How Baylor Runs Their "No Middle" Defense

In this video, we breakdown how the 2021 National Championship Baylor Bears ran their "no middle" defense. The focus of this defensive philosophy is to keep the ball out of the paint as much as possible, and they do that by keeping the ball from being driven to the middle of the floor. They overemphasis closing out to the top shoulder on the perimeter, and influence baseline drives.

Once they force the ball-handler to drive baseline, they are early to rotate out of the paint to stop (and sometimes trap/double team) the ball, and they scramble out on the backside, when it's throw out. This philosophy is not without its own flaws, but Baylor was one of the best defensive teams in the country running this scheme.

In the video, we will breakdown their defense into four parts;
1. How they closeout
2. How they rotate
3. How they guard ballscreens
4. Their X-Factor

I do not own the rights to these videos or this music.