Teaching the fundamentals of defense means getting your players to:
1. Stay in a stance.
2. Stay active, anticipating the next action of the opposition
3. To keep vision on the ball and their opponent.
The proper stance is to have knees bent, back straight and head up.
There are three stances depending on where the ball and the individual being are on the floor.
1. On the ball. This occurs when the player they are guarding has the basketball. The player with the ball is either in a live ball situation or a dead ball situation. Live ball means they have their dribble available. Dead ball means they can not dribble.
2. Denial stance. If the individual they are guarding is one pass away, the defender will have a hand in the passing lane. The hand is in the passing lane to discourage and to deflect the pass. Keeping vision of the individual they are guarding as well as the basketball.
3. Helpside. If their opponent is more than one pass away a defender is in position to see both their opponent and the basketball
A player will be in one of these three stances while the ball is in play. Again teaching your players a stance means knees bent, back straight and head up.