How to Deal with Intense Ball Pressure

On a recent member post (thanks to Brian Loomis), it got us thinking about a problem a lot of us have come up against at different points in our career…

We spoke about this challenge the U16 girls team at the London Lions Academy had on episode 108 of the Transforming Basketball Podcast.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7zrbZFYku2kAHsN0kWLKTS

Brian noted, “Recently, we faced a team running a 2-2-1 trap zone, and they did a great job applying perimeter pressure and closing up interior gaps. It left us stuck—not many open lanes, no space to operate, and limited creation off the dribble.”

I’m sure many of you have been in the same situation:

• Guards struggling to beat pressure
• Limited range from three
• Facing bigger, faster teams who shut down your go-to actions

So, how do we respond?

Design Small-Sided Games That Mimic the Problem

Let the players experience and solve the problems they’re seeing in games:

Box 1-on-1 – Beat the Pressure

Rules:

• Offense must stay inside the ‘box’ for 5 seconds before it is live. 
• Defense must try to steal the ball before the 5 seconds are up. 
• Live 1-on-1 after 5 seconds. 

Scoring: First to 5 wins

• 2 points for gold medal (lay-up)
• 1 point for staying alive for 5 seconds
• 2 points for stealing/forcing a turnover (defense)

Constraints:

• Change size of box
• Cannot ‘turtle’ while dribbling. Eg., cant turn back to defender

1-on-2 – Get to the Half-Court

Rules:

• Offense starts on the baseline. They have to try to get to the HC line without being tagged by the defense. 
• 1 defender starts FT line extended. 2nd defender starts at the HC. 
• Live after offense moves.

Scoring: First to 5 wins

• 2 points for reaching HC
• 1 point for tagging offensive player

Constraints:

• Change starting locations
• Add dribbling to offense (and/or defense)
• Instead of tagging, defense must steal ball/force a turnover 
• Add flag – must pull flag to get stop

Constraint-Based Skill Work for Specific Problems

Look at this small-sided game I created to prepare our team for an upcoming game against a team that plays a 1-2-2 zone press.

Your guards may not be elite ball handlers yet, but coaches can design skill work that improves composure and confidence under game-like pressure.

 

Final Thoughts

You don’t need a team full of shot creators or lights-out shooters to find success. With the right structure, intentional constraints, and game-like training environments, you can build a team that reads, moves, and finds ways to break down even the toughest defenses.

The key is shifting your mindset from “running plays” to “creating problems” for the defense. Concepts always trump plays. 

Thank you Brian for sharing this original question inside our membership community.