THE DEFENSIVE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOOD AND GREAT

Lute Olson was once asked what makes a good defensive player. His response was:

"Desire, dedication, mental alertness, foot quickness and great physical conditioning. To become great, however, he must develop the proper technique and fundamentals of playing defense."

Too often, coaches get players that have good quickness or play hard and settle for those players being good defenders when they can break down defense and teach through repetition technique and fundamentals and help the defender evolve into a much better defensive player.