CHASE DEFENSE: Prevent Most 3 Pointers And All Pick And Rolls! 

Coach Nick is gonna get players to start shooting that running one-legged three to counter this.

This is somewhat similar to Mattise Thybulle's defense. He goes to the side of his man rather than in front of him.

This is actually interesting but I feel like it would be easily exploited by point guards with a short-to-mid range floater (Shai, Trae, Ja, Fox, etc) Edit: Then again, Trae is the only one among them who is an elite shooter so you probably wouldnt run this defense against the others

Respect Coach Nick, this is wild, I have to digest this. The visibility up top, what can I say, I love this!

Yeah, the first thing I immediately thought about was the Jazz 2019 vs Harden. This actually kind of worked back then. Took away the step back and good luck taking a floater with 7'2 Gobert right in front of you and your defender breathing down your neck. You obviously cant run this all game but similar to how the heat implement a zone from time to time so could this tactic be used to throw teams off

Fantastic. Been experimenting with concepts like this for 25 years now. Evolution to be behind, with wings backs to sideline is a cheat code.

I really appreciate the creative problem solving approach here. I look forward to seeing more tape on this defense and how it holds up.

I instantly thought about Manu’s block to Harden from behind! Great idea to try coach.

coach, the legendary obradovic has 'the next man' defensive strategy that might be similar to this, it's also based on constant switches on the perimeter, forcing players to go one way on closeouts, would rhighly recommend checking it out. He did it with Fenerbahce in 2018 very well.

Reminds me of the Raptors’ defensive scheme the past few years. Nurse had them chasing guys off the line and playing defense from behind. However, it did lead to a lot of overhelping - ironically leading to a lot of wide open threes. Cardio was also a big issue, I can see that also being an issue with this scheme you showed. The innovation is great though!

I'd love to see the whole video of the game where they tried this defense. Looks interesting

This is pretty brilliant and innovative. I love how unorthodox it is. Players get so used to seeing patterns that they know how to exploit them, especially with how skilled they are these days. I’ve never even seen a defense this extreme (other than Grinnel College). Unfortunately, lots of coaches are so set in their ways that they might be a bit closed minded to it.

A couple offensive counter ideas. 1. You just set up a give and go play for whoever started the play as the PNR ball-handler, it’ll be easier to cut since their defender is already behind them. 2. A mid-range shot drifting left or right, like towards the wings (like the shots you see from Chris Paul a lot). This would put the defender at your side, giving you an open look. 3. Might be hard to pull off, but find a way to quickly get back behind the defender. A side-step into a step-back or something similar may work. If you could manage to do this, it would be an open look every time as there is no way a defender would be able to turn their hips a full 180 degrees in time to get a good hand up. 4. A backwards PNR. Have a screen set on the defender and instead of the ball-handler working their way forward around the screen, have them go backwards. This one would be difficult to coordinate and it would also be difficult to set-up the screen in a way where the defender wouldn’t notice it.

this is crazy. Thanks for the innovation!

I love the closeout with the chase defense. It looks much more natural and disruptive.

Interesting. Definitely a scheme towards a team with that specific strength which is a lot of teams now. I could definitely see this creating big stops/momentum swings if used strategically.

Love it!! Very Tough and innovative. Great stuff Coach Nick!

Coach Nick - Always love the videos! Learning the Xs and Os in 🏀 and sports in general is always dope. With that said…the first thing that came to my mind was if I were the opposing coach on offense, how would I counter this? Ideally you could still dare the defense with a screen on that trailing defender who’s chasing from behind. In that window..the guard/ball handler would raise up for a mid range or 3. And if any of the help defenders bite, the play becomes a simple kick to the wings or baseline cut to the basket.

Hi, Coach. Quick question. So if in a traditional pick and roll, some coaches have stated as a ball handler, take the screen and put the defender "in your back pocket" as you run through the motion. From there, you attack the basket with your roll man, the option being yours to pass or keep. With this defense, wouldn't this be even easier to accomplish as you're removing the screen mechanic? I assume regardless if whether the defender is in front or behind the ball, the screener can still approach the ball then roll towards the basket with the handler attacking (since his man is behind him) and execute the same way? Or is this more geared to driving great 3 point shooters off the line because I can definitely see that.

NBA coaches watch this channel. Fully expect to see this implented next season! Love your channel coach Nick!

I’ve been thinking a point zone defense is the next evolution of defense, but the chasing is a whole new level.

I love this new concept, definitely gonna start implementing it with my team 👍

What's stopping an elite shooter from just stopping on a dime and rising up for the shot to bait fouls from the defender that's chasing him?

I did this in high school and always knew it was better, but my coach and peers saw it as a lazy defense. They believed taking pride in guarding your man one-on-one, no matter the outcome, was more important than winning with a new strategy like the one you experiment and implement. Great job coach! Very innovative!

I remember Kobe saying to guard Steph from the side And Steph struggled Very interesting progression Coach Nick 👏🏻

Is there any follow up to this? Would love to see how it has been implemented. Love radical ideas!

We saw the Lakers do this to the Warriors when they top locked shooters and funneled Steph/Klay/Poole into Anthony Davis.

very cool! would love to see more of it.

From watching your video, It seems like the heat zone has a lot of principals that your defense purposes. I would love a revisit of the most recent nba finals to see what joker/Murray pick and roll did against it.

I'll tell you exactly to beat this: you get the pass, let the defending player settle behind you, but you don't rush into a drive, leading to a long 2 or an uncontrolled drive into the paint defender with the worry of the not visible player behind you... instead you feel where the defender is, move to cut them off from the basket as much as possible (this is called putting them "in jail"). Then you choose when you attack. You can take a big step up to the three point like and shot the 3 right away... you can be more measured and head to the paint to pull a second defender and kick out, or you can just see a lane (say you have some kind of speed or size advantage) and really attack fast, trying to beat the second defender/ get to the rack before the defender behind you can catch up to cause trouble. The key to this is that instead of being rushed, and then having your options limited/ getting exposed to turnovers because you don't know how close the "wolf" behind you is, you take a second to feel him out, push him back a bit, maybe pick a side if he's playing you more to one side, and then you strike. That way you automatically get a step or two in front of him, and thats all you need. At that point attacking this defense isn't much different than attacking a traditional D after you have beaten your perimeter defender pretty badly. QED. To be fair though, the principles of this are so interesting, you could use them opportunistically at times, and even implement it as a kind of gimmick scheme to surprise teams or deal with particular players. It's still mind-blowing. Thank you Coach Nick, I would give you buckets though.

Scottie talked about this when he spoke on how to guard Harden.. Years ago.. Trailing behind the offensive player to deny the shot and force movement..

Please show us more of this!!!

Love the bravery to implement something like this. I've enjoyed your videos ever since I realized I shot the ball better with a turn instead of square.

Coach Nick your bball knowledge and passion is amazing I am wondering if you got approached for any pro league or NCAA opportunities? Would that be something you aim to get into?

So, basically create a 5 v 4 in the halfcourt and chase from behind. That's cool. Definitely need a good rim protector and good rotation off ball to on ball on passes. Totally agree with chopping feet to closeouts. I think that's completely wrong and should not be coached. I always liked stabbing one foot or the other on closeout and effectively declaring a side, even the power hand side. The most important thing about defense is to eliminate options by forcing a choice on the offensive player instantly so that you don't have to guess about what's coming next. I never minded trailing the offensive player a half step because he still has to gather the ball before shooting and that half step can be made up then. Nice video and definitely an interesting concept.

Five defenders looking at the ball and using the sidelines as extra defenders opens up the fluidity of the defense. Would love to see what coach Spo thinks of this, lol.

Great damn Job and GOOD LUCK COACH!

Coach, would love to see you breakdown Paul Westhead’s coaching with the Lakers vs Riley’s coaching? Maybe even compare the way he used the system with the Lakers vs his other coaching jobs.

Best of luck coach! hope you revolutionize everything

I remember Ricky Rubio doing this to Harden during that stint when he was averaging 40+ points on the rockets

I saw this in spots over the last few years being used here or there. One advantage of the closeout to get behind a player it means body momentum is away from the offensive player and may cut down on this ticky tack fouls on closeouts. When the refs know the scheme is to go by the offensive player then the offensive player moving in front of the moving defender is more likely to be a non-call.

Really amazing concept coach

Great concept and explanation of it 👍🏾

Amazing combination of proven ideas. At first i was sceptical: Houston smoked the jazz in that series. Then i checked the stats: both harden and Paul had a lot turnovers. But the jazz shot 26% from three while Mitchell was 32% overall, no wonder they lost badly. My initial idea to counter this is to have a shooter relocate behind the ballhandler, this would create a 4 on 3 for the ballhandler. However the trail defender on ball could close out to the shooter. Man this is interesting!

What happens on a mid court pick and roll, either by the guard backing out to the mid court or as early offense? the likes of how the clippers ran for cp3? do you still try guarding from the side to avoid the pick? wouldnt that give too much space for a quick guard to explode against a sagging big? I would think you have to play it straight up, and either go under or over depending on matchups

I’m going into my senior year and we ran a very similar version of this, with the main point forcing the offense left. In theory this works, but we were not good enough at it, not smart enough/to dumb to understand the principles. We got burned whenever we used it.However I could see this working well with a smart team that is athletic.

Wow, just wow. We will Def see this in the near future, I just hope that you get some credit.

My question is what about off ball screens involving forward and off ball guard and even forward and center away from the ball drawing the zone away from the ball handler and allowing for easier penetration and kicks back out

We ran this in highschool as a matchup zone only difference we overplayed to keep the ball out of the middle and to one side of the court....teams were confused and we knew we had them when they tried to run their man to man offense vs this zone.

Coach, I hope we could see a video of modern pnr offenses trying to score on this defense instead of just a probing offense.

Feel like only super long range shooter can play against this effectively. It’s really hard to use this if the offense player is 2 steps behind the 3 pt line. But there are only that few players can shoot like that. Sounds fun and workable especially in lower level of basketball

This is nice im going to use this in the new 2k, NBA2K24 and use it against Playstation players.

I like this concept, I remember the Lakers did something close to this to the Rockets in the playoffs, similar to the Jazz

Great stuff man

Very interesting. Definitely worth trying.

I actually really like this defensive concept

This is great. I would love to see this defense in the NBA.

I feel this gives up 3pt shooting to knockdown shooters who are role players and strong finishers in the dunker spots. I think this is definitely worth doing at the high school level and even college.

It is also a 2K defense where most guards three hunts. And as a lock you gotta go over the screen and hip ride from the sides

As chaotic as it looks, it would make college games more fun to watch. They just pass it around the 3 point line for 20 seconds of the possession.

Fire 💪🏼🔥

love the outside the box thinking, coach nick!

I feel like a lot of teams implement a similar defense already. I could be wrong. It is almost like a matador defense but with the a center like AD getting the guards to funnel into him.

you should set out to design an offence to beat your new defence, like work out how to get an open 3 against this defence.

This is similar to some of the concepts of what Murcia in Spain runs. Obviously they don't stand directly behind, but their idea is that the 5 man protects the paint and everyone else puts as much pressure as possible to funnel the ball into their 5 man. They play super physical, take on some unconventional positions, and use scouting to force the more talented players on the other team into uncomfortable situations. Similar to what you're explaining here.

i actually tend to always front a big man in pick up and almost prefer to guard from behind/side. its like that video on the unorthodox nba player who does chase defense.

Super interesting. It’s more interesting how no one has done this. Wat comes to mind for me is how there r great behind the ball defenders like thybulle I also think this is a super advanced defense that I think could also be someone should show this video to the thinking basketball guys and get their thoughts great video

Watch Steve Kerr implement this defense this upcoming season. Kerr did admit to watching coach nick n only coach nick in a past interview, but that was 10 years ago. Still coach nick got Kerr for an interview

Bigger question: which NBA team do you see needing this defense the most to the point it can win them a title? Can I make a suggestion: make the 5 morph. There are players who can play both forward and center positions; I call these hybrid players cent-wards. At points in your defense, depending on opponent, have the 4 tag with a 5 so that the 4 is now restricted to the paint and the 5 pairs with the 1 or 2. Best time to deploy the switch would be while the offensive point guard is setting up a play from near half court. Wonder if you could switch as the play is being carried out. Idea here is that offense thinks center is still anchoring the paint, but as they get ready for the score, lo and behold its a much more athletic power forward patrolling the paint instead, hence the "morph". Keep the center relatively close to the paint for an emergency switch when need be, and maybe you got something.

I think this chase defence could really suit someone like matisse thy ulle who already often defends from behind the ball with chaos and deflections

looks really interesting, congrats

Damn Coach! 😂 You’ve done it!

The most interesting part of this idea is the closeouts, because you can close out way more aggressively if you're not worried about staying in front of your man. That would take away a lot of catch-and-shoot threes, which is a cool idea, but then the shooter can just take one dribble inside the arc and pull up for a wide open 18-footer. "But that's the shot you want them to take!" Maybe in high school, but NBA players will knock down that shot every single time if you give it to them.

I always go behind or to the side when I know they take forever and dribble too much or if they can't drive. Then I get the ball back when they miss

Coach Nick's defense makes opposing teams watch a video sponsor ad until the shot clock runs out.

Looks good! Would love to see this happen I’m an actual game!

It’s so crazy, it might just work!

A clickbait that actually blew my mind away. Definitely changed my perspective! I love this game is always evolving.

If I’m not mistaken don’t teams do this already to certain players and it works but gets countered by a high arching shot and/or floater? I’m positive I see this used on Trae a lot

id like to see what happens when the offense runs more backdoor cuts and give and go's. It looks like those cuts are more available against this defense. That being said, those become layups challenged by help defense rather than 3's.

Could work just wondering if the man with the ball drives to the basket wont the big man have to step up which would leave his man open for a lob? You’re essentially giving them the lane but taking away the 3 very interesting stuff

Great video great work why I sub to you 🔥🙏🏽🖖🏽

What I would like to examine is how many corner 3s you're letting them, and then apply the average %of that shot against the number of shots you're allowed. It seemed to me this D is like a crazy 1-3-1 which would be easily punished by Euroleague level and most definitely NBA level, but of course it's hard to tell with so little footage.

Would the defender being behind the PG lead to wide open vision for passes to cutters? Running a down screen for the screener on the PnR could open him up for corner 3's as well? Just quick thoughts

This is probably a stupid question but what’s stopping me from putting the defender in jail since there already behind me then making the big commit to my drive or shot then dumping it off or lobbing it to my big in the paint and If they don’t commit (the big) I can either pull up fast for a foul since I’m running full speed and there on my back with all there momentum

This is genius!!! This is going to explode!

wouldn't the chase on the wings provide the guards easy middle-penetration?

Very interesting! But at NBA level how do you eliminate the 2v1 lob threat?

I'm sold. I can't wait to see the chase defense in the nba

With a guard that knows how to hold their defenders with their back ( someone like dragic used to do this very well) could prob exploit the set quite a bit 😯

So cool!

We want the offense, it's that simple. Defense today is so much more cerebral, done right it is beautiful to watch.

interesting how in the past, where slashing/cutting is more "popular", offense put their defender in prison (behind them) is the way to go, but now its seems like totally different.

Interesting video but how hard is it for players to bring a reversible vest?!

In the circle of life, this would bring the game back to inside-out, instead of outside-in. If this works, in the NBA, the big man will, once again, become dominant, as the offense will need a post up terror, to force double teams, for open outside looks

If spacing is the superpower that offenses have been using, then cut that off by putting a box on them, defending from outside. Genius (and crazy)

As a player in high school I took a lot of middys and I was a fairly good shooter in the mid range, would this defense stop that? Like say your guy gets behind me and I do the dribble drive to about the elbow and then just did a step back away from the trailing defender would this be able to stop it?

Man that’s a crazy good idea

lol when u said "what if we just eliminated the PNR altogether by getting behind the guy with the ball?", my head just immediately went to that clip where gilbert arenas talks about how sorry rubio looked as a defender tryna guard james harden this exact same way. these type of strategies only work on players who lack the abilities to adapt to the multiple speeds of the game. this is mostly just creating a chaotic environment for the opposing team to run they normal offense but it's not stopping an elite scorer who's not afraid of contact and has the ability to score either from midrange or the three, you'll just get embarrassed that night

Looks like a box and 1 but with a player chasing instead of being in front. Nice