ISH Basketball/NBA experts...what is the best way to beat 2 - 3 zone?

[AlphaWolf24]

Just pickin everyone's brain for a second....

I know getting the ball into the short corner is good against the Zone...any other ideas?

also what about the 3 - 2?

[chips93]

Get the ball in the middle (around the free-throw line area) and suck in the defense.. then let the 3's rain.

If you don't have capable shooters then you're in for some problems.. (assuming the team running the zone is an elite defensive team)

this

have your power forward flash to the freethrow line.

keep the ball moving, swing it around the perimeter, and drive to the middle when the defense gets pulled around. the top 2 guys in the zone have to cover 3 perimeter players, so swing the ball quickly, and a hole will open up on the perimeter.

push the ball in transition, teams playing zone will take a little longer to get organised than teams playing man defense

attack the glass, teams playing zone are prone to giving up offensive rebounds.

[sick_brah07]

this

have your power forward flash to the freethrow line.

keep the ball moving, swing it around the perimeter, and drive to the middle when the defense gets pulled around. the top 2 guys in the zone have to cover 3 perimeter players, so swing the ball quickly, and a hole will open up on the perimeter.

push the ball in transition, teams playing zone will take a little longer to get organised than teams playing man defense

attack the glass, teams playing zone are prone to giving up offensive rebounds.


pretty much this

sometimes its a great idea to get your best slasher to the free throw area as a zone will expect that kick out leaving the slasher to 90% chance of a lay up or a foul

[AlphaWolf24]

any ideas about trying to get the ball in the short corner?....

[Droid101]

Get your tallest player in the high post. Cut the baseline and space the floor. Pass a lot.

[ArbitraryWater]

Michael Jordan shows you how to defeat a 3-2 Zone defense (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6_GgXXR4vA)

[UK2K]

Point. Two wings. Big man shooter running from free throw elbow to elbow, and your big man banger running the baseline.

Ball movement to get the defense to rotate. Pick it apart.

[UK2K]

And if you want really easy open looks, just overload one side and screen the top defender. You have a wide open look from the top of the key, the elbow, or the corner depending on who the post side defender chooses not to step out on.

[Papaya Petee]

I always ran a 1-3-1 offense when playing against a 2-3 zone. Lots of ball movement, limit the dribbling, the person on the foul line and the person on the baseline set picks for each other and switch positions. The person running baseline runs baseline in different patterns. Be very patient, utilize shot fakes as the defense up top is scrambling to recover to the people on the perimeter and take smart shots.

[AirFederer]

ISH delivers :cheers:

[selrahc]

have kobe bryant on your team

[Thorpesaurous]

Most of the stuff has already been said in here. Short corner and high post, especially high post, are the spots you want to get to. In fact I usually teach my short corner guys to look quickly toward the high post because the defense is usually just turning and crashing toward them at that point, and it's usually week there at that moment if you can get the pass through.

A couple other things I teach. Recognize who's playing you. If it's a high man take him low, if it's a low man dribble him high. You want to get the defense to stretch as much as you can.

Don't be afraid to screen it. Most people don't think to screen against a zone. But there's two in particular I swear by. If the ball is in the corner and comes back to a wing, that guy that flashed to the high post, if he doesn't get a quick feed, should really consider screeing the defender on the ball. If he turns the corner he gets to the high post. It doesn't really matter how you get it there, you just have to understand that's a breaking point. If he can't turn the corner it should be because the other guard had tome come way over, and if the pass is quick across to the weakside, it should leave a lot of room to attack.

And the second screen I like is in from the weakside. When you get to the middle, looking opposite usually yields a lot. And if you can get those defenders screened while they're looking in, it's usually fatal, and after they get by the screen, I like my screeners to slide in and seel the center as deep as possible for post position, which often just clears up that middle for cutters coming across.

The fatal sin is not switch sides of the court. Anytime an offensive guy on the wing gets the ball and doesn't move it quickly from one side to the other, either by pass or dribble, we've got a problem. It's just letting everyone get set back up.

For the more advanced teams I'd start throwing skip passes, but that takes someone who can really pass and the defense needs to be pretty soft.


As for the three-two, you'll get a lot of the same action, just from different sets. My general rule of thumb is that your offense should be alligned "in between" the layers of the zone. But the movements getting the sides to switch are similar. For example a 3-2 my offense usually starts in a 1-4 allignment, but most of the concepts remain the same, they just look different.

[Mass Debator]

Everyone is basically spot on. Without playing high post, just make the first pass out to a wing (important) and as a shooting big comes screen the point, pass it back. From there, you have plenty of options with a point guard drive. Got a pick and roll to a backside cut or a shooter on the corner 3 depending on which guy comes guard the roller.