By:
Kevin Gallagher
Head Basketball Coach
La Salle University, Retired
The most difficult aspect of coaching is not to teach any specific concept.
The most difficult aspect is trying to deal with the severe time limitations
that all coaches have. To attack any specific zone defense is not very difficult,
in theory, if one has sufficient time to prepare. Any coach can anticipate seeing
a 2-3, 3-2, or 1-3-1 zone as well as half-court, three-quarters and full court
zone defense. To be thorough, a coach may want to teach a specific zone offense
for each situation.
By using an offense that incorporates one basic concept a coach can prepare a team to play against all zones and it does not matter if the zones are perimeter or pressure zones. The concept is what I call 'going opposite'. What it means is to have offensive players stand in the areas not occupied by the defense when facing a zone defense. When facing a 2-3 zone, for example, have the point guard step into the top of the key area (#1), have two players move into the wing areas, (#2 and #3), and have two players occupy a high and low post position (#4 and #5). (See Diagram #1)
Before going into too much detail on how going opposite neutralizes all normal zones, it would be wise to discuss the fundamentals involved. The first idea that the coach must sell to the players is that passing must be quick and sharp. It sounds like a cliché that all basketball people use, but it is so much an integral part of this type of attack that if a team fails in this endeavor, they rest of the teaching points will not matter. The offense will fail if this first concept is not adhered to.
Once players can physically carry out this idea, the more important part of this idea must be stressed. Most players can throw a sharp pass but they usually destroy the effectiveness of the pass by catching it, stopping, looking around, and then trying to decide who is open. In other words, he has given the defense time to slide back into position. The players without the ball must be trained to know where their teammates are just in case a pass comes. That way they can simply redirect the ball before the defense slides into position. Once the first pass is made against the zone, every offensive player should try to redirect all subsequent passes. I call these second or third passes. The fewer first passes that are made, the more often the offense will get a high percentage, wide open shot.
It is important that the coach constantly emphasize this in practice or the players will simply not realize how important this topic is. In addition to concentrating on this in scrimmage situations, coaches can also practice this technique through a drill. By scrimmaging, either full or half court, 2 on 2, up to 5 on 5, players can become more adept at quick passing when the coach forbids dribbling. There is no need to place any other structure on the scrimmaging, just consider it a turnover when one of the players dribbles. Once they realize that they can only advance the ball by passing, they will become better at looking up. Once the players without the ball understand that the man with the ball cannot move until he passes it, they will be more inclined to move into an open area. It would not detract from practice if a coach were to do this drill for five to ten minutes per practice. The side benefit of this drill is that the players enjoy the drill and consequently derive more benefit from it. Lastly, it can be a great conditioning drill if done properly.
The next concept to understand, and it is a difficult one, is penetrating without the ball. How often do players become frustrated against a zone and move out to 25 feet from the basket to receive the ball? Now they want to dribble back into the 15-foot range to get their shot off. Now it is too late. The defense has shifted into position. As we all know, driving against a set zone is a low percentage situation. If just one player becomes impatient and frustrated and floats away from his assigned position, the whole offense will bog down. Even if a player does not get the ball passed to him as often as he would like (and who does?), he is helping the overall attack by remaining in his assigned position. If a defender has two people to worry about in his area, it will make his job easier if an offensive player becomes frustrated, moves out from the perimeter and leaves the defender with only one opponent.
It is very important that all five players hold their positions on the floor. In scrimmage situations the coach must constantly emphasize this point and not allow the players to drift from their assigned spots. If the players hold their positions, it causes an overload situation for all spots of the defense. See Diagram #1. See how all players are in a seam of the zone. This forces all defenders to be uncertain as to what their responsibilities are. Since they cannot cover one player well, they must remain between two and thereby not cover anyone at all.
To put the defense in this situation, it is up to the five offensive players to pick a spot in the seam of the zone. In Diagram #1 that means assuming a 1-3-1 format. Now, put this idea together with some quick passing and the defense cannot possibly shift in time and the results should be some good, high percentage shots.
The next point is post play. A post controls the structure of any zone. If an entire offense lines up on the perimeter of the defense and there is no post, this allows the defense to spread out even further. Instead of having shots in the 15-foot range, the best the offense can do is to have shots in the 20-foot range. Now see Diagram #1 once again. With offensive players in the post position (i.e. in the middle of the defense with their back to the basket) the defense must respect the potential threat that these players pose and slide closer to the basket. If they do not, the post players will be open. Once the defense moves back closer to the basket, it allows the offense to move closer also, back to the 15 foot range.
Post players, like perimeter players, must be prepared to pass the ball quickly; perhaps they must pass even more quickly. Unlike the perimeter player, the have their backs to the basket. Post players are usually the tallest, but this is not an absolute necessity. To play the post position effectively, a player must have mastered certain techniques. However, this is not the place to discuss development of the post player. Hopefully, the player chosen to play the post will have a certain amount of court awareness. And he must have the ability to redirect passes quickly and a healthy balance of two feelings: a tremendous desire to be passed the ball and an understanding that post players do not handle the ball as often as perimeter players.
Simply standing in the middle of the zone is not enough. This player must constantly be open or trying to get open. He must not let the defender close off the passing lane to him. To any player who wants the ball, this is very easy. If it is not basic to the player who is in the post, it must be explained to him that, if he is not consistently open, the defense will spread out again and his team will not be as open.
It is important to note that against a 2-3 zone (the most popular zone); two posts will be employed. At any given time that one post player receives the ball, the other post will be open. It is almost automatic. Post players in all situations must be constantly trying to get open. As long as they are trying to do this, they will be helping themselves even more in a double post attack, as it would be against the 2-3 zone. A high or medium post will be rolling around from a medium position on the left to the high post (i.e. foul line), to the medium post on the right side. A low or medium post will simply go ball side from left to right. Should the offense have a single post, as in attacking a 3-2 or 1-3-1, that post should rarely go above the medium post and try to stay on the blocks, (i.e. the largest dividers along the free throw lane.)
The next idea is that the players receiving the ball must be prepared to shoot the ball immediately. It may seem kind of silly to discuss something as basic as this, but players do hear this from their coaches constantly. Still, they insist on catching the ball and then setting their feet, etc. Why? Couldn't this be done before he receives the ball? Doesn't this give the defense time to recover? All players seem to fall prey to this fault unless the practice the following technique. Through a simple drill this problem can be avoided. At the top of the key is the passer. This passer can be a coach, manager, or another player. The rebounder is under the basket and the shooter and the shooter is on the wing. The passer takes a pass from the rebounder and hits the shooter with the ball. The shooter shoots as soon as he gets the ball. The shooter must constantly be moving to and from the passer. Once the passer gets the ball from the rebounder, the shooter will take a step or two from the passer and then take a few quick steps back toward the passer and meet the ball. The focus of the drill is that the shooter must try to get his body facing toward the basket as soon as his hands touch the ball. It goes without saying that the shooter must catch the ball in such a fashion that he does not have to readjust his hands in order to shoot. The inexperienced player will do many things AFTER he gets the ball. This drill should make the shooter proficient enough to do all these things BEFORE he gets the ball (foot placement, body positioning, hand placement). In this way all he has to do after he receives the ball is shoot. Run this drill for one minute, blow the whistle, rotate the players, and run it another minute.
Of course this will also make players more effective against man to man defense. To increase the demands of the drill as the players begin to shoot better, set an arbitrary number of shots (e.g. six) and all players must who do not make at least this number must run a sprint after all three players in the drill have taken their turn. Have the players shoot from the spots that they normally would take shots from in a game.
One added dimension to the opposite attack would be the skip pass. It is sometimes called a cross-court pass and this has a bad connotation in the game of basketball. This is unfortunate because it can be a valuable weapon when used wisely.
See Diagram #2. Player #2 on the wing has the ball and throws the ball across the zone to #3. Normally #2 would pass the ball to #1 first. A skip pass is so named because, in this case, #2 skips #1 in passing to #3. A skip pass is not a hindrance to good offensive play. It adds, rather a valuable dimension to an offensive arsenal. Refer to Diagram #2. Under normal circumstances, #2 would pass to #1 and then he would pass to #3. Even if the two passes were to be thrown as quickly and as accurately as possible, a skip pass is more efficient because it takes at least half the time.
The beauty of the skip pass is that it gives the defense such little time to adjust and slide into position. At worst, the offense can hope to get a decent shot. Perhaps the offense will even get the ball inside for a short jumper or lay up.
At any given time an offense should know exactly where the three key defenders are in a zone defense. One player will naturally be guarding the ball. A second player will be in a defensive post on the ball side. And a third player will be in weak side rebounding position. Since these players will be in place according to where the ball is in Diagram #2 (q.v. in the possession of Player #2) the defense will have to slide very quickly to adjust completely to the pass to #3. Properly used, a defense will be at a tremendous disadvantage when a skip pass is employed.
Another valuable idea to consider is the idea of getting the defense between passes. Any player, upon receiving the ball, will automatically look to shoot. (The assumption here is that all players have penetrated without the ball and are in scoring position.) If they choose not to shoot and decide to pass, they will naturally throw the ball to someone who is not closely guarded. At any given time, the defense is shifting to get back into position after a pass is thrown. The best time to pass or shoot is when the defense is in the process of shifting. In other words, they are in between people. In this situation, they are guarding no one. It must be stressed that whatever the offense does, it must be done quickly, before the defense can get right up on top of the offensive players.
With all of the above ideas and techniques incorporated, going opposite against all flat zones is one of the most effective offenses, yet it is undoubtedly the easiest to understand or teach.
Against the 2-3 zone, the offense begins with the 1-3-1 alignment. (Diagram #1) As long as the two wings step into the gaps as shown, #2 and #3, and the point guard forces one of the two defenders to play him, the two defensive players up front must try to guard four players up front. (This includes the high post, #4.) As the ball is moved, the two posts will both move ball side and constantly try to be open. #5 will simply go block to block while #4 will be high post when #1 has the ball. Very rarely will the ball be passed into the post from the area above the foul line. Almost exclusively, the ball will reach the post from the wing position.
As was mentioned before, should either post receive a pass, the other post will usually be open for a quick pass. (See Diagram #3) If the high post, #4, should receive a pass from the wing, the defense is not in position to stop a quick pass down to the low post, #5. The reason for this is the first pass into the post freezes the defensive post. He must come up to play #4, leaving the low post with an open lane to the basket (Diagram #4). If the wing pass comes to #5, the reverse is true, #4 is open.
A slight twist can be used, depending on the preference of the coach or the skill of the players involved. The low post can be placed either on the block ball side or he can be placed ball side, almost on the end line. Putting the low post behind the zone creates an interesting situation even though the low post is behind the basket and not a legitimate scoring threat. Defenses will still shift back to guard him. (See Diagram #5) #5 is behind the defense. All the defensive players on the back line will be a few steps further back than normal. This creates a bigger seam in the defense for the wings and the posts. Sometimes the wings can now shoot 12 footers rather than 15 footers.
Against a 3-2 zone, the offense will assume a 2-1-2 attack. (Diagram #6) The basics are the same: step into the seams of the zone, penetrate without the ball, etc. The new wrinkle is the post. With one post, it is ineffective to have him come any higher than the medium post. Remember that a pass rarely comes into the post from above the foul line. #5 should simply go from the low post, across the lane, to the other low post. He must always try to be ball side, and have a good angle for a possible pass. Against a 1-3-1 zone, the offense assumes the same basic format, a 2-1-2 attack. (See Diagram #7) The key against this defense is the weak side. When the ball is on one side, it may take an extra second for the weak side rebounder to get into position. The player in the corner weak side, #4, must go back to the block weak side. When the ball is reversed, #4 will come out to the 15-foot range. As this is happening, #3 will move to the block weak side to try to catch the defense napping. Even if #3 or #4 do not get the quick skip pass on the weak side block, they are in excellent rebounding position.
Against any type of pressure defense, the same principles apply. The only difference would be that the playing surface is expanded. Finally, when all the above defenses are incorporated, going opposite is one of the most dangerous offenses that a zone can face. But the real beauty of the attack is that it is so easy to teach and to implement.