This study aimed to determine the effects of different defensive styles (i.e., man-to-man vs. zone) and court sizes (full vs. half) on physical [PlayerLoadTM (PL), total jumps and jumps in low (<20 cm), medium (21-40 cm), and high (>41 cm) bands, the number of and distance covered during accelerations and decelerations divided in high (>2 m∙s-2) and low intensity (<2 m∙s-2) bands], perceived [rating of perceived exertion (RPE)] and technical (total, scored, missed and % of made shots, rebounds, steals, assists, turnovers, and blocks) demands during basketball small-sided games (SSGs). Ten semi-professional male basketball players (age: 20.4 ± 2.1 years; stature: 189.4 ± 8.1 cm; body mass: 77.4 ± 8.4 kg) from the same basketball team participated in this study. Players were asked to play four 5 vs. 5 SSG typologies in randomized order: 1) half-court man-to-man defense, 2) half-court zone defense, 3) full-court man-to-man defense, and 4) full-court zone defense. No significant interaction (p > 0.05) between two independent variables was observed for physical demands. An effect of court size was found for most of the physical demand measures (except jumps) with higher values (p < 0.05) found in full court SSGs. The defensive style had an effect (p < 0.05, trivial-to-small) on total distance and low-intensity accelerations and decelerations. No effects were evident for the independent variables on the RPE and technical demands. Coaches should design full court SSGs when aiming at increasing players' physical demands. Differently, similar physical, perceived and technical demands should be expected when playing man-to-man or zone defense during SSGs.

Department of Coaching Science Lithuanian Sports University Kaunas Lithuania

Department of Education and Sport Sciences Pegaso Telematic University Naples Italy

Department of Movement Human and Health Sciences University of Rome Foro Italico Rome Italy

Education Academy Vytautas Magnus University Kaunas Lithuania

Faculty of Sport and Physical Education University of Niš Niš Serbia

Incubator of Kinanthropology Research Faculty of Sports Studies Masaryk University Brno Czechia

Institute of Sport Science and Innovations Lithuanian Sports University Kaunas Lithuania

Science and Research Centre Koper Institute for Kinesiology Research Koper Slovenia

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