Defense

Multiple Zone Defenses–The Key to Maximizing Your Talent and Controlling Tempo

Presented by Will Rey, Head Coach Northridge Prep, Chicago.

His program’s three keys to maximizing your talent and controlling tempo are shot selection, minimizing turnovers, zone defense.

The “Zone Problem” in Basketball

1. Zone defense is often not respected by coaches
2. Coaches spend less time on zone attack
3. Players don’t like to play against it

The “Zone Advantage in Basketball”

He uses these points to sell his players on the effectiveness of what they do.

1. NBA doesn’t allow zones. The league that is most concerned with scoring points does not allow it which should at least be food for thought as to the effectiveness of zone defense. Editors note from Brian: My interpretation of Coach Rey’s statement is that even thought the NBA does allow zone defenses, they are not true zone defenses due to the defensive three second rule. Coach Rey is a very knowledgeable basketball coach and he does know that zone defenses are legal.
2. Time. It doesn’t require as much time to teach zone defense because there are less movements and actions that opponents run against zone defense.
3. Zone Defenses are counterintuitive to the way players see the game and train during individual skill development workouts and drills.
4. Hard to Simulate it is difficult for opponents to prepare to play against in a few days what we have been working on for four years (seniors), three years (juniors)

Their results show that their multiple zone defenses are difficult to score against and they foul very little–another key to maximizing talent–keeping their players out of foul trouble and in the games.

What You Should Prepare for if you decide to become a “zoner”

When you play zone defense, you need to be prepared to receive criticism and you will get it. You will hear things like:

You are a compromiser
Your teams are soft
You are a “non-purist”
You are not teaching the game

Foundational Stones of their Zone Defenses

They need to work on, drill, and practice these defensive areas each day

1. They can get to three point shooters.
2. They have inside position for defensive rebounding.
3. Good defense begins with good offense–shot selection and minimizing turnovers. The two parts of the game must be compatible within your system.
4. Their players and coaches are committed to a system of multiple zone defenses.
5. Northridge does not play zone, they teach it!
6. If they are going to lose, they want to make the unknowns beat them. They emphasize scouting reports and shot charts for where the opponents individual players are most effective from.
7. Air is not the enemy, don’t guard air!  Guard the basketball, the box, or the elbow

Zones they play

23 slide
31 (1-3-1)
1-2-2
Combination 1-3 plus a chaser
Triangle and Two

Execution of their defenses

• Cover the elbows and boxes. If no one is there now, they will be coming.
• Teaching phrase, “Ball comes, I come”
• Guarding a skip pass is a three player operation

Teaching the 2-3 Slides

Diagrams created with FastDraw

 

9 offense, 5 defense, cover 1 pass at a time, then make the next pass.

They bump their forwards as little as possible.

 

 

Defend the post 3/4 around on the baseline side.

Fronting the post is an in game adjustment.

X1 is the plug position and plays facing the ball with his back to the top of the key. He is positioned to keep the ball out of the post.

X2 is the wedge and is just above the high post.

 

The three players involved in guarding the skip pass in the diagram at the left are:

x5 moving to guard the ball side block
x2 moving to guard the ball side elbow
x4 is the defender closing out on the basketball

They teach to closeout with one hand on the basketball and the other hand in the next passing lane.
The helpside forward must be aggressive and fearless. His focus is on covering the skip pass when it is made and weakside rebounding.  He plays a step off the midline.

The coverage for when the ball is passed to the corner

Other actions they work to cover every day.

• Swing-Swing-Corner (perimeter swing pass, perimeter swing pass, then pass to the corner)
• Swing-Swing-Shot
• Skip pass-Corner
• E”merge”ncy (Merge on the basketball when it goes inside or to the elbow)

 

PGC/Glazier Basketball Clinics is a preferred partner of The Coaching Toolbox

These notes on matchup zone defense are from Scott Peterman’s Ultimate Matchup Zone eBook. I hope they give you some ideas to apply to your zone defense. If you don’t play zone in games, then hopefully you can use them as you practice your zone attack against your second team in practice.

The Ultimate Matchup Zone eBook is paired with the Full Court Pressing Playbook as this week’s eBook Bundle.

Click here to find out more about the pair: Ultimate Matchup Zone and Full Court Pressing Defenses Playbooks

If you do have any questions about the Playbooks, please feel free to email me or call/text me at (317) 721-1527.

Here are some favorable zone defense situations:

• * Man to Man Matchup problems
• * 2 non-shooters who are both small.
• * You are playing against a high volume of post-up teams and penetration teams.
• * You are playing your second night of a back to back.
• * When you are coming out of a time-out. You can take the opposing coach out of the set play by changing to a zone defense.
• * Low clock situations with a sideline out of bounds play, baseline out of bounds play, or an end of the quarter play.
• * Limited preparation time
• * Foul Trouble

Zone Defense Issues that cause problems:

These are areas that you must have a plan to counter and practice.

• No one is in your “home” area.
• When your opponent spreads the floor with multiple shooters.
• When the zone offense screens the middle man.
• Back Screens on the weak side of a zone defense.
• When rotating two players to one. If in doubt then the smaller person stays.
• If two players try to defend one offensive player. You must talk on zone defense.
• If you have two offensive players in one “Home” area.

Zone Defense Tips:

• The quality of the shooter will dictate your ball pressure level on the offense.
• The Ball can’t rest in a “Bump” area. The “Bump” areas require reading and talking among teammates.
  If the ball is in the High Post area then it’s the 5 man’s responsibility.
• Watch out when you are switching on/off the ball in a bump area.
• The Player that is further from the ball must communicate more.
• If you don’t have someone in your “home”area then look at the next area and pick someone up.
• You must go “HOME” on all Skip Passes.
• When the ball gets below the free-throw line then all five defensive players must be below the free throw line.
• If you are more than one pass away then you should be thinking of protecting the basket first.
• If you are one pass away then you should be defending the ball first.
• All five players must Rebound.
• If you don’t know what to do, then go “Home”. Someone will come in your “Home” area.
• If no one is in your “Home” area, then build your help from the basket out.
• If we get caught sending two players to the same rotation then we want the strong side defender to stay with the ball, and the weak side defender to re-rotate to another man.
• Never leave the ball during a scramble situation.

Zone Defense Checklist | Think about how you want to handle these situations

• Ball Screens: Middle, Side, Step-up, and Elbow Pick and Rolls.
• Off Ball Screens: Stagger Screens, Double Screens, Flare Screens
• Passes: One pass away, Two passes away, and Skip Passes
• Areas where the offense will attack: Short Corner, Dribbling between areas, Low post flash, Low post
  flash into corner, High post flash, High post flash into perimeter step-out, Dives to the rim, Drives to the rim.
• Concepts: Baseline Runner, Overload, Underload, Defending two people in one space, 5 out on the
  perimeter, 4 out and 1 post player.
• Zone Offensive Sets and Alignments: 1-4, 1-2-2, 2-1-2, 1-3-1, 2-3, 3-2, Running “X” in the paint.
• Situations: Baseline out of bounds, Sideline out of bounds, Low Clock, End of the Game, After a free
  throw, After a press, After a missed shot, and Low clock resets.

These notes on matchup zone defense are from Scott Peterman’s Ultimate Matchup Zone eBook. I hope they give you some ideas to apply to your zone defense. If you don’t play zone in games, then hopefully you can use them as you practice your zone attack against your second team in practice.

The Ultimate Matchup Zone eBook is paired with the Full Court Pressing Playbook as this week’s eBook Bundle.

Click here to find out more about the pair: Ultimate Matchup Zone and Full Court Pressing Defenses Playbooks

If you do have any questions about the Playbooks, please feel free to email me or call/text me at (317) 721-1527.

This video sample from Kevin Eastman’s CoachingU Live came from his clinic entitled ” Defending the Pick and Roll the NBA Way.”

He served as an Assistant Coach for the Celtics from 2004 to 2013.

He finished his career prior to retiring as an assistant coach and VP of Basketball Operations with the Los Angeles Clippers.

At the bottom of this post, there are more links to other short videos with Coach Eastman on various topics.

Make sure your sound is on and you click the play arrow to see the video.

This four minute video clip came from a presentation entitled “Stimulate Your Defensive Thinking” with retired NBA Assistant Coach and executive Kevin Eastman.

He served as an Assistant Coach for the Celtics from 2004 to 2013.

At that time, he made the move to Los Angeles with Doc Rivers and was on the coaching staff and also served as the Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Clippers.

He is now retired from the NBA and is on the speaking and clinic circuit full-time.

The purpose of the video is to provide some thoughts and ideas for you to apply to your thinking about your defensive system.

Some thoughts on pressing philosophy and a couple of drills to work on your presses.

These drills are from Trey Watts’ Meet the Press Playbook which is paired with the the Princeton Hybrid Offense Playbook this week’s eBook bundle.

You can find out more about the pair at this link: Princeton Hybrid Offense & Meet the Press Playbooks

If you have any questions about the Playbooks, please feel free to email me or call/text me at (317) 721-1527‬.

Keys to Pressing Success

Ball Pressure:

• We must be able to exert pressure on the ball. It is vital that the man pressuring the ball be able to pressure without fouling. Fouling will negate all the work that the team is putting into our pressure defense.
• We must not get beaten on straight line drives by ball handlers
• We cannot let a ball handler look over our press and pick apart the gaps with passing. He must be forced to dribble.

Sprint Mentality

• We must always have a sprint mentality. Regardless of what previously happened.
• We must sprint to rotate.
• We must sprint to recover.
• We must sprint out of traps.

Rotation

• We must rotate without hesitation. We can’t second guess whether we should go or where we should go.
• Repetition has built confidence in our rotations.
• Rotating out of traps is critical
• Rotating on ball reversal is critical.

Backtips

• We must become very good at backtipping dribblers.
• If we get beat off the dribble our defenders must sprint and look for opportunities to backtip the ballhandler
• It is very important that they sprint thru the backtip.
• They chase the ball handler until he either passes or picks up the ball.

Anticipation

• We our players to get good at anticipating what the offense will do.
• Will they try to beat us off the bounce?
• Where do they like to pass the ball?
• We need to learn to read the passers eyes and anticipate where he is going with the ball.
• Each is important that each player know what they are capable of doing on the court, coverage wise.

Backwash

• We get a lot of steals in what we term “Backwash”
• This is when the ball is headed up the sideline and our backside defenders are sprinting back down the middle of the floor.
• Usually the offense is looking to make a cross court pass for a basket, we ANTICIPATE this pass and try to steal it in the BACKWASH.

Diagrams created with FastDraw

Help Side Wing Drill

This drill is designed to work on help side wing play. One of the most important team attributes of great pressing teams is PATIENCE. Traps and high tempo are not always in order.

The drill begins with the ball in 1st trap situation with X2 and X4.

The ball is then reversed to the middle of the floor and dribble hard at the weak side wing or held for a two count as some teams like to do against pressure.

In either case, the wing must exercise patience in order to allow teammates to recover to proper spots.

If the wing comes up too fast, the opponent will “dump” it right over the top ad create a numerical advantage BE PATIENT ON BALL REVERSAL

NOTE: X4 AND X3 MUST OPEN HIPS AND SHOULDERS TO DIRECTION THE BALL IS THROWN AND GET TO SPOTS SHOWN. WING SPRINTING OUT OF TRAP MUST

BE READY TO COVER DIAGONAL PASS. X1 MUST CROSS FLOOR QUICKLY TO BALL SIDE. X5 MUST MOVE TO WEAK SIDE NORMALLY.

*** AGAINST PATIENT, METHODICAL OPPONENTS WE ARE LOOKING FOR 2ND TRAP OPPORTUNITIES.

Pass Escapes

Here we want to work on how we react when someone makes a pass out of trap.

We will start with the players in a trap in the first trap area.

We start by the coach dictating where they will pass the ball for their escape.

We want to work on the reveral pass first.

Once the 1st pass is completed we play it out live, down and back.

Diagrams created with FastDraw

 

Pass Escapes II

Here we have the offense complete a pass up the sideline.

We consider this to be a vertical pass.

We will sprint from behind and trap.

X5 covers sideline.

X2 SPRINTS to cover backside.

X4 SPRINTS back.

Once the pass is completed it is live, down and back.

These drills are from Trey Watts’ Meet the Press Playbook which is paired with the the Princeton Hybrid Offense Playbook this week’s eBook bundle.

You can find out more about the pair at this link: Princeton Hybrid Offense & Meet the Press Playbooks

If you have any questions about the Playbooks, please feel free to email me or call/text me at 765-366-9673.