Steve Combs' Competitive Defense Drills: Kentucky Privilege & Baseball

Your defense won't get a stop when it matters, and practice is the reason. Run a normal shell drill and nobody actually competes for the ball, because a stop isn't worth anything. There's no scoreboard for defense, so there's no urgency.

Steve Combs' Vincennes Lincoln practice notes attack that problem head-on. His competitive drills share one idea: make a defensive stop the only way to score. When the only currency in the drill is a stop, players stop coasting and start fighting for the ball. Two drills carry the whole concept — "Kentucky Privilege" and "Baseball."

This article breaks down both drills exactly as they're scored in the Vincennes notes, explains why the scoring rules do the coaching for you, and gives you a Monday practice block to install them without confusing your team.

The Idea: Make Stops the Only Currency

Before the drills, the principle. Most defensive drills fail for a boring reason: there is no reward for playing great defense. The offense scores points; the defense just "stops them" — an outcome with no number attached. Players are wired to chase the number.

So Combs flips it. In these drills the defense earns the points. A stop is a score. A turnover is worth more than a stop. A made basket by the offense earns the offense nothing but the right to keep possession. Once the scoreboard rewards defense, you don't have to beg for effort — the drill begs for you.

Both drills below are just different deliveries of that one idea — one is a continuous three-team grind, the other is a short-burst closeout game. Run them on the same day and the message lands twice.

Drill 1 — Kentucky Privilege (3-Team Continuous)

Setup

One team is on offense, a second team is on defense, and the third team waits at half court, ready to come on as the next offense. Put ten minutes on the clock and let it run. A manager keeps score out loud the entire time.

Kentucky Privilege — offense (O) vs. defense (X), third team (Y) waits at half court. After a possession the ball goes coach-to-coach-to-coach back out to the next offense.

How It Works

1. You can only score by getting defensive stops. The offense scoring does nothing for them but keep the ball moving — the defense is chasing the points.
2. If the offense scores, they go on defense. Make a bucket and your reward is… now you have to guard. The incentive is inverted on purpose.
3. On a change of possession, the ball goes coach-to-coach-to-coach. Under the basket to the sideline to half court, and the half-court coach hands it to the next offensive team. That relay is what keeps the drill continuous.
4. All five offensive players must be at half court before they start. No leaking out early — that's the entire purpose of routing the ball through the coaches.
5. Turnovers are worth two points; a stop is worth one. You can also award points for deflections, so the defense is rewarded for activity, not just the final outcome.

Common Mistakes

• Letting the new offense leak out early. If players don't gather at half court, the defense never gets to set, and the rep stops teaching defense.
• Silent scorekeeping. If the manager isn't calling the score out loud, the competition disappears and effort sags. The number has to be public.
• Forgetting to reward deflections. Award a point for activity and you'll see hands, gaps, and gang rebounding — not just clean stops.

Drill 2 — Baseball (Two-Dribble Closeouts)

Setup

Split into two teams. One team lines up on the wing (offense), the other on the baseline (defense). The offense's objective is to score using only two dribbles; the defense's objective is to close out properly and prevent the score.

Baseball — offense starts on the wing, defender closes out from the baseline. Two dribbles to score; a stop is an out. Three outs and the teams switch ends.

How It Works

1. Team one tries to score using two dribbles. Capping the dribble forces a real closeout read — contest the shot or take away the straight-line drive, you can't give up both.
2. Team two closes out properly and protects the rim. The defender's job is the textbook closeout: sprint, break down, contest high hands, no blow-by.
3. Score and the line keeps rolling. If team one scores, the next player steps up to receive the coach's pass while the next defender steps up to guard.
4. A stop is an out. Three outs and you switch. Stop the offense and that's an out for the defense; after three outs, offense and defense trade roles.
5. Play two innings on each side of the floor. Running it on both sides keeps closeout angles honest for right- and left-side reads.

Why Scoreboard Rules Beat Coach Talk

You can tell a team to "take pride in defense" every day for a season and get nowhere. These drills don't ask for pride — they pay for it. The rules do the coaching:

• Make the offense score worthless and you remove the reason to coast on defense.
• Make a stop a point and you give players a number to chase.
• Make a turnover worth double and you reward the most disruptive defense, not just the adequate kind.

That's the thread running through both drills — and it's the same idea behind a lot of elite defensive cultures: defense only becomes a habit when winning the drill requires it. Change the scoreboard, and you change the behavior without raising your voice.

Practice Install: Your Monday Plan

Here's how I'd put both drills in with a team seeing them for the first time. One defensive block, about 25 minutes.

Block 1 (4 min) — Teach the Scoring, Not the Defense

Before anyone guards anybody, explain the rule that matters: a stop is a point, a turnover is two, the offense's bucket is worth nothing. Put a manager on the scoreboard and make them say it out loud. Players need to hear the new currency before they'll chase it.

Block 2 (8 min) — Baseball First

Start with Baseball because it's small and fast. Two dribbles, three outs, switch. It teaches the closeout fundamentals you'll need in the bigger drill, and the short bursts get everyone competing quickly.

Block 3 (10 min) — Kentucky Privilege

Now go five-on-five continuous. Ten minutes on the clock, three teams, manager calling the score. Your only two corrections: did the new offense gather at half court, and is the defense sprinting back as a connected five?

Block 4 (3 min) — Read the Scoreboard Back

Variations and Progressions

Progression 1: Stop Quota to End Practice

Tie the end of practice to a number. "We're done when the defense banks twenty stops." Suddenly every possession matters and the team polices its own effort.

Progression 2: Win-by-Stops Scrimmage

Run a normal scrimmage but only count baskets that follow a defensive stop — the offense has to earn the right to score by getting a stop first. It's the same idea stretched to full five-on-five flow.

Progression 3: Deflection Bonus Round

For one Kentucky Privilege rotation, double the deflection points. You'll see gap discipline, active hands, and players digging at the ball — the disruptive habits that turn a decent defense into a ball-hawking one.

Final Thoughts

Neither of these drills is fancy. A clock, three teams, a manager keeping score — that's the whole setup. But inside that simplicity is a complete idea: defense becomes a competition the moment a stop is worth something.

Stop scores. Turnover scores double. The offense's bucket is just the price of staying on the floor. Put that on the scoreboard and you'll stop begging your team to compete on defense — the drill will do it for you.

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