Building a “Rock Solid” Championship Defense

by Coach Sharman White – Miller Grove H.S. – Lithonia, GA

Winning games or winning championships? If this question was posed to every basketball coach in the nation, undoubtedly, the answer would be to win championships. Championships on any level are hard to come by and when I begin to study champions on the collegiate and professional level regardless of sport, there is one common thread: DEFENSE. Defense is the only element of basketball that truly requires a "TEAM" effort and at Miller Grove, we describe it as having "five on a string". "Five on a string" can make some of the most beautiful music a coach can hear or better yet see on the scoreboard. We have been fortunate here at Miller Grove to have championship success (3 consecutive state titles) in only six years of existence, but it all has been built on a "Rock Solid" foundation of defense. One of our greatest mottos that our athletes believe in is "If we score, we might win; if our opponent never scores, we never lose". Defense is all about the will to compete and competing is the engine that will drive any team's defensive attack. Listed below are defensive principles that we preach and teach at Miller Grove and they have been a major factor with the success we have been able to achieve in a short period of time.

1. TALK and COMMUNICATE – Talking on defense is imperative and it must be LOUD, EARLY, and CONTINUOUS. This is an area that can be challenging because getting players to talk defense (i.e. – Screen Left! Screen Right! Cutter! Etc.) is almost like pulling teeth! I always insist to our players that they have to have the same confidence talking on the court as they do when they're talking in the hallways at school or on the phone with their peers. We stress talking loud because not only does it allow your teammate to hear you on defense, but it can create confusion for the offense. Talking early gives your defensive teammate a "heads up" on what's coming and allows him to be able to adjust to whatever the offense is attempting to do. Continuous talking allows for every defensive member to be in tune to what is being executed on the floor and creates that music that a coach loves to hear, communication on defense.
2. RUN EVERY PASS – We adopted this concept from Tom Thibodeau, Head Coach of the Chicago Bulls and the mastermind behind the defense of the Boston Celtics during their championship run in 2008. Running every pass basically means to "run to the pass" when the ball is airborne. This technique assists in taking away the drive threat because every defender is shifting towards the direction where the ball is passed thus creating a "5-on-a-string" effect. This has been very effective for us when playing teams who like to attack the basket, but it also sets us up to be in good close-out positions on possible shooters.
   
3. CONTEST SHOTS – Contesting EVERY shot is a way of life for our defense. To put it in a more precise perspective, contested shots lead to a lower field goal percentage for the offense, which give us a chance for more opportunities on offense (pending our rebounding effort ?). We teach our players to try and contest shots with their feet on the ground simulating a wall. This philosophy helps us not to foul jump shooters and negate a positive defensive effort.
   
4. CONTEST SHOTS FROM WEAKSIDE – Weak side or help side defense is something that we spend a lot of time working on. Strong weak side defense puts us in a better position to take charges. As we all know, taking charges can bolster your team's defensive effort and morale. We also stress to our weak side defenders, especially our post players that attempting to block shots from the weak side will create havoc on defense and bother teams offensively. This also keeps our post players from picking up fouls while attempting to block a shot directly.
   
5. FINISH POSSESSIONS BY GETTING THE BALL – Rebound! Rebound! Rebound! This is the final piece to a defensive stop. We chart defensive stops during every game and don't view it as a stop when the offense gets an offensive rebound. We stress "one-and-done" which literally means the offense gets one shot at scoring and if they fail to score, we want the rebound and look to score with the opportunity (i.e. – "if they never score, we never lose"). Effective rebounding includes the basic fundamental of boxing out on every shot, but it also means having the desire to chase down loose balls or what we call 50/50 balls. We end practice everyday with a drill we call "Three Stops". We play a half court game where the first team to get three consecutive stops wins. As aforementioned, stops are constituted by a true defensive stop where there is a turnover created or no offensive rebound is secured after a shot. This drill does a lot of different things but the three main things we learn from it is a desire to play "rock solid" defense, a desire to get stops, and a will to compete!

In addition to the principles listed above, we also do various defensive stat tracking each game in order to assist with our players being defensive-minded such as deflections (goal of 35-40 per game), charges taken (goal of 3-5 per game), contested shots (goal of 70% of shots taken contested), opponent paint touches (goal of 20 or less per game), and opponent free-throw attempts (goal of 15 or less per game. In summary, championship teams are built with a "Rock Solid" defense and a "Rock Solid" defense is a defense where each member has bought into the philosophy of "winning championships not just winning games".

About the Author...

• Career record of 233-67
• Miller Grove teams have won three consecutive state championships (2009, 2010, 2011)
• Won 5 region championships (Carver 2003, 2004; Miller Grove 2008, 2009, 2010)
• 2-time State Coach of the Year (2010, 2011)
• 19 former players are either presently playing college or professionally

Coach White began his coaching career in 1996 as Head Coach at Ralph Bunche Middle school where he posted a career record of 49-10 and led the team to two division titles and district runner-ups. While at Bunche, he also served as an assistant at Therrell High School.

In 2001, Coach White was appointed to his first high school head coaching position at Carver High School in Atlanta, Georgia. The year prior to his arrival, Carver posted a record of 3 victories and 17 defeats, but in his first year as head coach, he led Carver to within two games of the state championship. Coach White Followed that up with two consecutive state playoff appearances with the latter being a state runner-up finish in 2004. He tallied a 60-29 record during his 3-year stint at Carver.

In 2005, was selected as the first Head Coach of Miller Grove High School, a brand new high school in Dekalb County (Georgia). In 6 years of varsity competition, has led the school to three consecutive state titles and numerous region titles.

Coach White is married to Jemeka Price and the couple has one daughter (Simani).