Contributed by Coach Jonathan Klein
If you would like me to put you in touch with Coach Klein to ask him any questions, please let me know.
This post includes his thoughts on adjustments, rebounding, defending baseline inbounds plays, and pressing out of the 1-3-1.
1-3-1 ZONE DEFENSE OVERVIEW
ADVANTAGES
➢ Forces the offense to adjust to your defense
➢ Forces the offense into slow passes (Lobs and Bounce passes)
➢ Creates pressure on perimeter players
➢ Causes the offense to make bad passes and force bad shots / shot choices
➢ Easily creates and flows into fast break opportunities
➢ Can be easily adjusted to fit your personnel or opponent
DISADVANTAGES
➢ Risky defense that will allow the offense to beat you if you make a lot of mistakes
➢ No balance when blocking out on a shot
PHILOSOPHY
➢ Make the offense uncomfortable through constant pressure on the ball and the passing / driving gaps
➢ Keep ball out of the middle of the floor
➢ Close the gaps and not allow any easy passes or drives
➢ Forcing every pass to be a slow lob or bounce pass
➢ Never allow a baseline drive
➢ Play with high energy and maximum effective effort
POSITION PROFILES / RESPONSIBILITIES
Taker (Shown as 4)
✓ Get and keep the ball out of the middle of the floor
✓ If they try to drive across the middle, deny and force them back outside the volleyball lines
✓ Play between the top two offensive players
✓ Make it as hard as possible to reverse the floor
✓ Play the goal side to force the sideline to sideline pass towards the half-court line
✓ If ball is passed into the corner – protect the ball side elbow / high post area
Center (Shown as 5)
✓ Stay between the ball and the rim
✓ If ball is on baseline – sprint down and play high side on the block
✓ If ball is drove –step up and stop the ball
✓ Will play high post according to which adjustment we are in
Wings (Shown as 2 & 3)
Ball Side
✓ Play ball handlers outside shoulder
✓ Stay in line between the ball and whoever is on the baseline
✓ Protect the sideline – not the middle
✓ If the ball handler drives sideline, deny and force them back towards half-court and middle
Weak Side
✓ Number 1 responsibility is to cover the weak side of the rim
✓ Read the ball handlers eyes and shoulders and try to deflect / steal skip passes
Badger (Shown as 1)
➢ Protect ball side low post
➢ Cover both corners
✓ Close-out baseline and force them middle
✓ Run shooters off the 3-point line
DEFENDING THE DRIVE
➢ Force all drives middle and create a funnel with the center and taker / wing or center and badger / wing
➢ Once the ball handler picks up the ball and is “dead”
✓ Center will keep pressure on the ball
✓ The other two players will drop down / back to the most dangerous passes in their areas
BASIC ROTATIONS
The basic rotations of our base 1-3-1 coverage are shown below
Teaching Points:
➢ Everyone must:
✓ Be Active with high hands and constant communication
✓ Play with high energy and maximum effort
➢ The taker must keep ball pressure until the ball is outside the volleyball lines or the ball is dead then they are allowed to fall back towards the middle to play the pass
➢ The ball side wing must play above the top of the key – always forcing the ball out of scoring range
➢ The center will play behind anyone who enters the high post area – if the ball is entered – square up and play man to man until the ball is passed out
➢ The back-side wing must have good anticipation
✓ Play the weak side rim but anticipate and jump the skip passes
➢ The badger and backside wing must “sit down” on anyone in the low post
✓ Play in front and sit down on them with high hands
✓ On a pass in, stay down and back the offensive player up until the ball is coming down then make your play on the ball
1-3-1 HALF-COURT ADJUSTMENTS
Adjustment 1
➢ Extended / aggressive on the perimeter and in the gaps
➢ Keep same positions except the center comes out to top of key to deny the high post
➢ Fast paced, aggressive, gambling defense that thrives on deflections
Adjustment 2
➢ Packed in, strong in the lane, invites perimeter shooting
➢ 4 & 5 both stay in the lane, while 1, 2, & 3 cover entire perimeter
➢ Packed in safe defense that forces outside shots and attacks the boards hard
Adjustment 3
➢ Strong at rim and on perimeter but weak inside
➢ Badger and center switch places so badger plays high post and center plays low
✓ The badger will still cover the corners
✓ The center will stay in the lane playing block to block
➢ The badger will play the high post exactly like the center does in our base zone
Adjustment 4
➢ Change-up defense; start in a 1-3-1 and morph into a 2-3 as the ball enters the corner
➢ Start with base zone alignment / rotations
PLAYING THE 1-3-1 ON BLOB SITUATIONS
Alignment 1
➢ Pinch
ball side with center and ball side wing
➢ Badger denies cross court pass and helps cover rim
➢ Back side wing covers weak side rim
➢ Taker plays middle of the floor out – read eyes and shoulders
➢ After ball is inbounded rotate into normal zone coverage
Alignment 2
➢ Deny ball side corner with ball side wing
➢ Pinch ball side rim with badger and center
➢ Back side wing plays weak side rim
➢ Taker plays middle of the floor out – read eyes and shoulders
➢ After ball is inbounded rotate into normal zone coverage
Rebounding from the 1-3-1
Rebounding out of the 1-3-1 is based on covering areas – not people
Sprint to the area you are assigned then box out whoever enters your area
Attack your Area and Get the Ball!
We should ALWAYS have:
1 player on the Shooter
1 Boxing Out Ball Side
2 Boxing Out Backside
1 Crashing Middle
If a shot goes up from the corner we hit the shooter then look to leak out for a fast break opportunity
PRESSING OUT OF THE 1-3-1
Press 1 – Over
➢ Trap from the middle and rotate help from the backside
➢ Do not engage the front person until the ball crosses the ft line
➢ Ball side wing must never let the pass go over their head
➢ Taker still plays middle and forces sideline
➢ Center get to sideline and seal the trap
✓ Goal is to trap dead corner across HC line (not a huge problem if it doesn’t happen)
Press 2 – Up
➢ Trap from the sideline and rotate help from the backside or the middle (keep them guessing)
➢ Do not engage the front person until the ball crosses the FT line
➢ Ball side wing stunts and retreats ball handler to make them hesitant
➢ Taker still plays middle and forces sideline
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