Hurley uses a diamond press (1-2-1-1) against a good guard, trap him, make him pass. Flipping back and forth between the 2-1-2 and 1-2-1-1 really bothers teams. You don't give up as much with the 2-1-2, there are two players back instead of one. Use a 2-2-1 against teams that like to run, lane and slow them down, traps are generally at halfcourt.

Always play man defence on a missed shot. They like a 2-2-1 press on a free throw, with two rebounders who play the front line of the press on a miss, and run back to the second line on a make.

Against a pattern team, press them, speed them up, force them to be instinctive.

Pressing man-to-man,
a) on an inbounds pass in the corner near the baseline, run a player over to trap (CYL trap), it's 2-2-1 with a basket protector, read the passer's shoulders,
b) against a team that runs on made field goals, the inbounder is part of the scouting report, instead of guarding him, his defender double-teams the outlet (with the nearest guard, the other guard gets back), forcing him to go back for the inbounds pass, then the inbounder defender retreats and picks up his man, you've taken away the break,
c) don't guard a big kid, let him catch the ball in the middle, deny everyone else, you want him to turn and put it on the floor, his defender comes up, and try to tip from behind

Their defensive numbering system is

1) Man, plus Fist and Double fist
2) 3-2 zone
3) 1-3-1 extended 3/4 court, very aggressive
4) 2-2-1 or 2-1-2 press back to 2-3 zone.

With Fist, trap a dribbler in the corners, or out of control primarily up the sideline (run, glide, run), the next defender up the sideline comes up and takes a charge (up the middle of the court, help but don’t come, fake and slow him up, chase from behind, which is hard without the help. Double fist is halfcourt, trap a pass, e.g., to the best player.

The first thing you want to focus on is the other point guard, confuse him, put him in situations where he loses his comfort zone, mix it up.

Attack their best player, deny and trap. Against a star guard, trap in the backcourt, double team every pick and roll. Against a team with a star big, look for another big who is not involved in the offence, put your best post defender on him, he zones it up, fronts the star on a duck-in, the player who is not being guarded has to take some shots. If the opposing point guard doesn't offensive rebound, have your point guard help box out a post.

The 3-2 point zone has one defender out, four must be in the lane, use it with the 2-2-1 to slow teams down. You can always close out better in zone because you know where your help is.

Zone baseline out of bounds the first two times (worried about layups), then man after that (worried about 3-point shots). Put 4 on the ball, 5 in the middle near the basket, 3 takes away opposite corner, 2 is ballside, 1 weakside. They want the ball to come in ballside, trap with 4 and 2, 5 covers the low post, 1 covers the next pass (shoot the gap), 3 covers the ballside elbow.

Show one defence then play something else. They will also use gimmick defences such as triangle and two, box and one, and will try a tandem and three. Start a game, half or quarter with a gimmick for one possession, but if it’s working stay with it. One important thing, when you want to do something to take a lead, do it late in the half, do it and get out of it, or save it for the second half as an element of surprise.