Here is a detailed breakdown of the main types of defence in basketball:
Man-to-man defence
A scheme in which the coach assigns each player on the team to a specific attacker who will follow them and defend them on the court. For example, in this defence, the small forward will guard the opponent’s small forward.
However, the coach may decide to change assignments if the opposing team begins to exploit a defender’s weakness. A player will also often briefly abandon their assignment and guard the opposing team’s star player in this defence.
Zone defence
This is a defensive scheme in which the coach assigns each player to cover a specific area of the court. In a zone scheme, a defender begins guarding an opponent when the opponent enters the defender’s assigned zone.
Once the attacker leaves the defender’s zone, the defender continues to guard his zone instead of following the attacker as he would in man-to-man defence. Within zone defence, there are various types of defensive schemes, each named after the player’s zone location.
Combination defence
Also called ‘garbage’ defence, this is a combination of man-to-man and zone defence schemes.
Teams do not typically use combination defence as their primary defensive strategy, but rather as a way to confuse their opponents at a point in the game when they need momentum to get on their side. Combination defences are risky because there is a high probability that the overlap will not produce the desired result.
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Full-court press
Full-court press is a defensive strategy in which the defence puts constant pressure on the attacking team across the entire length of the court (more about the court here), starting with the initial pass at the entrance (also called the throw-in). When pressing the entire court, teams can cover their attack using either an individual scheme or a zone scheme.
Basketball teams most often start using full-court press when they are losing late in the game and desperately trying to make a comeback, as the extra pressure increases the likelihood of deflections and steals. You can also use full-court press to tire out your opponent more.
Half-court press
A half-court press is a defensive strategy in which the defence puts pressure on the offence as soon as they start dribbling or passing the ball past the half-court line.
When pressing in the half court, teams can defend the attack using either a man-to-man or zone defence. Unlike full-court press, which teams usually only use occasionally during a game, you can apply half-court press throughout the entire game.
Like full-court pressing, the goal of this defence is to cause turnovers, tire out the attackers, and disrupt the flow of the game. Strategically, half-court pressing is much less risky than full-court pressing because all of your defenders are already in the attacking half of the court.
