Let’s talk about some basic Basketball strategy and terminology!
Man-to-Man In man-to-man defense, players are assigned to defend specific offensive players.
Zone In zone defense, players are assigned specific areas of the court to defend. They defend offensive players when they come into their “zone.”
Full Court Press When a defense begins pressure as the offense inbounds the ball under the opposite goal. Usually this happens when a game is close-scoring. Most of the time, the game is played in half-court so that more defenders are near the basket.
Double Team Sometimes the defense will put 2 defenders on 1 offensive player.
Blocked Shot When the ball is knocked down on its way to the basket. Also called a Swat.
We discussed in Basketball Basics that while on offense a player must dribble, pass, or shoot the ball.
Pass There are 3 main types of passes
Chest Pass Overhead Pass Bounce Pass
Shot There are 3 main types of shots
Jump Shot: The player stops, sets feet, and jumps while shooting the ball.
Layup: The player never stops moving and lays up the shot right up to the goal.
Dunk: The most famous shot. The player dunks the ball directly into the goal.
Jump Shot Layup Dunk
Screen An offensive player helps the ball-handler by standing next to the defender to give the shooter extra space to move or shoot.
Pick and Roll When an offensive player sets the screen and then rolls back toward the basket for a pass and layup.
Assist A pass that leads directly to shot being made.
Open When an offensive player is unguarded by a defender.
Post Up The offensive player (usually the Center or Power Forward) blocks out the defender to receive a pass.
Box Out The player uses his body to move the defender away from the goal to get the rebound.
Pivot Once a ball-handler picks up the dribble, he cannot restart dribbling or walk. In order to maneuver to pass or shoot, the player can pivot while one foot remains firmly on the ground. If the player moves his pivot foot, a traveling penalty is called.