Defending the Dribble Drive Motion

I was a fan of the Dribble Drive Motion offense and still use it as a set from time to time. I ran it for a year and enjoyed coaching it.  I know a lot of successful Coaches that love it.
What I did not enjoy was the monotony of the movement. It is a very predictable movement pattern. The amount of dribbling required allows the defense sufficient time to recover. Most teams that are using the Dribble Drive Motion get caught up in the Dribble but forget the Drive. Most of us also don't  have a Derek Rose or John Wall either.

Before we go on, let's make sure you're familiar with the Player's numbering in the DDM (Dribble Drive Motion). The biggest difference in the DDM compared to other offenses is that the 5 is the 2nd Point Guard so don't get confused when we say we will switch our 1 onto their 5. In most settings of the DDM, the players roles are as follows:
               1 Point Guard
               2 Shooting Guard
               3 2nd Best Post Player, Good Rebounder
               4 Best Post Player
               5 2nd Point Guard

Let me start by saying the best way to guard the DDM is to guard it straight up with great pressure. If you can do that, then do it. The following are some options on ways to help you or give you an edge on defending the DDM.

#1 Force Middle Drive
By forcing the 1 to the middle, you can eliminate the kick-up (pass) to 2. This also forces the 1 to go left. If you choose to do this, make sure your team knows the movements of the offense. 4 will "relocate" to the opposite block. 3 will fade to the corner and 5 will cut behind 1. Deny all passes and force 1 to try to go across the court.

#2 Deny, Don't Help
After teaching the Drive, the next part of the offense is the kick-up, or the penetrate and kick, to the SG. Our on-ball defender will force their 1 to drive. Our player defending their SG will face guard deny and not help on the penetration. This method requires our help side to be very active. Our post defender will stop the ball and our backside will drop to cover the post. This is a taught pass so a lot of times when the 1 sees the post defense coming to help he drops the ball off for 4. That is why our backside has to move quickly.

Once our post defender has stopped the ball, if their 1 did not make a pass that we deflected or got a steal on, our post defender and defender that was guarding their 1 will trap him on the block.

#3 Cut the Head Off
In a true Motion Offense the movement differs based on how the defense is defending. The Dribble Drive has a pattern that players in the system struggle when it is interrupted. That is another option. Allow their 1 to penetrate. Bring the defender that is guarding their 2 over to stop the penetration. Here is an opportunity to get a cheap foul on their 1 by our defender stepping up to take a charge. If you notice their point guard is careless after making the pass, have the help defender step up and take a charge. Work on the defender guarding their 1 going behind him to pick up the 2.

If the 1 jump stops to pass, our defender should be in position to "cut the floor in half". The 2 is programmed to drive back to the middle to keep the offense moving. By switching, our defenders can keep him from going to the middle. Make him react. If he drives, our post defender and backside react.



I hope this gives you some ideas for the next time you face the DDM.