If a coach plays man to man defense, figuring the matchups can sometimes be a real coaching art.
It is great if you have a player who develops into your “stopper.” When the other team has that perimeter player who is both good penetrating and also shooting three pointers, if you have an athlete who can at least slow the other team’s star, your defense has a chance to be successful.
The other team’s star and leading scorer may not be that great as a penetrator, they may be an outstanding spot up shooter. Often your great, athletic defender may not be your best player to guard the star spot up shooter.
Your defensive stopper is probably your stopper because he/she takes great pride in their defense. In every defensive drill and every shell drill, your stopper always rotates to get in great help position.
Vs the other team’s spot up shooter, your stopper is going to have to go against their very nature as a defender to just stick with the shooter. They are going to be drawn to help on the ball and leave the shooter.
On the other hand, you may have a defender who never seems to get off and give help. This weak and fundamentally unsound defender might be just what you are looking for to guard the other team’s spot up shooter.
Think about it, how often in practice or games do you get upset with that one defender who seems like they just hug their man and never help. That is exactly what you want vs the spot up shooter.
If you put the defensive “hugger” on the shooter in practice and in games, you may be surprised because they may become great at that role.
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