Effective drill for teaching defensive rotations and communication.

The offensive players stay stationary throughout the drill until the coach gives the instruction for the offense to go "live" (move, cut, and try to score)

For several passes, the defense must rotate to offensive players based upon ball position and each defender's position. During the rotation stage, the defense is not allowed to intercept or steal the ball. This drill is designed to focus on proper defensive footwork, communication, and rotations.

To start the drill, the coach will blow the whistle and the defender closest to the ball closes the offensive player out and calls out "Ball" - Each offensive player will hold the ball until the next whistle (2-3 seconds). The 2 defenders closest to the offensive players who are one pass away will close out in deny position and call out "Deny" - The remaining defender will find the midline and play help defense in the center of the lane and call out "Help" ("Help" position is any defender 2 passes away from the ball)

This process will continue until the coach specifies. Defensive communication is vital to this drill because the defense is shorthanded and at some point, each defender will guard several different players as the offense reverses the ball several times. So, not only must each defender call out "ball", "deny", or "help", he/she must also call out who is taking the ball on rotations where 2 defenders could potentially rotate to the ball.