Traditionally, press defenses are a weapon of last resort in the NBA, fit only for highly specific scenarios or times of desperation. Professional basketball players simply are too good at passing and dribbling to be susceptible to large doses of full-court press — or so the thinking went. But the thinking, it is a-changin’.
Synergy’s database goes back to the 2008-2009 season, and before last year, only one team had used press on even 5% of their defensive possessions: the 2020-21 Charlotte Hornets.
Last year, however, we saw a notable rise in the press defense, thanks to two teams. The Portland Trail Blazers and Indiana Pacers both beat Charlotte’s mark. Portland led the league by pressing 7.2% of the time, yielding only .94 points per possession (well below their typical defensive rating of 1.04, although that’s not by any means an apples-to-apples comparison), and I predicted that this year, the Blazers — featuring heavy doses of ambulatory fly paper Toumani Camara — would crack 10%.
I had the right idea but the wrong team. Instead, the Pacers are currently pressing 11.9% of the time, followed closely by Brooklyn’s 11.5% (the Blazers come in third, with a still historically high 8.4%). In retrospect, Indiana’s surging interest in the press shouldn’t be a huge surprise — they picked up full-court on nearly a quarter of their possessions in last year’s playoffs. That’s insane!
They haven’t been quite that extreme this year, but look at this graph of every team’s percentage of defensive possessions in press defense:
Six teams in total are pressing more than 5% of the time. 22 of the league’s 30 teams are pressing more this year than last (with the caveat that we’re talking about a couple dozen possessions or fewer for many of these teams), and this is by far the most press we’ve seen since the data became available. Given the weaknesses we mentioned in the opening paragraph, why is the press gaining popularity?
The press has loads of both obvious and more subtle benefits. It can force turnovers, of course; that’s the best-case scenario. Pressing can get the ball out of a star’s hands and into the mitts of less capable players. It can also tire out opposing ballhandlers by forcing them to work just to get across the half-court line in time. (Pressing requires willing defenders and depth, as it wears out the defense, too.)
An underrated selling point is that high ball pressure makes it more difficult for teams to run set plays. How often do point guards casually walk the ball up while directing teammates and signaling the play? Can’t do that if they’re being handcuffed by snarling opponents. Many times, the offensive player doesn’t end up in the spot they wanted to start the action from, or they have to pass to a teammate to initiate the action instead.
Pressing also dictates the pace and messes with an offense’s flow. Teams like Indiana want to get out and run. The press invites opposing offenses to do the same, playing into the Pacers’ hands. With just eight seconds to get 47 feet, opposing ballhandlers can only afford to make a couple of direction changes before they’re out of time, and a harried mindset can lead to rushed shots. If a team likes to play through the post, the press can mess with the ability to get an entry pass into the paint at the right time and place.
To be successful while pressing, a team needs speedy, handsy defenders. Indiana has several players who fit the bill. TJ McConnell is the spiritual predecessor to Jose Alvarado (and successor to former NBA player and current Timberwolves assistant coach Pablo Prigioni, but I digress) with his inbounds steals, but Andrew Nembhard, Bennedict Mathurin, Pascal Siakam, and the rest of Indiana’s group gets in on the pressing action, too. It’s not just about the turnovers. The pressure can cause players to act outside the offense, looking for advantages where there are none. Watch Jaylen Brown take the ball the whole length of the court just to get blocked by Nesmith:
For Indiana, the press is working! The Pacers only give up 0.93 points per possession when they’ve pressed, better than the average team’s mark of .95 and well below their normal defensive rate (which, again, is not a great comparison, but it is worth noting nonetheless). The Pacers do not hesitate to press after any clock stoppage, and they’re more aggressive than anyone else (obviously) about pressing after seemingly random made baskets. They aren’t afraid of going after even talented teams and ballhandlers, either, as they’ve deployed it against Jrue Holiday, Luka Doncic, Jalen Brunson, and more (with varying degrees of efficacy).
Zooming back out, is this trend here to stay? Will Indiana (and Brooklyn) start 10%+ of their possessions in a press all season, leading the way for a league more willing to try it than ever? It’s plausible. To use a baseball metaphor (sorry!), coaches don’t want to give opposing superstars a third at-bat against the same defense; they mix up coverages to stay on the attack. Sure, the press can leave practitioners overextended at times, but it also makes opposing ballhandlers work harder to do even simple things.
We’ll never see a return of the Rick Pitino Celtics, the last time an NBA squad tried pressing as a full-time strategy (spoilers: it didn’t work). However, the press can and should be used from a position of strength more often instead of simply as a last resort.
