Defense 101

 By: larson    3:16 PM     No comments

If you want to be the best in Freestyle 2, you need to be fundamentally sound on defense. This is the start of a series that will teach you how to become a better defender, one lesson at a time.

On Ball Defense

I'm going to start this section by giving you guys the most important lesson if you want to be a lockdown defender in FS2.

When you are contesting a shot, it is better to be late rather than early.

Flashy bold aside, this is the biggest mistake I notice a lot of players make, which leads to their eternally falling for pump fakes and receiving hatred from teammates. By adopting this mentality, you will learn to start reacting rather than guessing. This has two advantages:

1. Your opponent will never get a wide open shot - they will always be forced to shoot a lower percentage shot, even if you never block any of them.
2. By always reacting, you will naturally start to notice when the shot actually starts, or when the pump fake ends.

Now obviously there is one very strong exception to that rule, and that is when the shot clock is down to say 0.5 seconds and they have to shoot. Other than that, force yourself to react, and with practice, you will eventually become a major pest.

Spacing

Maintaining the proper distance from your defender will increase your chances of being able to react appropriately to any situation. Unlike FS1, you actually block the ball in this game, not the player. So, as one would expect, the closer to the player you are, the less time you have to block his jumper. A good example of how important spatial awareness is is shown in the clip below:

Here I guess wrong going for the knockdown, but because of the angle I approach, I am able to recover and block the shot at roughly my maximum height and distance. For reference, I have roughly 93 block rating at the time of this clip.

In general, when playing man to man defense on the perimeter, try to keep roughly one character's width worth of spacing at all times. This distance will give you a good balance of being able to stay with your man while also giving you time to react to a shot.

Be a Smart Thief

Though steals are the most direct way of causing a turnover, they are also the riskiest. Note that in FS2, if a player shoots while you are swiping, their chance of making a shot actually increases. Also, the animation will lock you into place, so if timed poorly, you may give up an open shot to a driving opponent.

You really only want to steal in three conditions while defending man to man:

1. Immediately after a pump fake.
2. After "bumping" your opponent, usually by stuffing a dribble by running into it with a box out.
3. They dribble the ball with the hand closest to your character, and don't seem to be attempting a "basketball move."

Keeping note of #3, this is why stealing is usually more deadly when you can get opportunistic swipes off the ball. Just be sure not to lose your man in the process.

Off Ball/Help Defense

Even when you are not directly guarding the ball handler, you have a tremendous impact on what plays are available to the offense simply by how you position yourself at all times.

Playing the Passing Lanes

Whenever you are off ball, you should always try to be between your man and the ball handler whenever possible. A nice thing about this game is that whenever your character is going to get an intercept or deflection, your character will automatically freeze in place. So, all you have to do is run back in front of your mark as soon as the pass is thrown.

Make Bad Situations as Good as Possible

It's inevitable that sometimes the other team will end up in an advantageous offensive position. For example, in the clip below, both Temp and I get pump faked, but we manage to recover by rotating intelligently:

Notice that after Temp gets pump faked, I briefly run towards the PG before sprinting to the SG. This little mind game can often be enough to make someone pass up on an open shot. Now of course, sometimes you won't be able to rotate to fix the mistakes. In these situations, try to force the worst shot taker to take the inevitable shot. For example, I'd much rather let a PG take an open 3 than an SG.

If you have more questions about playing defense in Freestyle Street Basketball 2, look out for future, more advanced lessons on this blog. Also, feel free to post or ask away in the comments.