Ahmet Dedeoğlu
06-16-2008, 04:27 AM
Press BreakerPosted on 2008 under Articles, Pressure Offense |
18 Apr
This post is in response to the following question posted by Coach Jeff on 4/18/2008,
Hey Coach,
Do you have a good play to break a zone press? This would be for a 6th grade team.
Thanks,
Jeff
Coach,
I’ve put together a quick run-down of a pretty simple and sound offensive attack against zone pressure. I hope you find it useful. As always…questions, feedback and dialogue are welcome! Coach Stinson.
To beat a zone press, I would aim for a simple approach that focuses mainly on spacing and ball fakes.
In any trap situation, we want the following 3 options available: 1. Reversal pass (pass backwards to 1). In my opinion, this is the most important piece. Always have a safety available behind the ball. 2. Gut pass - The pass to the middle (to 5) . This is the pass that breaks the press 9 times out of 10. 3. Forward pass - The pass directly up the floor. This formation of 3 players around the trap is called the ‘cup’ by most coaches.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
grey line=direction of the offense
If we are trapped and we are set up in a cup formation the defense can’t cover all 3 passing options without leaving the basket area open. (3) - spacing is critical.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
Ball Fakes. More often than not, 2 defenders will be assigned to the 3 players in the cup. This illustrates why ball fakes are critical against zone pressure A good ball fake to 4 or 5 will cause X2 and X5 to react and shift, leaving 1 open for the reversal pass.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
If you’re facing denial against the inbounds pass, you can start 2 and 3 on the elbows and pop them to the wings (or screen for each other and cross).
The wing that doesn’t receive the pass (3) floats downcourt to provide the deep pass option
When a wing catches, the weakside halfcourt player cuts to the ball. Some times a pass directly in to 5 will ‘gut’ the press before it even begins.
The most important points here are:
2 must immediately catch and read - look up the floor and survey. Younger kids in particular might tend to shy away from a trap by turning away instead of catching and reading. This will kill you every time. Get into the habit of catching and quickly reading. In the best case scenario, 2 would catch the pass and immediately hit 5 on the cut from behind the press.
1 must step inbounds quickly to provide a reversal option. If the defense traps the pass immediately., we want to have the reversal pass covered just as quickly. 1 should step; to the ball, as most defenses that trap the inbounds pass will look to steal this pass
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
The ball is reversed as 3 slides back up.
When the ball hits 3 on the side, the middle player (5) makes a diagonal cut to the sideline.
At the same time, the weakside midcourt player (4) cuts to the middle from behind the press.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
4 and 5’s roles are identical - When the ball is reversed back to 2, 4 makes the diagonal cut to the sideline and 5 cuts to the middle.
Note: The diagonal cut is very often open; however, the receiver also catches the pass at an awkward angle (if 2 passed to 4 here, 4 would be heading out of bounds). 4 has to catch and read before doing anything else - fundamentals!
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
Any pass that breaks the defenses perimeter (up the middle or down the sideline) cues the team to follow simple fast break rules.
On a pass up the sideline, everybody dives toward the basket.
The middle player (4 here, 5 if the ball was on the other side of the floor). looks for the pass on the dive, then posts up on the low block - just like a secondary fast break.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
If the post pass isn’t there, we look for a quick reversal - just like a secondary break.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
On the gut pass, the sideline players break to the basket.
The receiver faces the basket and looks for the pass to the sideline cutters.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
If the player receiving the gut pass has guard skills, he should also look to push the ball just like a fast break.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
18 Apr
This post is in response to the following question posted by Coach Jeff on 4/18/2008,
Hey Coach,
Do you have a good play to break a zone press? This would be for a 6th grade team.
Thanks,
Jeff
Coach,
I’ve put together a quick run-down of a pretty simple and sound offensive attack against zone pressure. I hope you find it useful. As always…questions, feedback and dialogue are welcome! Coach Stinson.
To beat a zone press, I would aim for a simple approach that focuses mainly on spacing and ball fakes.
In any trap situation, we want the following 3 options available: 1. Reversal pass (pass backwards to 1). In my opinion, this is the most important piece. Always have a safety available behind the ball. 2. Gut pass - The pass to the middle (to 5) . This is the pass that breaks the press 9 times out of 10. 3. Forward pass - The pass directly up the floor. This formation of 3 players around the trap is called the ‘cup’ by most coaches.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
grey line=direction of the offense
If we are trapped and we are set up in a cup formation the defense can’t cover all 3 passing options without leaving the basket area open. (3) - spacing is critical.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
Ball Fakes. More often than not, 2 defenders will be assigned to the 3 players in the cup. This illustrates why ball fakes are critical against zone pressure A good ball fake to 4 or 5 will cause X2 and X5 to react and shift, leaving 1 open for the reversal pass.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
If you’re facing denial against the inbounds pass, you can start 2 and 3 on the elbows and pop them to the wings (or screen for each other and cross).
The wing that doesn’t receive the pass (3) floats downcourt to provide the deep pass option
When a wing catches, the weakside halfcourt player cuts to the ball. Some times a pass directly in to 5 will ‘gut’ the press before it even begins.
The most important points here are:
2 must immediately catch and read - look up the floor and survey. Younger kids in particular might tend to shy away from a trap by turning away instead of catching and reading. This will kill you every time. Get into the habit of catching and quickly reading. In the best case scenario, 2 would catch the pass and immediately hit 5 on the cut from behind the press.
1 must step inbounds quickly to provide a reversal option. If the defense traps the pass immediately., we want to have the reversal pass covered just as quickly. 1 should step; to the ball, as most defenses that trap the inbounds pass will look to steal this pass
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
The ball is reversed as 3 slides back up.
When the ball hits 3 on the side, the middle player (5) makes a diagonal cut to the sideline.
At the same time, the weakside midcourt player (4) cuts to the middle from behind the press.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
4 and 5’s roles are identical - When the ball is reversed back to 2, 4 makes the diagonal cut to the sideline and 5 cuts to the middle.
Note: The diagonal cut is very often open; however, the receiver also catches the pass at an awkward angle (if 2 passed to 4 here, 4 would be heading out of bounds). 4 has to catch and read before doing anything else - fundamentals!
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
Any pass that breaks the defenses perimeter (up the middle or down the sideline) cues the team to follow simple fast break rules.
On a pass up the sideline, everybody dives toward the basket.
The middle player (4 here, 5 if the ball was on the other side of the floor). looks for the pass on the dive, then posts up on the low block - just like a secondary fast break.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
If the post pass isn’t there, we look for a quick reversal - just like a secondary break.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
On the gut pass, the sideline players break to the basket.
The receiver faces the basket and looks for the pass to the sideline cutters.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]
If the player receiving the gut pass has guard skills, he should also look to push the ball just like a fast break.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links]