Prospect Spotlight: Chris Penner (2019)
Capital High School, 6’1 guard Chris Penner is a lock down defender and can be called on to guard multiple positions. His quick and precise footwork allows him to stay in front of some of the best guards in Thurston County.
In order to stop the ball and deny dribble penetration, you must begin with a good stance.If you don’t have a good stance, you won’t have a good defensive slide, and you’ll constantly be out of position and off-balance. This will enable the offense to score on you at will. EVERYTHING begins with a good defensive stance!
Chris Penner is a great defender for a number of reasons. Here are a few things he is able to do on the court that puts him in the discussion as an elite defender…
- Fronts of the Feet – A little more than half of your weight should be distributed to the fronts or balls of your feet. Heel should still be in contact with the ground.
- Stable Base & Feet Straight Ahead – Your feet should be pointing straight ahead. This creates an angle that allows you to provide more force against the ground.
- Hips Back & Knees Bent – Butt should be behind the heels and your knees should be pointing forward.
- Knees Inside of Feet – This helps create alignment with your lower body which enables you to explode more efficiently in any direction.
- Butt Down – Staying in a stable position with your butt down enables you to stay balanced and engage the glutes which is the most powerful muscle in the lower body.
- Shoulders Over Knees – Your shoulders should be over your knees with your chest out and back straight. You don’t want to be leaning too far forward or backwards.
- Hands up – Depending on the tactic (Hands out or hands up to defend shot/dribble).
One of the top on the ball defenders in the area and even in the state over the past few years. He has a tremendous IQ for the game and once you combine that with good lateral quickness and fast hands then you have a guard that can really defend.
Although he’s smaller in height he makes up for it with his strength and quickness, he is what we would call a ‘‘pesky’’ defender, no matter what you try to do to get him off of you he is still is around. He plays the game with a high amount of confidence and is constantly talking on the court to his teammates as well as coaches.
There are some JUCO programs who could use his services on the defensive end. I look forward to watching his progression as the season go on.