Defnsive Adjustments: Downfield

Mark (Static) | Mark (Dynamic) | Downfield

Downfield adjustments involve making changes along a few spectra:

Initial positioning
Simply a change in what you're communicating to the offense. You can communicate "we're scared of the deep and will give you the under" with a shift to an all-backing D.

Spacing
One adjustment might go from a couple steps off to close and bodying. What might make the O's job harder? Sometimes big margins are what you want--they can discourage any motion in the first place, and a D that takes up more space (relative to a stack) can look more imposing. Sometimes an imposing-looking D is all you need.

Bite-ability
How hard you chase. Do you respect the break-side cut? (Have they been using the break side at all yet? Are you getting burned on break-side fakes followed by open-side cuts? Not all cutting directions are made equal). Do you concede the deep cut, trusting in your mark or the wind to stop the huck?

Poach-ability
How much you look to help or poach. If you're getting burned on failed poaches, a recommitment to hard man on JUST your man is in order. If they're hosing you deep, some extra heads-uppedness on the part of your last back will give you an extra defender there to make a play. Perhaps you need to work some switches against their set play, or get those sideline defenders closer to the middle of the field, where the isos are happening.

These sorts of adjustments can be made simultaneously, but it's hard to mandate for big shifts in more than one spectrum at a time--keep in mind that these adjustments are made both in the heat of a point or game in a given matchup between defender and cutter as well as on a team-wide basis, and when you mandate the latter you necessarily hinder the former. The team defensive adjustment typically tends to be reactive to shore up your weaknesses rather than to exploit your opponent's (e.g., you encourage players to play more physical, body D because they're getting run past easily), but think also about how some of these adjustments can be made proactively to keep an offense off-balance or exploit a weakness (e.g., the opponent hasn't used the IO break at all, perhaps due to your stellar marking, so you encourage downfield players to cheat an extra step or two into the lane and poach more, punishing the opponent's reliance on the open side).

As with other adjustments, making them effectively requires preparation and practice. It's hard to suddenly flip from honest man to poaching if there are no players on the team experienced in such; likewise for bodying up on defense. Think about the kinds of tools you want your team to have in the arsenal--you don't have to have all of them, but you should have a couple--and refine them into effective weapons come game time.

What other sorts of adjustments do you see made downfield? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.