What we do
X-Ray is our 1-2-2 matchup defense.
THIS DEFENSE DOES NOT WORK WITHOUT BALL PRESSURE.
THIS DEFENSE DOES NOT WORK WITH BLOW-BYS.
THE KEY IS PRESSURING THE BALL WHILE KEEPING IT IN FRONT.
Pressure the ball handler while protecting against the drive. Stick and move, pop back, and measure to maintain that balance.
FORCE CONTESTED MID-RANGE. Make them pull up with a hand in their face. Make them catch in the mid-range and shoot over somebody.
NO BLOW-BY. NO POST ENTRIES. NO DUMP-OFFS. NO DOUBLES. NO OVER-ROTATION. RUN THEM OFF THE LINE. NO FOULS.
We pressure the ball and do our jobs. Don’t leave your job to do somebody else’s. That’s how we get beat.
The 1-2-2 is our starting picture. The defense moves through three guards exchanging jobs and two forwards anticipating what happens on their side.
The X-Ray mentality
ANTICIPATE. WORK EARLY. EXPECT A TURNOVER. NO BLOW-BY.
- ANTICIPATE: Read what’s coming next. See the cutter start, the post player arrive, and the skip developing. Stay ready for the next play.
- WORK EARLY: Act on that read. Get into the passing lane before the pass. Bump the cutter on his first step. Move while the ball is in the air. Don’t wait for the catch to start working.
- EXPECT A TURNOVER: Expect our pressure and denial to force a mistake. Be ready to attack a loose ball or a weak pass. Every possession could be the one we take away.
- NO BLOW-BY: Take pride in keeping the ball in front. Pressure him, measure your space, and turn him. We don’t allow straight-line drives.
PLAY WITH YOUR FEET. We teach from the ground up. Get your feet to the right location, facing the right direction. Denial works because of where your feet are. Help means getting your feet in front of the driver. Fronting means getting your feet between the post and the ball. Anticipation depends on where your feet are and which direction they face. On the weak-side block, your feet tell us whether you’re covering your half or giving it away. Your hands support that position; reaching does not replace getting there.
Bring that mentality to your assignment. Expecting a turnover does not give you permission to gamble out of position, double the ball, or leave somebody else doing your job.
Off-ball: Go get it
- CHECK YOUR MIRRORS: Take quick glances to find the players around you.
- HEAD ON A SWIVEL: Keep checking the ball and your assignment.
- DON’T BALL WATCH: See the players, not just the ball.
- BE PARANOID: Expect the cut, the skip, and the next scoring threat.
ANTICIPATE THE PASS. GO GET IT. IF YOU DON’T GET IT, DIG UP ON THE CATCH.
Go for the steal while the ball is in the air. A long pass gives you time to attack it. Don’t wait for the catch to start playing defense. If you can’t get the pass, dig up at the ball as the receiver catches it. Don’t swipe down across his hands. Pop back and contain.
Don’t gamble yourself out of your assignment, but don’t let that turn into standing and watching. Anticipate, then go get it.
Individual physical cues
- ALWAYS IN YOUR STANCE: Stay low and ready, on and off the ball. Be ready to move on the first cue.
- HANDS UP: Stay active with your hands. Take away passing windows and be ready to contest.
- SPRINT ROTATIONS: Sprint to your next assignment. Sprint out, sprint back. No jogging between jobs.
- ONE DIG: On every guard closeout, dig up once at the ball on the catch. Trace and pop your feet back, then measure. The dig is required, and so is containing the ball afterward.
Four teaching phases
- DIG AND POP: Dig up at the ball on the catch and pop your feet back.
- STICK AND MOVE: Crowd and release space to keep the ball handler occupied with you.
- JAB AND MELT: Show at the ball, then melt into your passing lane with at least an arm in it.
- WALL AND BLOCK: Make him shoot over you without fouling, then immediately block out.
These are the actions we teach. Each player uses them within his assignment.
Our three guards: A-Guard, B-Guard, and C-Guard
The letters are jobs. They change when the ball moves.
- A-Guard -- Attack. Alpha dog. Pressure and contain the ball.
- B-Guard -- Backup. Bump cutter. Have A-Guard’s back, deny the post pass, and bump cutters.
- C-Guard -- Create chaos. Cause problems. Take away the next perimeter pass and disrupt the offense.
When a guard closes out to the ball, he becomes A-Guard.
The other two fight for B-Guard. Both take a step or two toward the B-Guard spot. Whoever gets there first stays. The other sees that B-Guard is covered and flies out to become C-Guard.
Don’t wait. See it and move.
B-Guard and C-Guard use long-trap denial: face the ball, head on a swivel, hands up. We don’t turn our back and point a thumb down like typical man denial. Use jumping-jack denial when needed to discourage the pass.
A-Guard: Attack. Alpha dog.
Close out hard. RUN THEM OFF THE LINE.
We call the closeout action dig and pop.
Dig up once at the ball on the catch. It’s required. Attack the ball as it arrives. Don’t swipe down across the receiver’s hands.
As you dig and trace the ball with your hand, pop your feet back. These things happen together.
Then measure. Reach your hand out. If you can touch his body, you’re too close.
Stay ready on your feet. Don’t fall back onto your heels.
Stay in his driving line
Keep yourself in the path he wants to drive.
No middle drive to the nail. No baseline drive. But don’t stand beside him and give him a runway somewhere else. Influence him while staying in his driving line. We aren’t side-defending him to send him into a trap.
When a straight closeout would leave the drive open, use a check-mark closeout: get into the driving line first, then get to the ball. If he’s about to shoot an immediate three, getting there to contest may come first.
Stick and move
Get into his space, then get back out. Crowd him, then give him space again.
Keep changing the distance. Make him think about you instead of running his offense.
When he dribbles, turn him. Give him one dribble that way, then turn him again.
Turning him is required. Don’t ride alongside him. Make him change direction.
B-Guard: Backup. Bump cutter.
Your first job is to take away the post pass while being ready to stop the drive.
- Ball on the wing or higher: take away the high post.
- Ball in the corner: take away the low post.
If nobody is in the high post, you can move closer to the driving line. If somebody is there, cover both jobs.
At either post, fly into the passing lane to deny the quick touch pass, then post up like you’re on offense. Bump cutters through your area and listen for the weak-side forward’s call.
Stop the drive
B-Guard is the only defender assigned to come over and help on drives. If A-Guard gets beat, move your feet all the way into the driving line and stop the ball.
If you meet the driver at 18 feet, stop him at 18 feet. He does not get to nine feet with you escorting him.
Don’t reach from the side. Get in front.
That ball handler is yours now. Nobody else is coming to rescue you. STOP THE DRIVE.
Get to the pass across the court
When the ball goes to the other side, anticipate it and close out hard.
You’re the new A-Guard.
Move while the pass is in the air. If you wait until the catch, you’re late.
C-Guard: Create chaos. Cause problems.
Take away the next easy pass around the perimeter.
If the ball is on the wing, deny the pass back toward the top. If your receiver moves, adjust. His movement does not release you from your job.
When the ball is at the top, C-Guard can deny either wing to get the play started. Ball is not allowed at the top. Get it out of the middle.
Get an arm in the passing lane. Keep enough room to see and handle a back cut. Don’t crowd so close that he cuts behind you.
Deny the reversal. Once the ball gets to a side, keep it there.
All three guards work on the ball side. No guards on the weak side. Don’t hang around over there denying somebody. That’s not your job.
After a skip, anticipate the next pass back toward the top. Jump that passing lane. We’re looking to steal that reversal.
Our forwards: Right and left
We call the forwards R and L.
You have the same jobs, but you have your own side. Know which block is yours, including in transition.
We choose sides based on matchups and who needs to be near the coaches. Often our better defender goes on our left to handle the offense’s right-side action. Sometimes a newer player goes near the bench so we can coach him.
Your job changes depending on whether the ball is on your side or across the court.
Strong-side forward: Post and corner
Strong side means ball side.
Front the post. Anticipate the corner pass.
If a guard gets beat, don’t run up and double the driver. B-Guard is stopping him.
You can jab and melt: show a quick jab at the ball, then immediately melt into your passing lane with at least an arm in it. Recover into denial.
If you and B-Guard both go to the ball, you leave the block open for a dump-off.
Even on an outside drive, trust B-Guard to get all the way over. Protect your post and stay ready for the corner.
Close out to the corner: Banana
Take away baseline first.
We call it a banana closeout. Get your bottom foot -- the foot closest to the baseline -- up.
Run him off the line. No baseline drive.
A baseline drive can carry the ball underneath us to the other side. X-Ray is not built to cover that reversal. Stop it at the closeout.
Weak-side forward: See your whole half
When the ball is on one side, we have four defenders on that side and one on the other.
That one is you.
Ride your block. Put one foot on each side of it. Keep your butt directly toward the baseline and your arms wide, parallel with the baseline.
Stay low enough to see everything. Don’t turn your whole body toward the ball and lose the players behind you.
You have no ball-side help responsibility. You are guarding your half.
Don’t get sealed in
SIT ON TOP. PUSH HIM DOWN. EASY RELEASE.
Sit on top of the offensive player and keep him down toward the baseline. Keep your butt directly toward the baseline and your arms wide, parallel with it.
Don’t leave him inside you with an open diagonal passing lane to the rim. Don’t fight all the way around to the inside either -- he’ll seal you there when the skip comes. From the top, you can release and fly to the corner.
If they throw over the top into the post, attack it and volleyball-spike it all the way out of the paint. No gambling on the steal or soft tips in the air -- we lose those battles. That pass is not allowed. Get it out and live to fight another battle.
Bump cutters
See the cut on its first step. Bump the cutter, then get back.
If the cutter is too high for you to reach, tell B-Guard to bump him.
Talk. You can see things your teammates can’t.
Know where the pass is going
- Pass to your corner: close out and stay.
- Pass to your wing or slot: show and recover.
Show and recover
This is the forwards’ biggest job. ONE DIG does not apply to show and recover.
See the skip pass coming. Go while the ball is in the air. Go get it.
Get out to discourage the three. Then plant and sprint straight back to your block.
Show and recover immediately. One quick trip out and back.
Don’t wait for B-Guard to come bump you back down. B-Guard is coming through the driving line to take the ball. Get back to protect the block and prepare for the corner.
If the receiver isn’t a shooter, you don’t need to smother him.
Ball pressure makes it work
The skip to the wing is a weakness of X-Ray, even when we play it well.
If the passer can stand tall and look around, he can pick us apart. X-Ray does not work without ball pressure.
Get his head down. Dig. Pop back. Stick and move.
Make the skip difficult. A slow pass gives us time to get there. A weak pass gives us a chance to steal it.
If the receiver doesn’t shoot immediately, dig up at the ball on the catch and pop back to stop the drive.
When the ball goes to the corner
Everybody moves on the pass:
- Forward: close out and take away baseline.
- B-Guard: drop and front the low post.
- C-Guard: drop and deny the high post.
- Old A-Guard: deny the pass back out to the wing.
- Weak-side forward: watch your cutters and stay ready for the skip.
We call those two guards dropping the double drop.
The forward has the ball now. The guards cover the passes. Teach those jobs instead of getting hung up on which guard to call A-Guard when a forward is on the ball.
This is a long trap, not a double team. Pressure the ball and take away the easy way out.
No doubles. No post entries. No easy pass back out.
If A-Guard gets beat: A-Guard/B-Guard exchange
B-Guard steps over and stops the driver.
A-Guard releases into B-Guard’s old job.
B-Guard takes the ball. A-Guard takes his back.
Don’t chase the driver into a double team. Find the post pass or the next responsibility you need to cover.
The forward stays ready for the corner. Everybody else holds his job.
No doubles. No over-rotation. No dump-offs.
Jab and melt: Show, then deny
B-Guard owns the drive. Other defenders can show a quick jab at the ball handler to interrupt him, then immediately melt into their passing lanes. Get at least an arm in the passing lane as you recover to your assignment.
Don’t jab and stand. Don’t jab and double. Don’t just rotate back to a spot on the floor. Jab and melt into denial.
The driver coming at B-Guard can feel like he’s about to be triple-teamed when other defenders show that jab. As he passes out, those defenders are already melting into the passing lanes. That can produce the steal.
If you catch yourself coming over as a second helper, melt back immediately. Staying there gives up the next scoring opportunity. The weak-side forward still owns his half; this does not send him across the court to help.
Wall and block: Finish the shot
Forwards must get good at wall and block. When a player tries to shoot over you, wall up with your hands high. Make him shoot tall over you. NO FOULS.
As soon as the shooter lands, turn and block him out. “Block” means block out. Take away his path to the rebound so we can collect the miss. We’ve made him take the shot we can live with; finish the possession instead of giving it back.
Every possession
Guards: pressure, turn the ball, deny the post, deny the reversal, and exchange jobs.
Forwards: front, bump cutters, see the skip, show and recover, and get to the corner.
For the forwards, 90 percent of the job is anticipation. See the cutter start. See the post player arrive. See the skip developing. Move on the first step.
We can live with a drive cut off into a contested pull-up. We can live with a contested mid-range shot off the catch.
We don’t allow players to abandon their assignments and give away layups or open threes.
WORK EARLY. DO YOUR JOB. FORCE CONTESTED MID-RANGE.