Gut Check Time, Bruce Weber Style

I've never run this drill, but from reading Bruce Weber's notes, seems to be a great drill to emphasize defense, say after your team has lost a game where they played badly on defense. It's a great conditioning type of a drill as well.

Gut Check:

1. Make 3 teams of 3-4 players. Two teams play while the third team is shooting on
a side basket.
2. Put 12 minutes on the clock.
3. Team gets a point for every stop.
4. Foul is automatic loss of play.
5. First two teams play for 4 minutes. Then the third team comes in after 4 minutes
for one of the teams.
6. When offence scores, the defence must sprint down and touch the opposite foul
line and come back. The ball will be passed to the coach and the coach will give
to the team that just touched the foul line. There is only 20 seconds for each
possession so the team must sprint down and back to get more time.
7. If the defence gets a stop the offence must go down and touch the opposite foul
line and come back. The coach will pass the ball to the offence as they come back
down the floor and they will be on offence again.
8. This drill is a great conditioner.

I love any drill where we can combine multiple elements (defense and conditioning) and are competitive. I think once you get to high school ball, it's important that the players get used to competing hard. I hate to see drills run where players are just going through the motions, because that is how they will play in the game.

If you want to see this and other great defensive drills run live, check out Bruce Weber's DVD on 20 Competitive Drills. You can also find the notes on these drills by heading to the X's and O's of Basketball Forum.