Full-court press

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The full-court press (German colloquially whole field press ) is a defense tactic in basketball .

Normally, the defensive formation builds up in your own half of the field. In the full-court press, this formation is extended to the entire court (the entire field of play) in order to put the opposing team under pressure. The throw clock plays a decisive role here: since the opponent only has 24 seconds to complete a throw, the Ganzfeld press can increase this time pressure by nipping the structure of the game in the bud.

This tactic is especially useful in the following cases:

  • The opposing development player is weak and tends to make mistakes with intense defensive pressure.
  • The defending team is superior in strength and speed and has many strong substitutes available, so that this exhausting defense is possible.
  • The opposing team is in the lead and there is little time left (e.g. under two minutes). To win the game, the ball must be captured as quickly as possible.