Professional Documents
Culture Documents
I. INTRODUCTIO N
The Potsdam 1-3-1 half-court extended passing lane zone defense is unlik e
conventional zones we often see today . Rather than pack our zone inside and invite th e
perimeter shot, we like to play our "13" zone incorporating many of our-man to ma n
defensive techniques and principles . Just as in our man to man defense, we attempt t o
put great pressure on the basketball and overplay the passing lanes . We want to make
teams lob the basketball, when they make a pass, to give our players in the zone a n
opportunity to move while the ball is in the air . As we take you through our "13" zon e
defense, many of our principles will become apparent .
We use our pressure man to man defense approximately 75% of the time and ou r
"13" zone the remaining 25% . We attempt to frequently change these two defenses an d
use them in conjunction with our full court, 3/4 court, and 1/2 court presses . As in
almost all defenses, alertness, quickness, concentration, and team effort are important fo r
success . All players must quickly move on every pass, (not on the catch) and be in th e
proper new defensive position before the catch .
We want our players to be active and aggressive in the "13" zone defense . They
all must have their hands up and be bouncing in the passing lanes when the ball is on th e
perimeter (unless pressuring the ball or denying ,the high or low post) . We tell the player s
to bounce and to be thinking TIP, not steal . If they can just get apiece of the ball on . a
pass, or make the offense lob a pass, then they have performed successfully . If the firs t
pass the opponent makes against our "13" zone is a lob pass, then the defense will be a t
an advantage . If the first pass against the zone is quick, crisp, and sharp, the players wil l
end up chasing the ball . All passes should be under pressure and the defense should no t
allow the offensive players to .complete easy, quick passes.
THE POINT POSITION : This man sets the tone as far as defensive pressure i s
concerned. Ideally, he would be the tallest guard on the floor ; a person who anticipate s
well; and one who possesses excellent quickness . His size and jumping ability will hel p
deter quick guard to guard ball reversal.
As the ball passes midcourt, the point guard mus t, read and recognize whether the
offense is attacking with one or two guard front against the defense . (see Diags . #2, #3,
#4, #5, and #6 )
THE WING POSITIONS : Ideally, your wings .should be tall and agile ; quick enough to
'guard smaller players on the perimeters as well- as being strong rebounders inside . It i s
vital that your wings constantly communicate with the point and baseline defensive
players, as their respective territories often overlap . The wings must also communicat e
with the defensive post, i .e., flash posts coming from the weakside . (see Diags. #7, #8 ,
#9,#10,#11,#l2,#13,and #14 )
THE BASELINE POSITION : This player should have excellent quickness
because he has so much area to cover (from corner to corner) . , We usually pla y
the smaller of our two guards here . You are probably questioning this strategy o f
placing our smallest player so close to the basket but further detail of hi s
responsibilities will explain why we do this . He must be very vocal and-a grea t
communicator as he can see everything that the offense is trying to do in front o f
him . (see Diags. #15, #16, #17, #18, and #19 )
Except for the 112 court trap, all of the other variations of 13 are keyed off
play by the wing players . (see Diags . #25, #26, #27, #28, #29, #30, #31, #32, #33 ,
and #34)
1.) defending the corner - elbow skip pass (if allowed, it willk1ogthe 13 zone )
2.) defending one and two guard fronts ; and .
3.) defending the high post area when it is vacan t
There are three other special situations a team should be ready to defen d
against . They include:
KEY B - Baselin e
W - Win g
P - Pos t
PT- Poin t
Pr
When facing a two guard front, we want our defensive point man
to play in the passing, lane between their, two guards . We mus t
BOUNCE and force them to LOB passes.
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Most teams have a tendency to enter into the right side of the cour t
and get their shot from the right side . Since most shots rebound
from the right to the left, we want our bigger wing to be on the left
side (F)Of' lin).
The strong-side wing sets up about one step over the 3-point arc .
This forces perimeter shooters out of their range, as most 3-poin t
attempts are taken just past the line . If the ball is on the right sid e
' of the court (facing in), we want our defensive wing to force th e
offensive player out on the perimeter (toward the sideline) .
If the ball is on the Right side (facing in), we want him to have hi s
right foot up ; left foor back; right hand up to have excellent pres --
sure on the ball, and left hand down to discourage any bounce pas s
inside. The wing must bounce when man with the ball is outsid e
his shooting range (5-10 feet beyond the 3-point line) .
11
The wing will aggressively pick up the ball handler, forcin g
perimeter once he arrives just outside the 3-point arc .
The weakside wing plays exactly in line between the ball and an y
offensive man on the weakside . He must be bouncing with both
hands up .
If the defensive point guard and strongside wing have done their
job of influencing the ball to one side of the floor, this allows th e
baseline player to establish his position on the ballside low block .
16
INCORRECT POSITION IN 13 ZONE
New Positions
20
DEFENDING THE HIGH POS T
ti) If the ball is above 15', the defensive post must defend an y
offensive player in the high post area . He must front the post wit h
a hand and a foot in the passing lane .
If there is nQ offensive player in the high post area when the ball is
above 15', we direct our defensive post to take two steps back an d
towards the middle of the lane and erect a flash post into the high
post area
WWI
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The defensive post man must work very hard to box out after a
shot as he will sometimes be fronting the offensive post as the shot
is taken from the outside .
We play this most of the time . When the ball is in the corner, w e
want our wings to bounce, think tip, and, force them to lob ball ou t
of the corner. WE CANNOT ALLOW A BULLET PASS FRO M
THE CORNER TO THE OPPOSITE ELBOW . Obviously, th e
taller the wing is, the further he can bounce away from the ball an d
still apply pressure to force the lob .
WI - Shorter Win g
W2 - Taller Wing
26
"13 PRESSURE" POINT POSITIO N
The point man defends (fronts) the ballside elbow (high post area) .
If there is no offensive player in the high post or elbow area, the
point should anticipate a flash post or a skip pass to the opposit e
elbow.
D
One other point to remember is that the opposite wing, besides '
calling out flash posts and impeding theix progress, must be read y
to help out on possible lobs from the corner to the low post .
"13 TRAP "
29
"13 TRAP "
You can also use this tactic as a surprise element if the offense ha s
a poor passer or short player with the ball in the corner . ALL
RESPONSIBILITIES ARE THE EXACT SAME, EXCEPT FO R
THE WING,who now goes all the way to the corner to trap . When
we seta trap, we still think of just tipping and getting a piece of th e
ball - pot trying to steal the ball out of the double team .
30
SHIFT OF DEFENSE IN 13 TRA P
If the ball is passed out to the same side wing from the corner, ou r
0 point must stop any penetration as the ballside wing regains goo d
defensive position on the ball . The wing must quickly again pus h
the ball out beyond the 3-point area and force perimeter .
31
"13 DROP"
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If the offense is still successfully completing the corner - elbo w
skip pass, even with our corner trap, we will then go into' our 1 3
DROP. The point and the wing now each have differen t
responsibilities when the ball is in the corner. The wing now
"drops" to defend the high post area.on the ballside . The point
now plays at the opposite elbow to stop the skip pass .
There isn't as much pressure on the ball in the corner and we allow
the ball to be passed out to the same side wing . However, we hav e
now stopped the corner - elbow skip pass and the wing can quickly
apply pressure when the ball is,passed from the corner to th e
wing .
"13 SUICIDE"
34
SHIFT OF DEFENSE IN "13 SUICIDE "
It is imperative to set a good trap in the corner and have the other 3
players deny the three possible outlets . If a good trap is set, th e
man with the ball in the corner should not be able to throw a cross-
court pass with any sharpness .
SPECIAL SITUATION "DEFENDING THE WING CUTTE R
IN 13 ZONE "
The wing stays with the cutter until the post drops and can defen d
the low block. The wing ' then returns to bounce (in 13 pressure) ,
trap (in 13 trap), or defend the ball side elbow (13 drop) . The
weakside wing must be in position to help on the ballside low pos t
until the , post can defend, the low .
SPECIAL SITUATION
38
SPECIAL SITUATION " SCREENING THE POST "
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"BOXING OUT ON SHOT FROM THE WING "
40
"BOXING OUT ON SHOT FROM CORNER "
4
- Baseline boxes shooter
- Post boxes low post (he must work especially hard for position i f
he is in a frontal postition )
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- Opposite wing boxes opposite wing or pos t
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