(Rental)-Full Court Man to Man Press Defense

It was a suffocating full-court press that helped the Florida Gators win back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007. Matt McCall, now the head coach at UMass, was an assistant on those Florida teams and has taken that press with him to Tennessee-Chattanooga where he won a Southern Conference championship in 2016 and now to UMass. In this video, Coach McCall teaches the basics of the run and jump press, drills to help implement the press, and adjustments.

Goals of the Press

Coach McCall begins by talking about the five goals of the press defense as well as five things that must be avoided. Using game film, McCall shows you how four basic rules guide the decision making of defenders on the floor as they work to force traps.

He also breaks down how defenders are to close traps and how defenders must rotate to interceptor positions on the inbound pass, speed dribbles up the sideline, and when dribblers get turned. He also discusses opportunities for multiple traps in the same possession. At UMass, McCall uses hustle stats to motivate his players to play at a high level.

Press Defense Drills

Coach McCall reviews six different drills to build the press. The drills focus on the fundamentals of getting matched up, applying pressure on the ball, closing traps, and rotating to pick off passes.

The 4v4 Around the Cone Drill is a great multipurpose drill for building the full-court press as well as half-court offense and defense.

One of the best things about this pressure defense is its ability to adapt to different offensive strategies. Coach McCall offers up six different scenarios that can be a challenge for press defenses. Learn how to avoid putting your center in risky matchups. You will also see how to challenge poor ball handlers to initiate the offense, how to defend inbound situations, and much more.

This is an outstanding video for anyone looking to install a full-court defense next season or for anyone looking for ideas to improve an existing press