Today we are going to go through some tactics, with a focus on zone defense as the defending team and how to attack a zone defense as the attacking team. The goal here is that you will feel comfortable enough with these strategies to utilize them on the court or recognize them when watching a game or betting on basketball in a new online casino.
What Is Zone Defense?
This strategy simply consists of not focusing on the player you are facing but instead focusing on a zone to protect. In basketball, there are several types of zone defense, for example, 2-3 – where two players are outside the penalty line, while their three teammates are parallel near the base line. Another example is 1-2-2, where one player stands at about 22 feet, two players on the penalty line and two players a few feet from the baseline.
Zone defense is effective against ‘give and go’ games completed by the other team. This is because the player will not follow the other player and therefore avoid a defensive collapse. At the same time, your hoop is better protected against shots at short range. While playing zone defense, you will make fewer mistakes and make more room for a relaxed play, making this option an interesting strategy, especially near the end of a match.
Furthermore, zone defense is effective for returns and theft of passes. This, in turn, provides the opportunity for quick breaks and easy setups. The attacking players often have difficulties attacking zone defense, as opposed to attacking the individual player. Taller, slower players are more effective in zone defense than when they come face-to-face with other players. This strategy is usually a bulletproof trap, especially on smaller courts.
The Principles of Zone Defense
When playing zone defense, the players must follow a set of rules to prevent their defense from falling apart. In order to destroy your defense, the coach of the other team will try to move the ball around quickly. He will also look for quick breaking points. It is very important that the players reach their positions in time, right after they have scored or lost the ball.
It is important that the players have good communication to control the opponents’ offensive moves.
There is no doubt that this is the most difficult aspect to achieve for a coach. It requires continuous effort and concentration from all the players.
The players must constantly pay attention to the ball and its movements. With each pass, the players must follow the movement without forgetting to play without the ball.
When cuts through the zone occur on the side of the ball, the cutting player must be guarded, until he is out of the zone. At that moment, the defensive player needs to return to their position in the zone. Finally, to ensure that the zone defense is effective, all players must pay close attention to the return. During a zone defense, it is more difficult to isolate the opponents since the players are not in constant contact with the opponents. On the other hand, returns are easier since not all players on the other team are open.
How to Attack Zone Defense?
The first solution we should focus on when facing a zone defense is counterattack and quick break. Zone defense is, of course, weaker if it is not set up properly. The defensive return becomes important in order to start a quick break that allows players to reach the other side of the field as quickly as possible. If a team succeeds in preventing the other team from making a quick break and makes them face their zone defense, other options are available. Each one has its own factors to keep in mind. Let’s have a look.
- Use the path
When faced with a zone defense, a player must spread their attack as much as possible. With this they will make the defense spread and increase the distance between the players. So, what is the purpose of this maneuver? To simply make enough space where a player can get to the hoop. This will also force the other players to run more, as they will be forced to cover a larger area of the court.
This concept requires all players to be spread out correctly and maximize the use of space on the court. If you also want to confuse the defenders, place your players between two defenders. This will create doubt about who will guard this attacker.
- Ball movement
When the players are in the right position, make sure they create lanes for passes that will allow them to move the ball quickly, forcing the defense to keep moving. Zone defense is comfortable play for the players that don’t have to move a lot! This constant ball movement will make it difficult to create paths for passes. So, players need to look for the opportunity to send a pass into the zone. This passage in the zone will force the defense to group around the ball and will generate the necessary space for outside shots.
When it comes to this strategy, patience is important, but you must always be aware that you only have twenty-four seconds to complete the shot.
- Switch positions
The game without the ball is of utmost importance when attacking a zone defense. It requires constant and permanent movement during the attack, with movements that make weak side rotations difficult.
- Offensive returns
The absence of one-on-one defense and players further away from the hoop will increase the chance of getting offensive returns. So, it is key to take advantage of this when playing against the zone defense.
-In collaboration with Bazoom Group
