The open three that decided Perth v Townsville
Perth beat reigning WNBL champions Townsville 86-83 on October 17 after making 12 of 30 threes to Townsville's 4 of 20. Townsville led 83-80 with 1:24 left, then Perth scored the last six points. The tying three came from Stephanie Gorman, who hit five of nine from deep for all 15 of her points.
Afterwards Fire coach Shannon Seebohm said his team conceded open threes almost at will and that tired legs hurt both decisions and pace. He pointed to the open looks his defence allowed.
Townsville also took 50 rebounds, 22 of them offensive, and still lost. Rebounding cannot rescue a defence that hands out clean looks.
That is the point of this article. Three-point defence is a skill coaches can teach, measure and develop, from junior club to the WNBA Finals. The recent games below show what it looks like when it works, when it fails, and what each means for a coach who is still learning the craft.
What recent WNBL games show
Three-point gaps decided several WNBL games in the first two rounds, and the beaten players and coaches pointed to defence, not bad luck.
|
Game |
Date |
Winner's threes |
Loser's threes |
|
Perth 86, Townsville 83 |
Oct 17 |
12 of 30 |
4 of 20 |
|
Sydney 90, Townsville 77 |
Oct 25 |
12 of 26 |
6 of 17 |
|
Townsville 91, Bendigo 68 |
Oct 27 |
17 of 42 |
9 of 28 |
Bendigo's Jade Melbourne gave the clearest account of how it happens. She said Townsville got wide-open looks because Bendigo did not rotate and gave up middle penetration, which led to kick, kick, extra passes. Once a few drop, she said, the rim looks enormous to the shooters.
Townsville coach Shannon Seebohm described the same problem two days earlier against Sydney. After his team cut the deficit to 11 and made a substitution, Sydney scored a wide-open three on the very next play. He said the team was suffering breakdowns, giving up easy shots and lacking cohesion.
Sydney's plan was the opposite. Coach Renae Garlepp said the Flames wanted to double down defensively against Townsville's personnel. She praised guard Jaz Shelley for defending guards and getting over screens, which created stops.
The last possession of Canberra's 94-92 win over Bendigo on October 17 shows the other side of the arc. With the Capitals up two and 13 seconds left, coach Paul Goriss said the plan was to make sure Bendigo got a two rather than a three. Jade Melbourne's deep three fell short.
Beyond the WNBL: WNBA Finals and NBL examples
WNBA Finals: one defender changes the maths
Golden State beat Atlanta 64-55 in Game 5 on October 26 to lead the Finals 3-2. Atlanta shot 1 of 7 when Kiah Stokes contested, and 9 of 48 across the series, including 0 of 8 from three.
Stokes has blocked at least three shots in six straight games, tying a WNBA postseason record. Atlanta won the rebounding 44-33 but shot 29.2%, so the edge did not matter. Game 6 was still to be played when this was written. The lesson for coaches: one strong contester changes how every other defender can play.
NBL: how a 10-for-10 start happens
South East Melbourne made its first 10 shots against Adelaide on October 24, including seven straight threes, and led 72-43 at halftime. It made 10 of 12 threes in the first quarter and won 108-94. Adelaide won the offensive rebounds 18-10 but made only 7 of 28 threes.
Phoenix coach Josh King said it is hard to convince a team up that much at the break that the game is not over, because the three can swing games quickly. He said his team got about seven stops in a row in the fourth quarter to ease the tension. The coaching point is lead management: Adelaide cut the margin to 14 after three quarters, so every possession still mattered.
NBL: judge shot quality, not just results
Melbourne United beat Phoenix 86-61 on September 24. Phoenix made 4 of 41 threes and United 12 of 34. King said he thought his team had plenty of good looks and could not pinpoint a reason beyond crediting United. Coaches should separate the quality of the looks they allow from whether those looks go in.
NBL: do not reach
Perth beat Adelaide 98-97 on September 24 when Elijah Pepper's buzzer three banked in after Bryce Cotton fouled him. Pepper said he had only two seconds to get a shot up and that Cotton reached as he shot. A foul on a shooter turns a tough shot into a free-throw opportunity.
Core principles: what good three-point defence looks like
Good three-point defence starts before the shot, with knowing who the shooters are and where help comes from. Five habits cover most of it.
1. Know your shooters. A good look for a 30% shooter is not the same as one for a 45% shooter. Teams that scout, or simply tell each player who they are guarding, can decide who gets help and who gets chased off the line.
2. Close out under control. Sprint to the shooter, shorten your steps on arrival, get a high hand up and stay balanced enough to slide if they drive. Do not fly by and do not reach. A foul on a three-point shooter is the worst outcome in the sport.
3. Rotate with a plan. Help from the nail, the low man or the weak side only works if the next defender knows they are covering for it. Half-rotations are punished by the skip pass.
4. Stop the early ones. Transition threes and the first few possessions of a game or half are where open looks are easiest to create. Getting back and matching up to shooters beats most half-court schemes.
5. Finish the possession. A well-contested miss is wasted if nobody boxes out. Defending the arc and rebounding are one job, not two.
For younger athletes and teams: start with the shooter in front of you
Young players do not need NBA rotations. They need to see the ball and their player, get to a shooter on time and finish with a hand up. Build in this order, and adapt it to your competition's rules.
|
Age group |
Focus |
Simple cue |
Good game |
|
Under 10 to 12 |
Stance, sprinting to the shooter, hand up |
Sprint, short steps, hand up |
1v1 closeouts from a coach pass |
|
Under 14 |
Seeing ball and player, one-pass-away help, talking |
Know your shooter, call help |
3v3 where a contested miss scores for the defence |
|
Under 16 and up |
Scouting shooters, rotating, late-game decisions |
Give the two, take away the three |
4v4 and 5v5 with a bonus for holding the arc |
Praise the contest, not just the stop. A good closeout that still misses is a win, and young players need to hear that. It also keeps them from gambling on steals and flying by.
Coach development: how coaches learn to teach this
Three-point defence is a good coach development topic because the problems are visible, countable and fixable. Three habits help a coach improve at teaching it.
1. Audit your own games. Tally open and contested threes allowed, then label why each was open: late closeout, lost shooter, missed rotation or transition. Results alone mislead. Phoenix's coach said his team had good looks and still made 4 of 41.
2. Say it in one sentence. The best comments in the games above named a cause: a missed rotation, middle penetration, a wide-open three after a substitution. Practise giving each fault one cue instead of general advice like tightening up.
3. Watch other coaches work. A FIBA Asia clinic in Thailand had 21 coaches observe games and apply coaching methods in live competition (FIBA). Two coaches at a local club can copy it by tallying the same stat during a game and comparing notes.
Practice ideas: four simple games
Each game creates the problem instead of describing it. For under-12s, drop to 2v2, mark spots with cones and keep the scoring simple.
1. Closeout to contest. A coach passes to a shooter on the wing while a defender starts under the rim. The defender earns a point for a contest without a foul and loses it for flying by or reaching.
2. Give the two. Play 3v3 or 4v4 half-court with threes worth three and twos worth one. The defence wins by keeping the offence under a target score over ten possessions. It mirrors Canberra's last-possession plan.
3. Find a shooter in transition. After a live-ball turnover, the defence has three seconds to match up and name the best shooter. The coach freezes play to check.
4. Contest and finish. A possession only ends when the defence secures the rebound. Every shot becomes a two-part job: challenge it, then box out.
Questions to take to your next game
Three-point defence rewards coaches who count, name the cause and teach one habit at a time. Before your next game, set up a simple tally and ask three questions.
• How many threes did we allow with no hand up, and why were they open?
• Which of our players need the most help guarding a shooter?
• When we lead by two or three late, does every player know what we will give up?
