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Types of Basketball Defenses
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Person-to-Person defenses match up the defenders against specific offensive players. Defenders are usually assigned to be matched up with offensive players by size and ability.
Zone Defenses
With Zone defenses, defenders are assigned to guard specific areas on the court. Zones are named or designated by their player alignments.
Combination Defenses
A third type of defense that can be deployed is the combination or "Nickel" defense. With combination defenses, some of the players are assigned to play person-to-person while the rest of the defenders play zone. Combination defenses are usually deployed in an effort to stop or neutralize great individual offensive players.
Both person-to-person and zone defenses can also be extended into full, three quarters or half court presses.
Let's take a closer look at person-to-person defense.