"IF HE DOESN'T TOUCH IT, HE CAN'T SCORE."
"BALL, YOU, MAN."
"HE'S GETTING FRUSTRATED BECAUSE I'M MAKING HIM WORK ALL GAME."
"THE OPPOSING COACH HAS TO GAME-PLAN FOR HOW GOOD I AM DEFENSIVELY."
These are the thoughts that constantly went through my mind during my career. If you don't have the mind-set that you're going to shut someone down-then it will never happen. Playing defense is a grind. You have to have the heart, will, and desire to do it. Being on an AAU team with Felipe Lopez & Stephon Marbury was a great experience-but I had to figure out how to be a valuable component to that team. "You have to be a defensive stopper. Those guys are going to shoot all the time. If you defend, the coach will never take you out", said my dad Eric Harris Sr. I never forgot that advice.
I went to scout a NYC high school game yesterday & I was very impressed with how my client Tim Quashie got after it defensively. He was supposed to be guarding an offensive threat, but Timmy let him know that "It's not going down tonight." This was established right from the jump ball. The kid had about 10 pts, but it was a struggle for him the whole game. Mind you, he's a mid-major talent. He is only a one-way player though. Had he been a good defender-he could of easily added 10 more points to his stats. In his defense, he is his teams only weapon & Long Island Lutheran is really good!
The game of basketball is very simple. If you can stop people & get after it on the defensive end-you will have success on any level. This rule will never change. I was listening to my teammate Bobby Jackson's interview the other day (congrats on the Timberwolves position) and guess what he was stressing to the players he works with? Defense! "If you get after it defensively, that's what's going to get you minutes in this league", he said. I loved knowing that I had the ability to change the outcome of a game based on being an assassin defensively. That's what was so fun playing in that backcourt with Bobby on that Final Four team. Our chemistry defensively was amazing. Everyday was hell in practice. Coach Haskins & the staff prepared us for that Big Ten grind. Opposing backcourts knew that it was going to be a tough night every time they stepped in the "Barn."
I understand that scoring is sexy & that's what gets you the Sports Center highlights. But defense wins championships. The G.O.A.T. , Michael Jordan understood it. Which trickled down to today's stars-Kobe, LeBron & D Wade. You have to be able to play on both ends of the court. Having good defensive principles will get you on a good HS program. Fine-tuning your lock up skills will get you on the D1 level. Having an all-around game with the added bonus of controlling the game on the defensive end will get you a 12-15 year career in the NBA.
Unfortunately, most of our young talent today is not being groomed with these principles until they're in college. THAT'S WAY TOO LATE!" It's not their fault, that falls on the coaches. That's like asking a freshman in college to do a calculus problem and that student doesn't have a basic math foundation. (addition, subtraction, multiplication, & division) It's not possible. Most college coaches don't have the time to teach that stuff from the beginning. So what happens? The head coach goes with the kid that has a solid understanding. I try to give my clients that foundation from the very beginning. Sooner or later the game will get back to it's core principles.
ERIC HARRIS
trainwithericharris.com
"BRINGING BACK THE ART OF DEFENSE!"
