Don Showalter: Full-Court Trapping Defensive System

Don Showalter is one of the winningest high school coaches of all-time. In 42 seasons, he recorded over 600 wins and has served as the Director of Coach Development for the USA Basketball Youth Division. Much of Showalter’s success was due to a pressure defense that disrupted the flow of opponent’s offenses. This video is a tutorial on how to apply a full-court trap, adjusting a press to match your players’ talents, and how to confuse an offense by matching their press break moves.

Showalter recognizes the always changing skill levels of high school athletes. As a result, he created a simple press defense that can be adapted successfully to players of all skill levels. The bottom line is a defensive philosophy based on constant ball pressure, patience, and effective rebounding.

Coach Showalter teaches players how to manage different press breaks. Using a few simple adjustments, players learn how most offenses try to get the ball to the middle. He also shows you how the press flows right into the 2-2-1 zone defense. In addition, you’ll see five drills that help players learn to play this defense.

To counter the press, Showalter demonstrates two press breaks. The first involves putting your best shooter beyond the three-point arc. The other is a more conventional 4-across scheme that breaks the trap.

Confuse your opponents and create chaos with a simple but effective full-court press. This is the same press that helped the U17 USA men’s basketball team with the 2010 FIBA world title.