Being befuddled as a head coach is often not something one likes to address. I’ve been around this glorious game of ours long enough to know that there are a couple of standout areas most coaches need to work on in their own games, and, for the record, don’t like to admit them or talk about them, for that matter.
Let’s break all this down.
No. 1 Area – Half-court press offense versus odd-front pressure.
My second year of interscholastic coaching found my Boston Terriers in rural Indiana up against a team from Pleasant View, who were noted for their 1-3-1 half-court trap.
We set up a 2-1-2 offense, but we did no more than move the ball, worrying about spacing and open looks.
Our principal that year was a fellow named Joe Pezzullo, a former coach of some renown in the southern part of the state.
We lost by 10 or 11, and when the game ended, Joe stuffed a business envelope into my sports jacket pocket.
I didn’t give it much thought until we got home. Written on that envelope was the same press breaker that all my teams have used since that 1975 loss to Pleasant View.
The biggest mistake coaches make — and often shy away from — is this: admitting the error of freelancing against those traps and putting in a system that works.
The key phrase here is “finding a way to attack that type of defense.”
I’ve never been much of a freelance type of coach. Half-court defenses, especially those which are extended, trying to wreak havoc all the while, can be tough.
Let’s take a look at old Joe’s half-court offense versus an odd-front defense.
DIAGRAM 1: This is an extended 1-3-1 zone defense trying to disrupt a 2-1-2 offensive set.
By its nature, the 2-1-2 offense, if the ball is moving well, should provide scoring opportunities.
Problem is, ball movement is often not what it should be.
DIAGRAM 2: This is a better way — Joe’s way, if you will — to keep that even-front trap befuddled.
In this set, 1 takes the ball as far as he or she can to the sidelines, giving the hungry defense a different look. 4 breaks out and receives the pass from the point guard. 3 flashes the baseline and stops part of the way through the lane.
Now, the defense has to think. We encourage 4 to pass back to 1, at least at the outset of all this. Diagram 3 continues all this.
DIAGRAM 3: 5 now moves to replace 3. 4 goes to the foul lane and 2 tries to find an opening in the now confused 1-3-1 defense.
By simply rotating the triangle, 3, 4, and 5 have begun the offense and have given the defense a headache, and by reversing the ball, the 1-3-1 trap has to make too many decisions too quickly to be successful.
Trust me when I tell you this: Defenses normally don’t like to think that much.
No. 2 Area — Half-court press offense versus even-front pressure.
Coaches and their teams who exhibit trouble versus even-front half-court pressure usually fall into the same pitfalls as those who have trouble versus traps in the half-court of the odd-front variety: too much dribbling with no plan.
The odd-front attack should have movement and this one does.
DIAGRAM 4: The 1-2-2 alignment versus an even-front 2-1-2 trap.
The key to attacking this kind of pressure is simple: rotate the offense versus this trapping defense. Diagram 5 shows this rotation.
DIAGRAM 5: 1 dribbles to the sideline. This move confuses the trapping defense. 2, your off guard, now makes a V-cut move then comes as far as needed to receive the ball. At this point, 5 drops down the lane, looking for the ball. At the same time, 4 cuts across the foul line. There’s often a scoring opportunity off the defense’s movement.
At the same time, 3, hopefully your best shooter, is making his or her way up the foul lane, looking for a pass.
We got as many scoring opportunities from this move as any. Timing is everything.
DIAGRAM 6: If the ball comes back to the point, 2 goes through and replaces 3.
The key to this nifty rotation is not becoming predictable. Side-to-side rotation versus this trap aids continuity and effectiveness.
This little offense is so effective that we have often used it as an end-game.
We have even taught the kids this mantra: Down, over, up, pass back, go through. It works and the traps often don’t last long.
Next time: Full-court press offenses – another coaching weakness.
