This special situation defense is invaluable for stopping any easy baskets from happening during baseline out of bounds. It is a defense used primarily by Brad Stevens at Butler but has been shown in the NBA as well with the Celtics: BLOB or BOB.
It starts with the player on ball doing everything he can to cause a deflection; trying to cause havoc on the ball. The second key concept is this imaginary alley. This alley will tell players exactly how to match up. The 5 man, is responsible for the first player in that alley; anyone coming to the basket on the ball side.
The 3 man in this set up, is responsible for the first cutter to the weak side of that alley. The 2 man is taking the first cutter to the strong side of that alley. And the 1 man is taking anything 2 passes away or the remaining player.
If you are interested in this defense, take special notice of how the players angle their body’s based on their responsibilities. In a box alignment for example, the 1 man takes the player on the opposite elbow but takes an angle to see the inside of the floor. The 2 man takes the strong elbow and also takes an angle to see the inside of the floor because he needs to see cutters coming to his zone and can’t get sealed inside.
If you want to learn more about this defense check out the YouTube breakdown below or email lockdowndefensepod@gmail.com for a full compilation of Butler using this defense against many different alignments.
See you next time.
