of ability to rebound especially defensively can give offenses multiple shots per possession which normally leads to the defensive team losing the game. In a man to man defense since every player has been assigned to guard a player then the box out and rebounding should be easier on the defense. If a player is next to their man when a ball is shot then they should immediately turn and box out their offensive player. If all five players do this then the rebound should go to the defense.
Disadvantages of Man to Man Defense
1) Your 5 players may not match up personnel wise with the offense
If your team has two post players and the other team is 5 guards, then the two bigs must guard somebody that would probably be quicker than them. Likewise if the defensive team has all guards and their opponent has a really good post player then one of the defensive guards must try and guard the post player. These are unfavorable matchups for the defense and could lead to easy baskets for the offense. The personnel of the team may be such that the defensive man to man matchups just do not make sense for any number of reasons.
2) The 5 defenders may be unable to guard the offense
It could be a case where the matchups all make sense. Each team has 3 guards, 1 forward and 1 post player. So the matchups are good between the two teams. However, the 3 offensive guards are all quicker than the 3 defensive guards. So by playing man to man, the offensive guards are able to go right around the defense. This will lead to easy baskets. Even if the matchups are good, the defensive players must be able to guard and defend their offensive player. This is not always the case so a new defense is needed.
3) Learning all the nuances takes a lot of time. How are you going to guard the pick and roll? How are you going to guard non-ball screens? What are the rotations if somebody gets beat?
In a perfect defensive game, the defense will be able to guard their man without needing any help for another defender. In most cases there will be breakdowns defensively where another defender is needed to help so the offense does not get an easy layup. Teaching how to guard all the things that could happen to the defense takes a lot of time and practice. How are you going to defend the pick and roll? Based on your choice practice time needs to happen in order to teach the players how to defend each specific offensive movement. If somebody gets beat then how is the back side defense going to rotate to help? Every player needs to know how and when to rotate so the defense does not give up a bunch of wide open layups. It is time consuming to drill rotations every day in practice but it is necessary to be good. If practice time is not used then the defense suffers. The more practice time used for man to man rotations, the less time that can be used to teach a different defense.
Positions of Man to Man Defense
1-man-Point guard defender. This player is usually going to guard the other teams point guard. Depending on the opposing team this could mean different things each game. For the vast majority of the time it will mean trying to create disruption to the offense by not letting them get into their offense. A good 1 man defender can take an opposing team out of the rhythm of their offense because they are never able to get correctly setup because the defender is creating havoc with their point guard.
2-man-Guards either a slasher or cutter type player. The 2 man is usually a good attacker of the basket. This defender needs to be really good at positioning to cut off the offensive players ability to get to the basket. They also need to be able to guard the dribble really well. If the defender cannot stop the dribble drive then the teammates have to keep rotating which leads to open shots by the offense.
3-man-Guards the shooter. A shooter is an offensive player who is a really good outside shooter. This usually means the other team will run this player off a bunch of screens trying to get them open. The defender needs to be able to read screens and get around them quickly. They also need to be really good at moving during the pass so they are right next to their man when they catch the ball. If a shooter has open space then they can shoot the ball and that can mean 3 points for the opponent.
4-man-This is an offensive player who can play inside and outside. This defender may not be the best post defender or the best outside defender but they can guard both spots well. Depending on the opponent the offensive player could be a post player, an outside forward or both. The defender must be able to guard both in the post and the dribble at the 3 point line. It is hard to be able to guard both spots so some teams will have 2 players for this position. Depending on the offensive player, the better defender is chosen to play in that game.
5-man-Guarding the post. This is somebody who will be guarding the other teams post player. This defender is usually either tall or strong. Hopefully they are both. This is also the player that normally rotates on the drive so having a really tall player helps defend the basket during rotations. The more athletic this defender is the better the entire defense will play because they will be very active in rotating to stop the ball from getting all the way to the basket during a drive.
A good defensive player will be able to guard multiple spots. Dennis Rodman was able to guard all 5 spots during his NBA career. The opposing team is also going to affect this because they may have multiple players at one position. Depending on the offensive personnel, the defense will then have to adjust their guarding positions. Remember this is one of the disadvantages of the man to man defense. If the matchups are not good then it might be best to use a different defense.
Trapping in Man to Man Defense
How aggressive do you want to be? A half court trapping defense out of man to man is a big risk reward scenario. If the defense traps and gets a steal then it will usually lead to an easy layup. However, if the offense is able to pass out of the trap, then the offense will usually get an easy shot. Trapping may work late in a game when the offense is not necessarily trying to score but it is probably not the best thing to be doing early in a game. The one exception to this is if the offense has 1 really good player and 4 mediocre to bad players. Then the defense could trap the good player hoping they pass the ball to somebody else. This type of situational defense could be very beneficial to a team.
If you are wanting to trap out of a half court man to man then the places need to be in two spots. The short corner to corner of the court on the baseline. Or as close to the half court line as possible. These two traps create a 3rd or 4th defender with the edges of the court. If you are wanting to trap then this would be my suggestions. Anywhere else and the offensive player has room to dribble backwards to create space in order to pass the ball.
Personnel-What players do you need to run man to man defense?
There does not need to be any type of specific players needed. The biggest thing is can the defender guard the offensive player if they try and drive to the basket. If the answer is yes then the defense should work. If the answer is no then new matchups are needed or a new defense. And if one defender is not very good at guarding then they may have to guard the other team’s worst player no matter where they play. This could mean having your center guard the other team’s point guard. Man to man can be ran against any type of offense. And there is no certain personnel needed to run a man to man defense. It is more about how the defense matches up to the offense rather then what type of players the defense has.
Keys to Man to Man Defense
In order for every defense to work there are a few key items that must be met. What are the most important aspects of a man to man defense?
1) Force Sideline-The defense has to keep the ball out of the middle of the floor. The middle of the floor opens up a bunch of options for the offense. By keeping the ball on the sideline, the defense reduces the options an offense has to attack and score the ball. Do not let the ball get into the middle of the floor. And the closer to the sideline the ball is, the better off the defense is.
2) Middle Drive-Much like key #1, the defense must keep the dribble drive from going towards the middle of the floor. If the offense is going to dribble drive then the defense needs to force the drive towards the baseline. The rotations of the defense are much easier with a baseline drive then a middle drive. The baseline also acts as another defender. And the driver could potentially go too far and get into a position under or behind the backboard in a non-scoring position. So I always teach my players to force sideline and baseline. I want to try and get the ball into the corner as much as possible and use the out of bounds to the defenses advantage.
3) Make the offense catch the ball off their spot
The last big key for me is to force the offense to move and catch the ball out of their spots. Offenses have a routine of movement and spots where they catch the ball to keep the offense running smoothly. If the defense can force the offense to move into different spots to catch the ball then the rhythm and timing of the offense gets out of order. Most offenses are supposed to run with the outside players running and catching the ball on the 3 point line. If the defense can force the offense to catch another 2 steps or 6 feet farther away from the 3 point line then the offense will struggle. Those 6 feet pretty much negate any chance at a post entry because of the distance. The receiver of the pass is also not in a scoring position so a catch and shoot is not going to happen. All of this pushes the advantage in favor of the defense.
While there are more things necessary to make a good man to man defense, these 3 keys are needed for a team to be a good man to man defensive team. Defensively these 3 keys are putting the ball into spots where the defense wants the ball. If the ball is where the defense wants it then it is not in the spots where the offense wants the ball.
Youth Basketball
I believe man to man defense should be run the majority of the time at the younger ages. It is easier to convert man to man defense into a zone defense then it is going from a zone to man. Also there will be man principals even in a zone defense. In a zone defense the on the ball defender will still be guarding the ball as if the defense is a man to man. If the players do not learn basic man to man defense at the younger grades then it will be harder to pick up man to man principals at a later age. I would say at the youth level man defense should be ran 60-75% of the time. The other 25-40% of the time zone defense can be ran. Zone defense will win a lot of games at the youth level because the outside shooting is not going to be good at the youth level. However, as the kids grow then outside shooting becomes a strength and not a weakness and zone defense could struggle. So having the youth teams guard man may cause the youth team to lose more games but it is setting those youth players up to have success later in their career at the high school level.
Conclusion
Outside of Syracuse, most D1 colleges run almost all man to man defense. There is a reason why most all Division 1 teams run man is because it is the most effective defense. Not all teams at the high school level are going to be able to run man defense all the time. There may be times where a team needs to use a zone due to the matchups or the skill level of the opponent being at a higher level. However, if a team is able to guard man to man then they should be trying to guard man to man. A good man to man defense is the most effective defense in basketball.
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