THE COMPLETE ZONE ATTACK PACKAGE U Overview and Terminology
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THE COMPLETE ZONE ATTACK PACKAGE u Overview and Terminology Key5Coaching.com Zone Attack Principles Page 1 Zone Habits Page 3 Screening a Zone Page 4 Offensive Rebounding Strategies Page 5 Personnel Keys Against a Zone Page 6 Attacking a 2-3 Zone Page 8 Attacking a 1-3-1 Zone Page 9 Attacking a 3-2/1-2-2 Zone Page 11 While there are a myriad of zone attacking principles a team may use, there are three important yet underutilized principles that will immediately make your zone offense more effective. No matter what actions you’re running or what type of zone defense your opponent is playing these principles will help you create advantages and be successful. 1. Engage Two (E2) Regardless of the defense, your team will always be the most successful when ONE offensive player can occupy TWO defenders. While most players are content to have one person guard them, the best offensive players are always hunting to create a situation where their pass leads to a 4 on 3 situation for their teammates. This is a little bit of a “cat and mouse” game. You want players to ENGAGE the defense, but never MARRY them. Instead of rushing into the defense and getting into trouble, we must teach our players to keep their options open so they can throw passes to any of their four teammates. Engage, but don’t marry right away. It’s great life advice too. 2. Be Dangerous This concept applies specifically to when offensive players are playing off the ball. As you teach this concept to your team, there are two key principles to remember: ● What to do if you’re one pass away from the ball. ● What to do if you’re more than one pass away from the ball. There are many ways to "be" or "play" dangerous. Creating equilateral triangles and dancing (flashing to the middle) is another way to play dangerous. Dancing is related to puncturing the middle. Any time you dance and receive the ball you should look for your dancing partner, another teammate who is occupying the middle of the zone either in or around the key or near the baseline creating a high/low or low/high passing opportunity. 1 One Pass Away ● If you’re one pass away from the ball form an equilateral triangle. ● A sign of a good equilateral triangle is when two defenders jump out at you, neither do, or both hesitate. More Than One Pass Away ● If you’re more than one more pass away from the ball, dance triple wide into openings. ● Players who are more than one pass away need to work in unison to find the opening. Multiple players should never dance to the middle at the same time. ● When a dancer catches a pass, a dancer to dancer pass is the easiest way to score. 3. Puncture the Middle To beat a good zone defense you can’t just trim the edges, you have to puncture the middle. This applies to both passes and drives. The key is to keep your zone offense moving in unison. Just like Sir Isaac Newton’s Law of Motion, “For every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction.” For example if a player is puncturing the middle via the dribble, teammates shouldn’t also puncture or dance at the same time. There are many ways to puncture the middle of the zone while on offense. The important part is that your players know WHY it’s important and WHAT they should do when a teammate punctures. WHY: Forces all defenders to turn their heads and focus on the middle of the floor. WHAT: Get dangerous! The defense has a harder time seeing offensive players that are off the ball when they’re focused on the middle. 2 Once your team understands the three most important Zone Attack Principles, you can go deeper with zone habits. We have three simple, yet incredibly effective habits that lead to indecision by the defense, more open offensive players, and better shots for your team against any zone. 1. Set The Table Before initiating any offensive movement against a zone, your ball handler must make sure to set the table and ensure proper spacing and positioning of their teammates. At a minimum, they should “P1” (place one teammate) to set up the initial pass. 2. Ball Fake & Grimace (BF&G) We’ve all heard the old adage, “you’ve got to fake a pass to make a pass!” And while that statement has a lot of truth, most coaches miss the opportunity to teach players the WHY of the BF&G. Anytime a player uses a BF&G, they turn the defense into guessing machines. Zone defenders have specific areas (with edges) to cover. Realistic fakes create time and space for teammates to get open away from the ball. The best ball fakes include a grimace by the player making the fake. Real and game-like fakes and movements always involve facial changes. 3. Freeze Dribble A freeze dribble is when the offense intentionally dribbles at a defender in order to freeze that particular position in the zone. When used on the perimeter and with defenders preoccupied with the ball, a freeze dribble can lead to an open interior pass. If the defenders become paralyzed and stay home on the freeze dribble, it can lead to a long closeout and open jump shot. 3 An undervalued zone attack principle is using screens to create offensive advantages. Once you know the rules of the zone, you can use specific screens to turn those rules against the defense and create better scoring opportunities. Here are three types of screens to consider using frequently against any zone. 1. Push Screen A push screen is a simple and deceptive way to confuse a zone defense that can create an open shot off a pass. Once the offensive player (Player A) makes a pass to Player B, Player A walks down towards the person that was guarding them. This pushes their defender farther down and keeps them occupied. This movement opens up the original space Player A had occupied for Player B (who caught the ball) to go and attack for an open shot. 2. Buffalo Screen A buffalo screen is a great way to open up driving lanes against a zone. To set a buffalo screen, one offensive player must run straight at a defender in the zone and then screen them using a post up as a decoy. This allows the offensive player to be in legal position even though they’re actually screening and don’t intend to receive the ball. 3. Smash Screen A smash screen is a ball screen set to the outside of the zone, most often versus a 2-3. This often isolates a single defender to guard both the ball handler and a shooter on the wing. Some teams will also simultaneously set two screens on the same side of the zone to isolate the defense even more. By smashing one side of the zone, you’ve created an offensive advantage that leaves one defender to guard two offensive players. This allows the ball handler to attack, read the single defender, and either keep the ball or pass to an open teammate if the defender commits to the drive. 4 There are a variety of strategies and tactics you can implement to be successful on the offensive glass and may vary when you are facing a man versus a zone defense. Here are three great ways your team can increase their offensive rebound rate against a zone. 1. Back of Head Every player grows up playing hide and seek, and this rebounding principle isn’t much different. On the shot, your offense should have 1-2 players stay low and flat to the baseline maintaining vision of the back of the defenders’ heads. As a result, the offense will be more difficult to find when the defense turns to box out. 2. Be the Boxer This tactic is underutilized at most levels and becomes especially effective when an offensive player properly anticipates a shot being taken by a teammate. This anticipation allows the offensive player to move first and secure the box out angle before the defense has a chance to react. When executed properly, as the shot is being released, the offensive player will be the one getting inside position on the defense to box them out. 3. Flood Opposite While the first two rebounding strategies were for individual players, this strategy is a team concept. When teams flood opposite, they have every rebounder attack one area closer to the weak side of the floor from where they’re standing when a shot is taken. This strategy will allow the offense to get as many rebounders to the middle and opposite side of the floor as possible, putting every player in a better position to corral an offensive rebound. 5 Similar to the previous zone attack principles, these specific skill sets can enhance any offense facing off against a zone defense. Ideally, you should be able to identify 2 or 3 players on your team best suited to fit these personnel keys. 1. Playmaking From the Middle Many zone offenses will at some point feature a “big” getting to the high post and on the catch they’ll look to take an open shot or distribute the ball. Instead of attacking a zone in this traditional sense, consider getting your best playmaker the ball in the middle of the zone.