Defense & Rebounding

On-Ball Defense

nounbasketball / community term

Defense played directly against the person controlling the ball.

On-ball defense requires positioning, anticipation, controlled movement, contest timing, and help awareness. Reaching constantly is not the same as defending well.

Used in a sentence

“The lock picked up the guard with strong on-ball defense.”

Also written on-ball

Community slang changes over time and can mean different things in different game editions, modes and groups.

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