Handling pressure is often an essential key to playing this game and making sure the bully does not win.  

The Beast Nobody Trains For...yet

I’m guessing a lot of you saw Victor Wembanyama prepping for playoff games; if not, check it out above.   He has his trainer out there pushing him on his spots, like 17 feet from the hoop or on the perimeter— they’re simulating the way NBA teams guard him: with extra physicality.   Wemby’s crew had it right, though, and it’s part of the reason he’s ahead of schedule.  He doesn’t shrink when players attack him defensively.  

Of the topics I think are essential for players, probably one that a lot of individual coaches might not be talking about, and make no mistake, it’s not as fun to work on, it's hard to teach, it's hard to drill — you're starting to see it a little bit in more and more in the mainstream — it's handling pressure, and it's handling physical, aggressive, attacking defense. 

I think that pressure, and dealing with it, often full court, is a beast unto itself. And it MUST be prepared for, physically and mentally.  In my career, there were two teams that did it at a tremendous clip: Wareham HS brings it full court and if you aren’t prepared for it, you’re losing by 40.  When I was at Sutton, Hopedale HS used to bring it in the 1/4 court—it was wicked and they forced tough shots and turnovers at such a high level.  Is it a coincidence that both programs won state championships?  No.   

I think what this section of the platform is devoted to is making sure you're aware that it is coming, and how to prepare for it. Because it’s coming.  Know that.  So when you run into teams that have the depth and toughness and know how — and they see the success that pressure is yielding — they're going to come after you, and they're going to smell if you’re not prepared.  And. It. Won’t. Stop.   

Getting Back to Basketball 

And what 4D is here for is: let's get back to basketball. Pressure is merely a strategy and it can be toppled—even with those deep, athletic teams.  Even if it’s a matter of you, individually, getting to your spots against a great pressure player.  

Let’s take youth league for a second — many youth leagues don't let you press — and the whole thing is, well, of course it's gonna work. Pressure's gonna get into guys and the youth players don't know how to handle it, and then the fourth and fifth players are handling the ball and they're throwing it to the other team. You're getting these live-ball turnovers, and you get these lopsided scores. I have lots of stories about this. 

My favorite is when Jimmer started out — in third grade, he was on a Mass Rivals team with some players who are really, really good now — I take him to his first game in Danvers.  He played for an excellent coach.  I didn’t really know what to expect.  Jimmer’s team just starts pressuring this other AAU team and before you know it, it’s 32-0 at half.  All through  third and fourth grade, Jimmer’s team would beat teams 50 to 2. The teams couldn't get it over, and the guys coming off the bench on Jimmer's team were a lot better than their starters, and they were a lot better at pressing.  Before you know it, the opponents would lose all hope—and it would be live ball turnover, layups again and again.  Truly, I didn’t know what to think.  I was happy Jimmer was learning to attack, but it was a tough pill to swallow for the other side.  Now, the truth is, teaching kids to be tough with the ball and value it is HUGE.  And it’s probably more important than anything.  Certainly, the skill is under taught—even though the game tells us, over and over, to teach it.   

Pressure Is Just a Bully.

So pressure is going to destroy kids and players who aren't ready. We see it at every level — except, guess where you don't really see it: if you look at how teams tried to play against Jalen Brunson — there was this idea they would wear him down. No — Brunson doesn't have any trouble against pressure. But will it wear him down? Now that's a whole other thing, 'cause that's about conditioning and mental toughness. We're talking about the fundamentals of handling pressure, which, obviously, Jalen Brunson was phenomenal at — great guy to watch, as the Spurs sent guys after him, first Castle, a tough defender — I thought Harper did a pretty good job cutting him off and making him work and turning him — but it's just a matter of time before Brunson finds a spot, or gives the ball up successfully.  My favorite was watching the Spurs send Carter Bryant after him, buying other guys rest, but also thinking Bryant’s athleticism and size would be tough for Brunson.  The King of New York cooked Carter so badly that I’m not sure the Spurs returned to it (it really wasn’t a bad idea).  But, Jalen eliminated the strategy with fundamentals and toughness.   

We want to help you get to the point you can handle pressure and give the ball up successfully, and then make yourself available and feel confident handling the pressure — 'cause pressure is just a bully. And the thing about bullying is, you can't bully the bully, you can't go after the bully. A lot of uncles and dads got bullying wrong: you don’t fight the bully, he’ll destroy you.  You simply become annoying to bully, and the bully goes away.  

Check out Brunson cooking Bryant early in the video below.  And then enjoy the rest.  Jalen's different.

I think some coaches say, "just attack pressure" — well, yeah, bad pressure you can attack, predictable pressure and rotations, you can attack.  But good pressure you can't attack, you have to battle it, survive it—so that it goes away. And I think the way you handle the bully is you make it hard to be bullied, and they're like, "I'm not bullying that guy anymore," and then they go back to playing regular defense. They might try again, and you read it, you handle it, and you move on — you're playing basketball. 

I think when my teams and players have prepared for pressure, they’ve had success — but when we neglect it or presume we will be okay, we get caught.  It even happened last year.  I can remember the game.  I remember how physically the other team played.  And I remember we lost.  So handling pressure is often an essential key, to playing this game and making sure the bully does not win.