Becoming a Defensive Stopper

I'm sure you've heard the phrase, "offense wins games, defense wins championships!" It's hard not to agree with that. You can be on fire one night and the next night you can't through it in the ocean, but if your defense is consistently tough you still have a chance to win at the end.

Natural athletic ability plays a role in good defense, but I believe fierce determination, stamina, and guts to step up to the challenge outweigh athletic ability any day.

My junior year I hit 76 three point shots, but looking back on the season that was not the most rewarding thing I can remember about that year. My team reached the Sectional Finals where we were faced against a very good team with one exceptional guard.

During the course of that season, I proved to my coach I was more than willing to dedicate myself to playing the best defense I was capable of. Here we were, down in the locker room making final preparation before game time. Coach let me know my main assignment for the night would be to guard their star player. I had played against this kid since the age of 10. He was a grade older than me and I had always been mesmerized by how advanced he was. All these years later, here was my chance to guard him his senior year on his home court for a chance to advance to the Regionals.

Guarding him that night was the most fun I had playing basketball that entire year. I was all over him like Bruce Bowen on Kobe. I was determined to not let him score and to frustrate him any chance I could. We ended up winning the game by 6 points and I kept him in single digits. After the game, we cut down the nets and had a victory ceremony right there on court. Individual accolades are nice and all, but there isn't a better feeling than when the TEAM WINS BIG GAMES.

Don't ever think it's all about scoring, you couldn't be further from the truth! It really comes back to conditioning. It's easy to find the energy to play offense, but to play great defense you have to be in peak physical condition.