Quick Notes | Shark | Bazzketball

What we do

Shark is our 1-1-2-1 Lightning defense.
Get the ball out of the middle. Keep it on one side.
Pressure the ball, deny the inside pass, and take away the easy reversal.
SHARK IS A TURNOVER DEFENSE. GO FOR STEALS. EXPECT A TURNOVER.
Shark does not work without going for steals. Wings must attack the slow skip instead of waiting for the catch.
Lightning can extend into full-court pressure. The assignments below explain our half-court defense.
NO PASSIVE ZONE MENTALITY. Our alignment does not give you permission to stand. Pressure the ball. Deny passes. Anticipate and move.
HURRY UP AND WAIT. Sprint to your assignment. Get there early, in your stance, with your hands up.
SEE THE SCREEN. SEE THE OVERLOAD. Keep checking where offensive players are moving. An overload puts extra offensive players on one side.

C-Guard: top defender. Run the ball out of the middle, then deny the reversal.
B-Guard: middle defender. Deny the post entry and back up the ball pressure.
Left Wing and Right Wing: pressure the ball on your side; drop to the weak-side block when the ball is opposite.
T -- Tough Guy: bottom defender. Stay on the strong side, front the post, and cover both corners as the ball changes sides.
Keep your position title. Shark does not use X-Ray’s fight for B-Guard exchange.

STEAL THE SKIP: Wings, anticipate the slow pass across the court. Get it out of the air and be gone.
STEAL THE INSIDE PASS: Gut pass, high post, low post, or middle -- rotate with hands up, get a hand on the pass, and secure the ball.
TURNOVER BY SHOT: Frustrate the offense into forcing a bad shot. Weak-side wing, block out and help finish the possession.
Steals do not depend on the on-ball defender picking the ball handler’s pocket. Pressure and denial create the mistakes.

C-Guard: meet the ball near half court. Run the ball handler out of the middle. Do not trap.
B-Guard: back up C-Guard around the free-throw-line area. Deny the inside pass and be ready for the drive.
Both wings: pinch in. Hands up to close the passing lanes into the paint.
T: start down the middle, in front of the rim.

Ball-side wing: RUN THEM OFF THE LINE. Close out, dig once, pop your feet back, and pressure the ball. Turn the dribbler after one dribble. TURN THEM WITH YOUR CHEST.
C-Guard: melt into the passing lane. Deny the return to the top. Do not chase into a trap.
B-Guard: deny the high-post pass and back up the drive.
T: front the strong-side post. Anticipate the corner pass.
Opposite wing: sprint down to the weak-side block. Ride the block, butt to the baseline, hands up. Be ready to steal the skip and block out when a shot goes up.
JAB AND MELT. Show at the driver, then melt into your passing lane with at least one arm in it. Do not jab and stand. Do not stay to double. Shark’s exact help assignments remain to be defined.

T: close out to the corner, run the receiver off the line, and pressure the ball.
B-Guard: sprint down and deny the low post.
C-Guard: sprint down and deny the high post.
DOUBLE DROP: B-Guard and C-Guard move on the corner pass. Hands up; close the inside passing lanes.
Ball-side wing: turn into long-trap denial. Take away the return pass to the wing and anticipate the back cut.
Weak-side wing: cover the weak-side block and anticipate the skip.
NO LOW-POST PASS. NO HIGH-POST PASS. NO EASY PASS BACK TO THE WING.

Deny each easy pass in the reversal. Make the offense throw the long pass across the court.
Wings, that slow skip is your chance to steal the ball.
Deny corner to wing. Deny wing to top. If those passes are easy, T cannot reach the opposite corner in time.
Keep pressure on the ball so the passer cannot stand and study the rotations.
OFF THE BALL: SEEK AND DESTROY. When the shot goes up, snap your head around, find an offensive player, and block out with legal contact. THEY ONLY GET ONE SHOT.

T: toughness, intelligence, anticipation, and a quick first step. Size alone does not fill this job.
Wings: defend the ball and finish possessions on the weak-side block. Be strong and tough enough to block out.
C-Guard: height makes passes over the top harder. A smaller, intelligent defender can still deny the reversal.
B-Guard: a strong post defender and drive stopper. Size helps cover both jobs.
Fit the lineup to your players. Every combination changes what Shark takes away and what the offense can attack.
Full-court pickup and rotations, screen coverage, and overload responses still need to be defined. Awareness cues do not assign those rotations.

The exact exchange on a skip to the opposite corner if the wing does not steal the pass.
Whether Shark uses X-Ray’s exact B-Guard-only drive-help rule and jab-and-melt limits.
Whether the formal bottom-position title will remain T, or be written T-Guard or Tough Guy.