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How to score on a zone defense in basketball
How to score on a zone defense in basketball
Tips for Beating a Zone Defense in Basketball
This basketball coaching article was written by Basketball HQ co-founder Kyle Ohman.
Most zone defenses in basketball aim to keep the ball moving aimlessly around the perimeter before a low percentage shot is eventually put up. Even knowing this, there are still a lot of offenses that still fall into this trap. Offenses will hit a few 3 pointers at the start but will fall in love with low percentage shots, and by the end of the game, they have fallen right into the zone defense’s trap.
Zone defenses can be exploited, and there are high percentage shots to be had if your offense is set up with the right situations. Hopefully, this offensive basketball coaching article will provide you with a few tips for beating a zone defense in basketball.
Don’t Stand, Move With a Purpose Against the Zone
As basketball coaches, we have all at one point or another yelled, “don’t stand, move!” Unfortunately, most of the time, our players (for lack of a better term) start running around like chickens with their heads cut off.![]()
They cut and move with no timing, and nothing comes of it. When it comes to beating a zone defense in basketball, players must understand when and where they should be moving.
If you have a more experienced team, you can talk about timing and some of the purposes of cutting, and this usually is enough because they have a higher basketball IQ. However, if you have a less experienced basketball team, a great option is putting in a zone motion offense with specific rules for when and where a player should cut, fill, space, screen, etc. This will allow your players not to get bogged down with overthinking and will help simplify their responsibilities.
In a zone motion offense, players still need to understand what is going on, but with the different rules, it helps to alleviate a lot of the pressure of knowing what to do off the basketball.
Shift the Zone Defense by Moving the Ball
Equally as important (or even more) as player movement is ball movement.
A zone defense in basketball is designed to load up on the side of the ball so that there are no angles to penetrate or make entry passes. So if you can get the ball moving side to side and even better yet, inside out, you have a great chance of making the defense shift, which creates potential defensive breakdowns.
The key is not allowing any of your players to be ball stoppers. There will be players on your team that feel the need to catch and dribble every time they receive the ball. If you allow this to happen, your zone offense will not work. Catching and holding the ball or catching and dribbling the ball without purpose allows the defense to recover and reset. Keep the ball moving.
Before a player catches the ball, they should already know what they will do with it. The three main options are; catch and shoot (if open and a good shooter), drive the ball (either to score or to kick), or pass (which is usually the most common option). The longer a player holds the ball, the more time the defense has to recover.
So the ball must be moving from player to player with purpose.
Hard Cuts Through the Zone
We have already touched on player movement, but specifically talking about cutting, players must be cutting hard and with purpose, even if they aren’t getting the ball. If a player can execute a hard cut to the basket, it is going to force the defense to respect them, and that means that either they are going to get a scoring opportunity, or it is going to open up a scoring opportunity for someone else. However, if the player doesn’t cut hard, the defense doesn’t respect the cut, and there is no shifting or over helping.
Hard cuts are extremely important in beating a zone defense in basketball. You must force the defense to respect and guard every player that cuts through the zone. This will force the defense to move and communicate, which will lead to (you guessed it) more potential defensive breakdowns.
Play Inside Out Against the Zone
If the goal of a zone defense in basketball is to keep the ball outside on the perimeter, it makes sense that the offense should want to get the ball inside the zone.
Playing inside out can be accomplished in several different ways. It can be created with hard cuts/player movement like we just talked about, it can be achieved by dribble penetration and attacking gaps in a zone, and it can be done by feeding the low or high post and playing out of it.
If you can get the ball inside through one of these means, you force the defense to have to suck in to help; this opens up kick-outs for open HIGH PERCENTAGE shots. There is a huge difference between inside out 3’s and 3’s from a lack of ball movement. Playing inside out forces the defense to have to move, shift, and recover, and any time you get a defense doing this, it opens up scoring possibilities.
Set Zone Basketball Plays
Against a zone defense, you aren’t really going to be able to run a set basketball play every time down. Still, during a game, if you execute correctly and run your set basketball plays at advantageous times, you can usually get 8-10 points from them, which could easily be the difference between a win and a loss.
Great basketball coaches can put their best players in positions where they can succeed. So if you have a player that is a knockdown shooter, run some different zone 3 point basketball plays throughout the game that will get them a wide-open shot. If you have a freak athlete run a misdirection zone lob basketball play for them, or if you have a post player that can’t be stopped in the post, run some different actions to allow your post player to get the ball around the basket.
Depending on your basketball team and strengths, you are going to have different set plays. So find the zone basketball plays that work best for your team and take advantage of them periodically throughout the course of a game.
Use Screens Against the Zone
Even though defenders aren’t specifically assigned to guard one player in a zone, it is still beneficial to the offense to set screens. The two primary screens that work the best to score against a zone defense in basketball are seal-in screens and ball screens.
If used correctly, both can put the zone defense in a difficult situation that forces them to rotate, shift, and communicate. This means that there is potential for defensive breakdowns and opportunities for the offense to get a great look.
Ball screens against the top defenders of the zone are also great because they create angles for penetration and overload situations. If the top defender chooses to fight over the ball screen, there will be an angle for the ball handler to attack. If the defender decides to bump off the ball handler to the next defender in line, it will create an overload situation if you place a couple of good shooters on the perimeter and quickly swing the ball.
Seal in screens are great to use for shooters on a quick ball reversal or a skip pass. If you can get the defense rotating one way and then seal them in on the backside for a quick reversal or skip pass, you can end up with some good action. If the wing defender leaves too early, the screener will be open for a shot or a finish at the basket.
As it goes with pretty much anything, it is easier said than done. So while all of these keys provide the information for beating a zone defense in basketball, it also takes a commitment to working on these keys with your team. It is essential that as a coach, you are consistently going over the keys of good zone offense with your basketball team. Whether you are facing teams that primarily run zone or face teams that use it sparingly, you must be able to take advantage of it whenever you come across it.
3 Simple Strategies to Attack a Zone Defense
By Jeff Haefner
Home > Coaching > Basketball Offense > 3 Simple Strategies to Attack a Zone Defense
Want to score more points against zone defense? Here are 3 really simple yet effective strategies that every coach should consider.
These strategies work against all types of zone defenses and will help you score more points.
..
Strategy #1 - Put Your Best Ballhandler in the Middle (Even if They're 4 Foot Nothing)
I picked up this strategy from Danny Miles who is #4 with most wins in college
history (900) and the head coach of Oregon Tech.
It's very common for teams to put their big man at the free throw line in the middle of the zone offense. Instead, he urges you to put your best
ball-handler and creator there. It's doesn't matter if they're 5'2".
Big players usually aren't as good at catching and handling a ball in traffic. But if you put one of your best ball handlers in the high post area,
they will be able to drive around the bigger defensive players. They can score, dish, and cause lots of problems for the defense. This especially
causes match up problems for the defense because they always put the biggest clumsier players in the middle of the zone defense. They will not be able
stop your quick guards.
Coaches should take a real good look at just putting one of their taller kids in the middle - because usually those kids don't pass or shoot it very
well and you don't attack as well with that kind of kid.
Strategy #2 - Attack from Behind the Zone
One of the best ways to attack from behind the zone it to always have at least one player in the short corner area.
You'll find that on almost every ball reversal the player in the short corner will be open. Then the wing can pass down to the open player in the short
corner.
Once the ball is there, this is a very tough place to guard because at the moment none of the defenders are looking at the short corner player (because
he or she is "behind" the zone).
Once the ball is caught in the short corner you have several excellent options to get high percentage shots...
-
If wide open, the short corner player can take one step to the basket for a lay up.
-
The short corner player can shot fake and take it to the hole.
-
The player in the middle can dive to the basket and receive the pass from short corner (this seems to be
open for a lay up almost 50% of the time).
-
If they double down, the short corner can kick it out for a wide open three pointer.
The key is to force the defense to guard what is front of them (with ball reversals, cutting, and screening actions) and then attack from behind the
zone. It works extremely well!
Strategy #3 - Put Em Where They Ain't
I can thank Coach Ken Sartini for reminding me about this strategy and catchy phrase...
I heard a college coach say this about attacking zones... "it's not rocket science... put em where they aint!"
Keep things simple, put your kids in the gaps of the zone.
This is a common strategy but I feel it's worth mentioning in this context because it's a good reminder to keep things simple. Attacking a zone doesn't
have to be complicated.
Not to mention, wording things so players understand can certainly help. Sometimes when you say "find the gap" players don't really understand what you
mean (even when they tell you that they do understand).
Try wording things differently. Simply tell your players to find spots where's there no defense (go where they ain't at).
Do you currently employ all three of these strategies?
I'll bet not. Use these simple suggestions and you'll get better. These strategies work against all types of zone defenses.
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Beating the Zone - 75 Set Plays to Score Against Zone Defense
In this eBook, you will find 75 zone plays that you can use against any zone defense. It includes 2-3 zone plays, 3-2 zone plays, 1-3-1 zone plays, baseline out of bounds plays, and multi-purpose zone plays. You will also learn how to exploit the weaknesses of zone defenses, learn new ideas for running zone plays, and much more ... (more info)
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What do you think? Let us know by leaving your comments, suggestions, and questions...
Team defense in basketball - CyberPedia
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Typically, the type of protection is chosen based on the individual characteristics of the players on the basketball team. A good defense combines the strengths of both zone defense and personal defense. The defense must limit the attackers' capabilities, push them as far away from the ring as possible [1]. All players must be able to use both personal defense and zone defense, changing the formation in time, thereby misleading attacking players. All changes must be agreed upon by all players on the court. In most cases, this is announced by the point guard, returning from an attack in defense. In today's basketball, almost every team is good at playing zone and personal defense. Almost always, zone defense consists of separate elements of personal protection. So, for example, players using zone defense to intercept the ball, covering the line of passing the ball, basically apply the principles of personal protection against the ball carrier. Aleksandr Nikolic, professor of the Faculty of Physical Education, former player of the Yugoslav national basketball team, and then coach of club teams and doctor of technological sciences, psychologist Paranosich, wrote the book Selection in Basketball. The book is not actually a scientific study, but it is written in full accordance with system analysis - a modern methodology for studying objects by presenting them as systems and analyzing these systems [6]. Another book that we used in our work is called Encyclopedia of Basketball Drills. This book was written by American coach T. Pinholster. This book is intended for the widest range of basketball professionals. Here are exercises for learning and improving the playing skills necessary for every coach [5]. The requirements for personal protection are characterized by the following concepts - it is to save players in the event of a threat of receiving fouls, to strengthen the near approaches to the basket. Finally, the zone defense can be used to change the pace of the game, and can also be used by players who are unable to operate effectively in personal defense. Application of zone defense Zone defense in basketball has many varieties. This system consists in the fact that each player guards a certain place (zone) of the court, keeping any of the opponents located in his zone throughout the game. Jerry Dugan, senior coach at Lee High School in Huntsville, Alabama, used the 1-3-1 zone defense system. He doesn't think it's the most versatile defense, but it's one of the best ways to get things done. zone defense in a 1v1 game. Positioning is very important in this kind of zone defense. Back row players should be the most mobile. Great success will be brought by the game of defense with movements from one corner of the court to another. In the 1-3-1 zone, the left-back can best rebound, because. most players play with their right hand, respectively, the player on the left side has the greatest chance of picking up the ball. The center player is in the middle position, he must be a tall, powerful player who is able to put his back on the rebound and cut off the player entering the center from receiving the ball.:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/2902024/tarasenko.0.png) The front centre-back takes over the dribbler (in most cases the point guard - 1 number) as he crosses the center line, he should try to push him into an uncomfortable position for throwing and passing. After pushing the attacker to the wingback, he can play in a pair with the winger, or take a position between the wingers, try to cut the pass to the side without the ball, and in case of transferring the ball to the other side, make an interception. In this setup, the defense must force the attacker to throw the ball over the defender or force the attacker, who is without the ball, to break into the center of the court to receive the pass. Full defenders on the side of the dribble move forward and take on the attacker with the ball, when they come out, they must prevent the attacker from throwing a long-range shot, close the line of passing the ball to the center of the court. When dribbling the ball, accompany the attacker until the moment when he is forced to stop and take the ball in his hands or bring it to another defender. He must be ready to cover and pull up the attacker on the side without the ball if the ball is passed over the head of the advanced post. Defensive center guarding center forward in the middle of the court in a player-versus-player system. If the attack comes through the center, he plays behind or close to the opponent's post, blocking the passing line. He must insure his teammates, help, if the attacker in their zone decides to go into the passage under the basket, go to the player as early as possible. Back row player remains parallel to the ball. He has to move very quickly around the court, depending on where the ball is and where the pass went. The central defender helps and prompts him. If the ball is passed to the corner of the court, then the player of the back row uses the player-on-player defense against him. Protects the backline and puts pressure on shots from the corner. While preparing for the season, the head coach of BC Kazanochka-Akademia considered various types of zone defense, according to which her team could play. She stopped at the 1-3-1 zone. Since this is the most effective zone for the players of this team. Throughout the season, the team used this type of zone defense. At the beginning of the season, there were some problems with the understanding of this principle of protection by the players, as the team included players of different levels. As the season progressed, the team worked hard to apply this defensive principle. 1.4. Types of zone protection In the works of A.Ya. Gomelsky, we can see a description of the most basic structures of zone defense. According to him, each of the zone defenses should easily transform depending on the attack - stretch out during attacks from a distance and group around the ring [11]. Even type of zone defense formations includes systems: 2-2-1, 2-1-2, 2-3. Odd formation: 1-2-2, 1-3-1, 3-2. Each of these constructions has its advantages and disadvantages, which are useful to analyze. The arrows indicate the direction of movement of the players. The shaded places on the court are the weak positions of the defense. Zone defense 1-2-2: #1 - the lightest, fastest defender, #2 and #3 - quite mobile, jumpy, good if they are at least 2 m tall. #4 and #5 - centers. Their task is to fight with the opponent's centers, picking up balls from the shield. This system is most useful against teams trying to attack from under the shield through the post. Disadvantages - weak positions indicated in the figure. Fig.1. 1-2-2 Zone Defence 2-1-2 Zone Defence: used against strong opponent centers who are dangerous on the "second floor" when rebounding. Good for developing a counterattack with fast #1 and #2 players. Vulnerable in corners under 45, in the center for long and medium throws. The task of post #5 is to guard the opponents' post and together with #3 and #4 create a rebounding triangle. #3 and #4 are mobile and high wingers, they can be swapped depending on the place of the sniper's attack.![]() Fig.2. 2-1-2 Zone Defence 1-3-1 Zone Defence: Helps keep #3, #5, #2 between the ball and the basket at all times, used against strong opponent centers and shots from medium to close positions. Her weakness is throws from the corners of the site and passes to the shield along the front line. #1 - the fastest defender, running into the gap in every possible situation, #2 and #3 - mobile, jumping players, #5 - center, #4 - the fastest winger, able to move into the corners of the court. Fig.3. Zone defense 1-3-1 Zone defense 3-2: #1, #2 and #3 are aggressive, mobile players, the success of the whole system largely depends on their activity. All three are focused on intercepting the ball and counterattacking. This system is most acceptable against teams seeking to attack from a distance, and less suitable against strong centers. The 3 second zone and 45 angle positions are the most vulnerable. #1 is in charge of the foul line. #2 and #3 are in a rebound fight. #5 and #4 are the first and second centers. Fig.4. Zone Defense 3-2 Zone Defense 2-3: strongest under the backboard, in the corners of the court along the endline. It is used against a tall, powerful team attacking from close positions and from under the shield. Often used for group selection of the ball in the corners of the site. When interacting #4 and #2 or #3 and #1, the defense is less effective on the foul line and at a 45 angle. #5 - center, #4 - second center, #3 - winger, #1 and #2 - defenders, constantly aimed at interception and counterattack. 2-3 Zone Defence 2-2-1 Zone Defence: This defense is used by agile and short teams aiming to intercept the ball and constantly counter-attack. This zone counterattack is used against teams seeking to attack from medium distances. Center #5 is responsible for rebounding, wingers #3 and #4 are responsible for positions in corners and under 45 , rebounding the ball and for the foul line. Defenders #1 and #2 tend to close the passes to the shield and into the three-second zone, while they themselves are constantly aimed at counterattacking. Fig.6. Zone defense 2-2-1 Features of zone defense games. The main feature of zone defense is the distribution of responsibility of each defender for a certain area of the court, depending on the position of the ball. Defenders must face the ball and move around the court at the same time as the ball moves, changing their position continuously. In other words, in a zone defense, the players must always be on the move in order to create the worst conditions for the attackers to attack. The movements of the defense are completely dependent on the movements of the attackers. If the ball receiver is in a good shooting position, the nearest defender must prevent him from receiving the ball, try to intercept. If the attacker still got the ball, everything possible must be done so that the attacking player makes a mistake. For defense, it is better to allow the attacker to shoot from a long distance, but not to let the player under the basket. The defender's main stance with his arms constantly wide apart should give the attackers the impression of an impenetrable barrier [1]. Zone defense allows the coach to place players on the court depending on their physical and psychological characteristics. Center players should be positioned closer to the basket, they are less mobile, but they must fight under the basket on the rebound, cut off the attackers from the entrance to the center and under the basket. Small and fast players should be positioned in the front line of the zone where they have a big advantage to intercept the ball and run into a fast break. Zone defense is easier to train and can cover up the flaws in some players' personal defense technique. With such a zone, the defenders are less afraid of making a mistake, because they know that a teammate will always help them. If the attack is not the first time it implements its attack through the inside of the zone, then this is a weak zone. Usually, the zone defense loses its initial preparation after the first or second pass of the ball, becoming more mobile. The zone can shrink and stretch depending on the movement of the attacking players and the ball [1]. As a result of all this, coordinated team movements are the basis for maintaining a good zone defense. A zone defense can contract and expand depending on the movement of the ball and offensive players around the court.
The zone stretches in the direction of the ball and in the corners of the court towards the sidelines, this allows attackers to penetrate into the zone behind the defenders or parallel to the movement of the ball. Rear defensive players must voice their partners if they have moved too far and violated the integrity of the zone formation, making it more vulnerable to offensive players. Zone defense - defense of a certain area of the site during the movements of the defending players and their concentration in the attacked attacking zones. Zone defense allows defenders to act more freely without clinging to one player. All players must be in constant motion. The defender closest to the attacker in a good attacking position must act aggressively, using the principles of personal defense to force the attacker to pass the ball back, away from the basket, or rush the shot. The transition from defense to attack is fast. From the zone setup it is very convenient to start playing fast break. It is also very important to quickly transition from attack to defense. Players in zone defense may be to the side of the offensive player closest to the basket on or in front of the ball, thus blocking it from the passing line. In this position, it is very convenient to put your back so that the attacker cannot pick up the ball. The movement of attackers is blocked alternately by different defenders, depending on the zones where the attacker is heading. In some cases, the defender may leave his zone to cover the movement of a free hitter under the basket. Proper movement and anticipation of opponents' movements leads to interceptions of the ball. Offensive players moving away from the ball can anticipate a pass to the other side of the court. Good foresight in defense allows for the ability to intercept passes and increases defenders' ability to attack with a fast break [15]. Zone defense can be aggressive or passive. This defense is not very effective when the team is behind in the score or when the opposing team has sharpshooters who are good at hitting the basket from long range shots. Regardless of the activity of the zone defense, its choice is determined by the composition of the players, the characteristics of the opposing team, the score and the remaining time of the game. Zone defense allows you to place tall players in advantageous positions under the basket, and fast players in front (for intercepting the ball, organizing a fast break). The front line of the zone should be fast and aggressive, and the back line should be high, consisting of players who skillfully fight for the ball in case of a failed shot. Responsibility in the fight for the ball bouncing off the backboard or ring must be borne by all five players on the court. Good conditions for defense are created if four defenders actively go to the backboard during the throw, maintaining positions between the backboard and their charges, and the fifth moves towards the opponent's basket, then at least one, or even two attackers will be forced to pull back to insurance. In this case, the defenders will have an advantage in the fight for the ball when rebounding from the backboard or ring. If the defenders at this moment take possession of the ball, good conditions are created for a fast break.
Interceptions and kicks are usually carried out by fast players in the first line of the zone. The defenders of the back line of the zone are located next to the attackers closest to the ball. They must never allow attackers to get inside the area close to the ball. None of the defenders in the zone must guard an empty area of the site. The players of the back line are obliged to direct the zone towards the strong, or overloaded with attackers, part of the court by voice. One of the conditions for zone players is to be constantly on the alert in an imaginary six-meter semi-circle under the basket. Positioned inside this semi-circle, they keep their arms stretched up or spread out to the sides, since a six-meter distance is usually available for effective throws by almost any attacker [1]. According to A.Ya. Gomelsky, the meaning of zone defense is that the players are responsible for a certain area of the site, in accordance with the position of the ball and the formation of the attacking team [11]. Benefits of zone defense: 1. Gives the opportunity to arrange players according to their physical, technical and mental characteristics. Tall, jumpy players close to the backboard. Mobile, fast players are in positions farther from the shield. 2. More team-oriented, easy to master, able to compensate for individual players' gaps in defense. 3. Promotes fast break and frequent interceptions of the ball with the highest possible degree of risk, because. Partners are always ready to help. 4. The number of fouls in a zone defense is usually less than in a personal defense. 5. This defense is less vulnerable against combinations that have screens. 6. Can concentrate in the presence of a strong center opponent and stretch out in the presence of snipers. 7. More than personal protection, it saves players' strength and protects leaders from fouls. 8. Most effective against opponents with strong centers. 9. A team that owns a zone defense can easily build mixed forms of defense: 3-2, 2-3,1-3-1,2-1-2. 10. Suitable for any team. Disadvantages of zone defense: 1. Inferior to the personal psychological responsibility of the players, their charge for individual victory in defense. 2. Less useful against teams with strong snipers. 3. As a rule, the corners of the court are less protected in zone defense. 4. Zone defense may be used occasionally and should not be the main form of defense. It is inappropriate to use zone defense at the beginning of the match, when the opponent's players are not yet tired, energetic enough - their throws are more accurate and productive than at the end of the game [11]. Mobile zone protection Tom Dickman - Senior Basketball Coach, High School Gavelor Tomos, Frederick, Maryland. He used various defensive measures in basketball, pursuing different goals. Mobile defense pursues one goal - to reduce the number of attacks by attackers, including reducing the number of hits in their ring, not allowing soft throws, limiting their number with a minimum of fouls. He talked about the need to always set the highest goals for your players. Therefore, playing in zone defense, make as many interceptions as possible, implementing them with a fast break, to prevent the attackers from making many attacks and, moreover, hits. In basketball, every ball counts. Therefore, you need to let the opponents score the least number of points. Then it is considered that the protection worked harmoniously. By doing the main tasks in defense, you can achieve two important things that reduce getting into the ring: 1. force the opponent to throw from extremely uncomfortable positions, reducing the percentage of hits; 2. avoid the situation associated with the punishment of personal remarks (foul). The main task of protection is correct movement. The main mistake is that it is assumed that reliable protection can be provided simply by remaining in the places given by the arrangement. In addition, each player is given an additional task. Players must anticipate the prerequisites that are created for its rapid implementation. In no case should players always stand in certain positions. Zone defense involves constant movement of players. Sometimes it turns out that the zone formation switches into a game of personal defense, in which each player plays one on one with his attacker. It all depends on the implementation of the attack, what arrangement they will take to break the zone [1]. Another function of the zone defense is to exclude or, in extreme cases, impede throws from five critical points along the perimeter of the zone. This is especially important if the opposing team has good snipers in their arsenal, who can implement shots from distant points. To do this, the defense diverts the attention of the attackers by covering the view of the ring with their hands, this leads to a decrease in the percentage of hits and a small score of the enemy. The last obligatory task of a player is to know the principles of coordinated blocking of an attack when rebounding the ball, usually coaches call this - setting the back. At the moment, this is the main problem of women's basketball, since many children's coaches do not teach this element from the very beginning of basketball lessons. In senior as well as collegiate basketball, coaches believe that by playing zone defense and forming a rebound triangle, you can outplay the opponent by recovering almost every ball on defense. This way of picking up a bounced ball always leads to success, since the defenders know exactly which attackers they need to push back from the ring and backboard. Mobile zone defense includes simple rules for rebounding the ball and the consistency of the game under your basket, ahead of the opponent when rebounding the ball. Performing these functions allows you to pick up the ball and quickly start a counterattack, go to the lead if the players are in a suitable position. Zone defense players are divided into two groups: players 1 and 2 - defenders who can change places; players 3 and 4, 5 - forwards or defenders - forwards, which are also interchangeable. Speed is much more valuable here than growth in all aspects of mobile zone defense. That is, a tall center is not required here. Typically, this type of zone defense is chosen by a team that does not have prominent tall players in its arsenal - centers. Mobile Zone General Rules: 1. The defensive player against the attacker who has the ball assumes a basketball defensive stance. The defender tries to take possession of the ball, forces the attacker to throw the ball from a long distance, give an inaccurate pass, prevent his pass, do everything necessary for the attacker to make a loss; 2. Defenders must identify all attackers in a favorable position for a low pass, warn them with voice, and take a position between the ball and the attacker. The defender constantly moves to stay in front of the attacker, pushing him away from the ball. This task is the key to preventing attackers from getting inside the court. It is assigned to the main players 3, 4 and 5; 3. protect the lanes along the touchline. The defending player must block the main passage with one hand; 4. The defender is in the position of "support at a distance of two steps, making a protection "player against player"". He, along with a nearby defender, should provide for the interception of high passes; 5. Permanent mobile movement is carried out by players 3, 4 and 5. If one of the players has to leave his zone, the nearest defender moves to his place. Usually such movement is carried out only when passing to the corner of the court. This move is a dash forward to the ball while covering the spot; 6. never give the opponent a line under the hoop; 7. to prevent pass penetration, the 4th player does not guard the attacker with the ball, but plays with his hands up, preventing the pass. ⇐ Previous123Next ⇒ Mobile electrified feeder: scheme and operation of the device... Organization of surface water runoff: The largest amount of moisture on the globe evaporates from the surface of seas and oceans (88‰)... Individual and group drinkers: for animals. Schemes and designs... 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Zone defense is bad for kids basketball
March 2, 2016 Coach Mac
The coach sent me an email last week and asked (briefly):
"Hi.
This week we will be playing against a team that plays a compressed zone 2 -3 for the whole game. Their players are much higher than ours, and they won't give up this defense. What should we do?" Do you want to know what my answer was? - "Pray your team can hit the basket from a distance." Obviously, this was not my whole answer, but it was his main point.
Not long ago I wrote about how to beat a 2-3 zone defense, and that the strategy for attacking a zone requires the defense to react to and defend against long throws (I will talk about it throughout the article).
If the defense plays close to the rim all the time and is not concerned with defending against long shots (as most kid teams do), these strategies become very difficult to implement. Therefore, I decided to create this material, and share with you my thoughts on why coaches find zone defense effective and therefore use it, and ... how it harms the game of children's teams. In addition, I am ready to discuss all the arguments used by coaches in favor of zone defense.
In this article, I will mainly refer to the 2-3 2-3 zone defense because it is by far the most popular zone in children's basketball.
Why zone defense is effective in children's basketball
I'm not going to argue that zone defense is very effective at the level of children's basketball. This is a 100% undeniable factor. Coaches use zone defense as it works great against kid teams.
Here are the two main reasons why:
1. Players are forced to shoot from long distances
We all know that most of the points scored in children's basketball come from shooting from under the basket.
In zone defense, the defensive team packs all their players in the paint (into the 3 second zone) and removes the lanes to the basket.
What attack option is left for the attacking team? Long and medium throws.
And since the attacking team can't get to the basket and make a good shot, most young players try to shoot the ball from a distance, while praying that the shots will be successful.
You understand that not many of these attempts will be successful, because in order to make a long shot technically correct, most young players are simply not physically developed enough, they do not have enough strength to shoot from a distance properly.
But since this is the only way to make a free throw against the zone, they do it.
2. Players cannot make long side passes
Young players do not have enough strength to make this pass because a "side pass" or "flip" is a pass to a teammate that is made from one side of the court to the other.
The offensive players are not physically strong enough to make this long pass, and this allows the defense to move to the other side without problems when the offense uses only short passes.
Now that you understand how this works, let's talk about why coaches use the zone...
Why do coaches use the zone defense?
In my opinion, there are three main reasons why coaches play zone defense in children's basketball.
And surprisingly, they are not all very scary:
1. To win games.
This is the number one reason coaches use zone defense in my opinion.
The reasons why coaches want to win can vary greatly. Some reasons are nobler than others. Here are some of the reasons why coaches want to win:
1. To feed their egos.
2. To keep your team competitive.
3. To get recognition from others.
4. To keep players from leaving their team.
5. To make players and parents happy.
As you can see, not all of the reasons on this list are negative.
2. To feel that they affect the game.
I openly admit that I had this feeling when I first started coaching. When your team plays the zone, you look much smarter than the coach on the other side simply because it shows the weaknesses of the opposing team's offense. Your players look organized on the court, the zone is active, the opposition is trying to score, etc.
It's incredibly easy to get caught up in the notion that you're a good coach and everything you do is a big deal that puts the opposing players in a limited area so that the opposing player can only shoot from a distance and you made them stand there. If you play player versus player defense it doesn't look like well organized and it's much more difficult to play assist defense with it and the opponent will score easy goals into the basket, but still your team with this defense gets more useful experience for its further development.
All coaches want to show how they affect the game, but it is very important that we all remember more what is best for the future development of your team.
3. To stay competitive.
Whether you like it or not, some coaches really feel compelled to use zone defense to stay competitive in their league with other teams. This reason, I can understand, and this is a weighty argument in favor of using zone protection.
I think we can all agree that no kid's basketball team should lose by close to 50 points. Using zone defense can change a great opponent's game that hurts your players into one that's more even and more comfortable for your team.
But if you're forced to resort to this zone strategy to stay competitive, one thing is clear: your team is not competing at your level.
You don't have to use the zone to be competitive, and if your team plays like this, you need to find another league, improve the technique and physical condition of the team's players, or figure out what else is needed to solve this problem. Playing zone defense is not the best long-term answer to your problems.
4 reasons why zone defense is bad for kids basketball.
All youth coaches must remember that their focus must be on the future of the players they coach. I assure you that in a few years no one will remember that you won the 10-year-old championship by using zone defense, forcing opponents to shoot from a distance.
Nobody. The first three reasons I'm talking about are the same ones Tyler writes about in his article here. I added a fourth reason, but I fully agree with the first three and would like to share my thoughts on them too. Here are 4 main reasons why zone defense is terrible for kids basketball.
1. Zone defense develops bad skills in players
Before amateur zone coaches jump in front of me and say, “Good zone defense also trains players in personal defense principles!”, I will say: “Believe me, I understand this is!" But I will add that zone defense also introduces a lot of bad skills that players, playing the zone, will only exacerbate, and I am not suggesting that the player playing the zone will not learn anything that will help him in personal defense. They still need to take the defensive position in time and correctly, they still need to communicate, they still need to play defensive assistance, etc. And let me make the point: these are all skills, really.
Ask any coach who is given the unenviable task of turning a life zone player into a lifeguard and he will tell you that some of these habits are really, really hard to break.
TYLER, whose knowledge in basketball I respect very much, came up with a list of 15 bad defensive habits adult protection ...
1. The player’s defense with the ball
2. Stand and observe the ball
3. Bad technician 3. entering a defensive position (closeout technique)
4. Little responsibility
5. Lack of communication
6. Minimal defensive movements 7. Weak defensive skills in different positions and against different players
8. Weak communication skills in the transition from offense to defense
9. Weak skills in defending long shots
10. Decreased responsibility when placing the back in rebounding
11. Fewer decisions during the game on the help side
13. Fewer opportunities to know acceptable defensive risk
14.
Minimal screening opportunities
15. Fewer opportunities for big players to defend against the ball carrier on the perimeter.
2. Zone defense also hinders the development of attacking team players.
Quick note: If winning is your number one priority, then this point will be incredibly difficult for you to understand.
Playing a zone defense in children's basketball, you do a disservice to the players of the attacking team.
But why should you worry about that? After all, your job is to stop the other team and prevent them from hitting your basket, not to help them. Correctly? But… Coaches need to understand that we are all here to help develop players for the future. Do you really want to send 8-year-old opposing players to shoot from long range so that they can't shoot into your basket from close range and thus win the game? Because, unfortunately, that's the only thing zone defense allows them to do. And please don't think I'm saying that you should sit back and let the other team kick your basket, I'm not completely crazy.
But I think we need to give the offensive team a chance to play smart basketball and try different offensive opportunities that zone defense doesn't allow. When playing against the zone, players cannot pass with the ball to the basket, their dashes are useless because the paint is occupied by 5 defenders, it is pointless to put up screens to open up because the defense leaves them open on the perimeter and waits for them to shoot balls from a distance, and many other lost opportunities for offensive development. Again, defensive skills - I understand that when playing against the zone, players will learn and grow, but they will learn things that will prepare them for the future in half as much and slower than what they would have learned, playing against personal defense.
3. Zone defense does not prepare players for the next level.
One of the most important tasks of a children's basketball coach is preparing their players for the next level of basketball.
Here is a super important fact that has been shared by many great coaches: It will be much easier for a player who was trained in personal defense when he was young to move to the zone than a player who played exclusively in zone defense in a young reward, to move to personal defense, when he gets older. So it comes down to a question; do you want your players to be better prepared for the future, or to win by any means now? There's one more thing you can't help but notice: the more competitive the game gets, and the more skillful the players get, the less zone defense gets involved. This is because zone defense works great against kids teams that don't have the right skills and conditioning, but is often helpless against players with a lot of basketball experience. Thus, in order to give your players the best chance of success at a higher level, it is necessary to be competent in man-to-man defense.
4. Zone defense does not make basketball attractive
This is probably the most compelling reason: By playing zone defense, you are stealing from the players the enjoyment that basketball can give them.
With zone defense, there are few - one of the attackers is able to score the ball into the basket, both teams make loss after loss, as the players are forced to shoot from long distances, having no hope of hitting the basket!
Does it sound like basketball fun to you? It sounds terrible to me - we as coaches need to give all players the chance to fall in love with the game of basketball the way we did when we were young.
10 Reasons coaches use for zone defenses and why they are wrong.
I know every coaching argument in favor of playing zone defenses. Some of them are quite reasonable, others I find to be ignorant nonsense. And here I want to share my thoughts on some of these arguments.
1. "The real problem is not the zone defense, but that coaches need to teach better offense against the zone."
The first thing coaches need to understand about offense against the zone is that not all shots against the zone will be 3-point shots, although zone citation is built with the assumption that they will be used against it.
About three-pointers, of course, this is a weighty argument, but for a higher level, and not at the level of children's basketball. And that's because if your team can't shoot from the perimeter (and most kid teams can't), then the defense won't expand to counter those 3-point shots that open gaps in the area. Instead, all 5 defenders will stand inside the 3-point line and wait for you to lubricate the next roll without resistance. And coaches who advocate zone defense will say "it's an offense against the zone, not a zone defense" issue, giving you two pieces of advice:
a. "Your team needs to learn how to move the ball better!" But moving the ball doesn't accomplish much - most kid teams have no problem passing the ball against a tight 2-3 zone, and in fact, they often do it too easily!
If an attacking player is on the three-point line, there is often no defender next to him, all the defenders are in the box or a step behind it, and they certainly will not put pressure on the ball.
Why should they? The defense knows your 3-point shots are off target and don't really care how fast or how well you move the ball all around. You can pass him side to side 5 times and the only thing the defense will move is their heads - they will just stand there watching the passes and wait in the paint when you throw to pick it up on the bounce. So, there is no chance that your fantastic movement of the ball will help him penetrate the zone, because all 5 defenders are located inside the penalty area so that they can even touch each other with their hands.
b. Try using screens against the zone. It always works! "
Screens against the zone don't help much. I've heard a lot of people tell kid coaches to use screens against the zone, but I still can't figure out exactly what they do. Maybe a screen will help one of the the best players will get the ball for an open shot on the wing, but the offensive player will definitely not get the opportunity to go to the basket and shoot from close range.
who use the screen and will not create a gap in the defense, they will continue to stay inside the box, and the attacking team will still have no problem getting the ball for an open long shot. but the players of the attacking team are unable to successfully hit the basket from these positions.0005
2. "Using the zone allows the team with less talent not to lose the game by 50 points."
I've already talked about this in the article earlier, so I'll be brief: this is the only worthy argument in favor of zone defense. If your team loses by such a wide margin in every game, both the players and parents will get tired of such losses soon, and they will start moving in the direction of the other team. And unfortunately, the best players will leave first, so if you're losing by a wide margin every game, it would be much better for you and your team to find a new league to compete rather than play zone defense every game. .
3. "Zone defense is just another defensive option in basketball.
Young players need to learn all defensive formations."
The weakness of this argument becomes apparent if you remember a simple quote from the great Don Meyer. "When you add, you must subtract" - Don Meyer
By teaching your players additional defense options as a child, you are stealing from them, and from yourself, valuable time that could be used to work on other aspects of the game and develop many players other useful skills. Do you really think that implementing a zone defense is the most efficient use of training time each week? But it, time, is practically always limited - coaches always experience a lack of it to solve their problems with the players.
4. "I don't have enough time to teach the players about personal defense."
When teams don't have enough training time, they often resort to using zone defense. I understand this: it's much easier to have a player stand in one position close to the basket than it is to force the players to position themselves correctly between their player and the basket for the entire duration of the game.
But if you don't have time to teach players personal defense now, when will they have time to learn about it? It is very important to teach players personal defense as early as possible, that is, from the very beginning of their training. In my opinion, this is a prime example of how important it is for the future growth of your players to instill the necessary defensive skills in him at a young age. And explaining to your players how to take a defensive stance against one of the attacking players and stay in a position between him and the basket all the time is not difficult.
Of course they will get lost many times and your team will miss some simple shots to their basket, but gradually, with experience they will improve their defense and become more confident in their defensive moves. And after they get a clear understanding of the protection of their wards players, you need to start leading them to an understanding of helping partners in defense. Teaching your players these little concepts should be done during small games and during pre- and post-game conversations.
5. "I have a weak player and I need to hide him in the zone."
I have a feeling that many coaches will cringe when reading this argument... How can hiding a bad defender in the zone help him today and especially in personal defense in the future? This is a clear example of when the coach considered today's win more important than the development of the player. Give a bad defender the opportunity to get this experience as early as possible, and this is the only way he will be able to improve. He is poor defensively, most likely because his previous coach only played the zone, not caring about his future development.
6. "Good zone defense teaches the principles of man-to-man defense. Players still get close out, players still have to help, etc."
I have previously discussed this topic in the article, but let's quickly go over it again to make my thoughts clearer. Zone defense does teach some principles of personal defense, rightly so.
But it is clear that personal defense teaches defensive principles much better than zone defense does. Thus, if things are not so bad in the zone, then personal protection is a much better alternative. To me, this argument is only used as an excuse to play zone defense when the coach wants to win the game.
7. "Teach your team to shoot the ball better and then we wouldn't be able to play the zone."
What a terrible argument. Let's remember that many players, when using a zone defense and attacking against a zone defense, will need to do so for the first couple of years of their basketball career. How long does it take to become a good long range sniper? At least a few years. How long will it take to implement a zone defense that stands in the penalty area and moves little? 1 - 2 minutes. And let's also not forget that, regardless of age, many players simply cannot physically shoot the ball from a distance, no matter how much practice they have had!
8.
"My players probably won't play college or university basketball, so it doesn't matter."
We've all heard of coaches who supposedly think they can predict the future of 8 year old players: "They'll never be good enough. They're too short" or "Look, this kid could be a superstar in 10 years." I don't understand how a coach can so confidently draw such conclusions about very young players. Basketball is replete with tales of players who looked weak or mediocre as children but went on to great professional careers. Michael Jordan didn't achieve great success on the team in either his high school or sophomore year at university, and is now known as the best basketball player who ever lived. Hakeem Olajuwon couldn't successfully pick up balls until he was 15 years old, but is now considered one of the very best centers to ever play the game. Tim Duncan came to basketball from swimming in high school, and now he's probably the strongest No. 4 of all time. And there are many more such stories.
No coach can predict which players are going to fall in love with basketball and work slavishly to improve. No coach can predict which player will have a huge surge in their subsequent physical development. I'm not excluding any player!
9. "By learning to play zone defense, players will learn how to use it, which will help them when they play against the zone in the future."
As we have said many times in this article, zone defense in children's basketball is not played the way real zone defense should be played. Defenders don't really get into defensive positions, they fake out on the ball because they know that shots won't work, cross passes won't reach their destinations, etc. Not many players learn good zone defense by playing it in kids basketball. And this fact alone does not justify taking time for other necessary things that players could work on at this time for their development.
10. "We play the system that works best for our players.
"
Another classic case of a coach who puts winning in any way above individual development in childhood when winning should not be the number one priority. If your players can't play personal defense at the current level, what chance will they have of playing it at the next level? Remember, as players develop and reach higher levels of competition, they will play much more personal defense. We must give all players the opportunity to try out personal defense so that they are ready to defend well when they rise to the next level of the game. And don't get me wrong, I love writing and talking about all types of zone defenses and especially love breaking them down into simple guides that coaches can use to help their team. But these guides must be used according to the age of the players and in the proper way. And I don't recommend them to coaches up to the high school level.
In the past, I have not done much work to make my thoughts clear, but I will strive to do it much harder in the future.
Looking ahead, what should be done about zone defense in youth basketball?
I've seen many leagues try to fix zone usage issues with restrictions such as:
• A team can only use zone defense when they are down 10 points or more.
• A team may only use zone defense for 10 minutes in one of the game periods.
I don't like these kinds of restrictions and I don't think they are suitable for children's basketball. I completely agree with Bob Bigelow in his article on improving children's basketball (I encourage you to read his thoughts in full). In all games for players up to the high school level, only the player's half-court player must defend.
Bob asked professional coaches in over 1,000 high schools and colleges with the same question: "At what basketball level should we start teaching non-personal defense. In other words; zones, pressing, traps, boxes, triangle and two, and any other defensive options that kid trainers, our future Hall of Famers, can come up with?"
The answer to this question was unequivocal (99%) - High School and Junior Age (these are children 15-16 years old, note for readers who do not have children in the American school system.
) And this should be mandatory in all games for players up to the level of high school - to defend with personal protection in half of the court. I completely agree with you Bob.
Conclusion
I asked if my opinion on "zone defense in kids basketball" is needed, since there are already other excellent articles published on this topic and mostly with the same points, such as this post by Tyler Coston or this post by Breakthrough Basketball And was forced to do so because: 1. I think there were a few vital moments that were missing 2. I wanted all BFC readers to know my thoughts on this 3. I wanted to argue with the arguments made by the coaches in favor of the zone.0005
If you agree with the thoughts expressed in this material and are considering becoming a personal protection coach, I encourage you to download this article and share it with other coaches, parents and players on your team. By doing so, everyone will understand your reasoning; do not play in the defense zone and will also be sure that you have the best intentions for their child in your heart.
