April 8, 2010
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Competitive Closeouts
In honor of UConn's amazing run and National Championship, here
is a competitive defensive drill from Geno Auriemma where the player
has to make a one on one defensive stop to get out of the drill.
To make the drill more even more competitive and quick moving
than what the short video shows, split your team into groups of five
using as many baskets and coaches as you can.
I think it is best to make the players in each group as similar in ability
as you can. The drill is scored like golf. Each time a player goes on
defense, he or she gets a point. So, if they make the stop the first time,
they only get one point (hole in one in golf). If they have to go five times
and get their defensive stop, then they get five points. After 4 "rounds"
where each player has been on defense four times, the low score wins.
That also gives incentive for the offense to work to score because they are
putting points against the players they are competing against within their
own group. I like the setup with the two offensive lines so that the defender
has to change sides of the floor if they have to go again.
Scroll down the page for the video.
Here is the video: Geno Auriemma Defensive Drill
"Bottom line, you're either a risk taker, or your not, and if you
don't take risks, you'll never win big."
Geno Auriemma