Good stuff from Coach Eastman's website:
We all want our teams to talk on defense, but do we really get them to understand how important it is and what it does for us and to the opponent? Defensive communication is so important because it:
• Intimidates: especially when the opponent knows that you know everything they're running -- because your players are calling out the plays and coverages as soon as they hear the call!
• Gives your defense a head start: alerting a teammate of the action before it happens is critical to successful defense.
• Gives the man on the ball more confidence: if he knows he has help and protection behind him, he'll be much more confident and aggressive.
• Wakes up a disengaged defender: talking to a player who's not paying attention on defense can alert him to get back and re-engaged.
• Catches a mistake before it happens: so many times we have alerted a player to an offensive action before it caught him and that kept us from dealing with a mistake
• Energizes your teammates: talking teams always seem to play with more energy – it’s a fact of basketball!
