Lessons on Why You Don't Go for the Strip

From the other night between Indiana and Illinois, I couldn't help but cringe a little at that game winner by Illinois that beat Indiana. You play so well throughout the game, but then you let your guard down you make a little mistake and poof, you lose the game. Basketball is sometimes hard like that, but it's the lessons you learn that are the most valuable.

In this last play, the Illinois player does the right thing, he drives straight to the basket. The Indiana player actually does a pretty good job staying with using good defensive stride but at the moment the offensive player picks up his dribble for his shot, the defender commits the cardinal sin by trying to go for the strip. Check out the video,



Again, in this picture, you can see that the defender is actually doing a pretty decent job staying with, not letting the dribbler cross his face,

But at the end of the play, the defender brings his arm down to try to go for the strip. He actually fouls the Illinois player who makes the shot anyways to win the game,


Now we'll never know if the defender had not dropped his arm down over the offensive player, whether or not it would've prevented the shot from going in. But percentages say, that it probably would have.

Well, if you want some more info on defensive drills for your practice, check out Darrin Horn's DVD on Defensive Drills to Build your Defense. Coach Horn is the head coach of the University of South Carolina which recently beat former number one Kentucky.