General: Everybody
LIGHTNING DEFENSES: Coach Fontenot’s family of defenses. Shark and X-Ray share habits but use different alignments and assignments.
SHARK: The original Lightning defense, named for Jerry “The Shark” Tarkanian. Our starting alignment is 1-1-2-1.
GET IT OUT OF THE MIDDLE: Do not let the ball settle at the top and feed the paint.
KEEP THE BALL ON ONE SIDE: Deny the easy reversal through the perimeter. Make the offense send the ball on the long trip across the court.
BALL PRESSURE: Occupy the ball handler and keep the ball handler from calmly reading the defense.
RUN THEM OFF THE LINE: Close out to discourage the three-point shot.
HANDS UP: Close passing windows and be ready to get a hand on the ball as we rotate.
ANTICIPATE: Read the next pass early enough to move before the receiver catches.
GO FOR STEALS: Attack the passes our pressure and denial produce. Do not wait for the catch.
EXPECT A TURNOVER: Shark is built to take the ball. Be ready when the offense makes the mistake.
STEAL THE SKIP: The wing reads the slow pass across the court and steals it in the air.
STEAL THE INSIDE PASS: Get a hand on a gut pass, a high-post pass, a low-post pass, or a pass into the middle.
TURNOVER BY SHOT: Pressure and denial frustrate the offense into forcing a bad shot. The weak-side wing still has to block out and help finish the possession.
STRONG SIDE: The side with the ball.
WEAK SIDE: The side opposite the ball.
FIXED POSITIONS: Shark players keep their titles. Assignments change with ball location. Shark does not use X-Ray’s fight for B-Guard exchange.
NO TRAP: C-Guard runs the ball out of the middle, then denies the return instead of following into a double team.
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.
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.
FULL-COURT EXTENSION: Lightning can extend into full-court pressure. The assignments below explain our half-court defense.
TURN THEM WITH YOUR CHEST: Move your feet into the driving line and make the dribbler change direction.
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.
C-Guard: Top defender
- C-Guard: The top player. Get the ball out of the middle and prevent the reversal.
- Your yard: The middle area C-Guard pressures the ball out of.
- Run it out: Pressure the ball handler into choosing a side by dribble or pass.
- Melt off: Leave the ball pressure and move into the passing lane to deny the return.
- Deny the reversal: Take away the easy pass back through the top. This is C-Guard’s number-one job.
- Double drop -- C-Guard: On the corner pass, sprint down to deny the high post.
- Height at the top: A taller defender makes passes over or around the top harder. Intelligence and anticipation can make a smaller defender effective here too.
- Old A-Guard name: Early Shark explanations called this top player A-Guard. The current title is C-Guard.
B-Guard: Middle defender
- B-Guard: Back up ball pressure, deny the post entry, and stop drives.
- Plug / stopper: The defender positioned to discourage the inside pass and the drive.
- High-post denial: When the ball is on the wing or higher, take away the high-post entry.
- Low-post denial: When the ball is in the corner, take away the low-post entry.
- Double drop -- B-Guard: On the corner pass, sprint from the high-post area to deny the low post.
- Hands up in the middle: Deny the small passing windows the offense sees while we move.
- Size at B-Guard: Strength and length help deny the post and discourage the drive at the same time. A smaller player may give up a matchup the offense can exploit.
Left Wing and Right Wing: Ball pressure or weak-side block
- Left Wing / Right Wing: The two side defenders. Your job changes according to which side has the ball.
- Pinch in: With the ball at the top, move inward with hands up to close passes into the paint.
- Ball-side wing: Pressure the receiver on your wing using the same on-ball actions taught in X-Ray.
- One dig: Dig at the ball once on the closeout.
- Pop back: Pop your feet back after the dig so you can contain the ball.
- Turn the dribbler: Make the ball handler change direction after one dribble.
- Weak-side wing: Drop all the way to the block opposite the ball.
- Ride the block: Hold the weak-side block with butt to the baseline and hands up, as taught in X-Ray.
- Steal the skip: Anticipate the slow pass to the other side. Get it out of the air and be gone.
- Block out: On the shot, take away the offensive player’s path to the rebound at your block. Do not give the possession back.
- Long-trap denial: Face the ball, keep your head on a swivel and hands up, and deny the passing lane. This uses the Lightning denial taught in X-Ray.
- Deny the return: After your offensive wing passes to the corner, take away the pass back out to that wing.
- Back cut: Expect the denied offensive wing to cut behind you. Take away that pass as well.
- Wing personnel: Size can bother perimeter players. Strength and toughness must hold up when you become the weak-side rebounder.
T -- Tough Guy: Bottom defender
T -- Tough Guy: The bottom defender. Stay on the strong side, front the post, and cover both corners as the ball changes sides.
Start in the middle: With the ball at the top, begin down the middle in front of the rim.
Stay strong side: As the ball changes sides, T works on the side with the ball.
Front the post: Get between the ball and the strong-side post player. Post up like you want the ball on offense.
Anticipate the corner: Read the corner pass early enough to arrive and discourage the three.
Both corners: One bottom player is responsible for reaching either corner as the ball changes sides.
Corner pressure: Close out, run the receiver off the line, and pressure the ball while B-Guard and C-Guard double drop.
Toughness and intelligence: Hold the post assignment and recognize the next pass early. Size alone does not do both jobs.
First step: The quick start that helps T reach the corner on time.
Old C-Guard name: Early Shark explanations called the bottom defender C-Guard or center. The current draft calls this player T.
Full-court pickup and rotations, screen coverage, and overload responses still need to be defined. Awareness cues do not assign those rotations.
Details still to define
- Opposite-corner skip coverage: The exact wing/T exchange if the wing does not steal the pass.
- Drive-help limits: Whether Shark uses X-Ray’s exact B-Guard-only help rule and jab-and-melt limits.
- Final T title: T, T-Guard, or Tough Guy. This draft uses the supplied name, T -- Tough Guy.