with Robyn Fralick,
Ashland University Head Women's Coach; 2017 NCAA DII National Champions;
Coached the first perfect season (37-0) in NCAA Division II Women's Basketball history (2016-17);
2017 Women's Basketball Coaches Association NCAA Division II Coach of the Year;
2x Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Champions
In just her second season as head coach, Ashland's Robyn Fralick has already found the key to program success: utilizing both a full-court and half-court attacking defense to build team chemistry and facilitate a sense of ownership amongst the roster.
Coming off of an undefeated 37-0 season that resulted in a National Championship, Fralick's pressing/trapping approach yielded an increase in seven turnovers forced per game, with the added benefit of creating a tough-minded team mentality.
In this video, Coach Fralick discusses the importance of core values and the defensive philosophy employed by her team, individual defensive breakdown drills, team drills, and finally finishes up with game footage showing the effectiveness of pressure defense in live play.
Full-Court / Half-Court Pressure Defense
An efficient way to utilize the full depths of your roster is to implement an exhaustive, attacking style of play that requires bodies in order for the system to function at its peak. A system that will engage a player's yearning for opportunity, is fun to play, and tasks endurance levels will ultimately create a sense of togetherness and ownership amongst the team as every player will have a role to play in determining team success.
In discussing the philosophy and demonstrating the scheme, Fralick touches on:
- Varying the "when" and "where" that traps occurs in order to create a sense of unpredictability.
- The responsibilities and positioning of the "trapper, gapper, and safety" roles within the attack.
- The four goals of the philosophy and how they directly translate to the system's success.
- How to handle defense of ball screens in the half-court and how it falls in line with the underlying philosophy of the defensive system as a whole in the full-court.
- Help defense positioning, both in the full-court and the half-court, and how it places players in the best possible position to achieve a deflection.
- A review of game film in order to illustrate the talking/teaching points of the system that were on display throughout the video.
Pressure Defense Breakdown Drills
Breakdown drills are essential to isolating specific teaching points and creating a competitive environment in which to instruct players on how to react. Fralick brings a package of two offensive-based breakdown "finishing" drills (after all, what good is forcing a turnover if it doesn't directly translate to points at the other end!), and six defensive-based drills that aim to:
- Develop offensive footwork and "finishing" move sets around the rim.
- Simulate the 'chaotic' element where the press is beaten and the defense is forced into 'scramble' mode to match-up in the half-court.
- Create the perfect trapping alignment via body and foot placement, in a controlled and confined space, that places an emphasis on reading the offensive player's eyes.
- "Control" the ball-handler and force the offensive player into positions on the court that are advantageous to the defense.
- Position the off-ball defenders up/on the line of the ball to place them in position to concurrently defend their man as well as cheat just enough to increase the odds of a deflection if a pass were to be made in their direction.
The mantra of "defense travels" still holds true today. Create a fast-paced, engaging, exciting style of play that uses defense as its foundation. By utilizing the depths of the roster within an engaging, full-court defensive pressure based attack, Coach Fralick has wielded the 'controlled chaos' ideology into a winning formula that you can apply to foster ownership and excitement within your team.
74 minutes. 2018.