"I must create a system, or be enslav'd by another man's." – William Blake

William Blake's timeless words certainly apply to the chess match occurring within the game of basketball. Often times defense can be an intellectual game within the game between coaches. Keeping your opponent guessing what defense you are in can make the difference between winning and losing.

Our goal is to take the "offensive" on defense. Dean Smith and Bob Hurley have developed multiple defensive systems in their programs as a way to force opponent's offenses to react to their defense. I have also had success at the modified, junior varsity, and varsity levels running as many defenses as I think my team can learn.

A successful multiple defensive system is only possible when players buy in. Players believe in multiple defenses when they are confident, have experience, and coaches emphasize that change is good and the confusion it creates is normal and an advantage for us.

Creating Player Confidence

Multiple defense coaches need to promote player confidence so they are comfortable changing it up during games. Players seem to naturally be conservative defensively. It can be out of their comfort zone to get out of a defense that is working or stick with a defense after giving up a bucket.

Most importantly, a good system that promotes player confidence needs to make logical sense.

Coaches tend to take a linear approach and add defenses one at a time with random names like Duke, 13, etc. Without a logical plan of organization the names become one jumbled mass with very little adaptability to special situations and create a ceiling of understanding.

I have adapted Dean Smith's numbered system for my needs at the modified, JV, and varsity level, which allows players to generalize the information in a systematic way that becomes our defensive language. Smith's system allows for as many defenses as you can imagine that relate to one another in a rational symbiotic way.

In a nutshell, Smith has organized his defenses according to zone, man, run and jump, a combination man and zone, and where the defense's point of attack is.

The Numbering System

In our system all man-to-man defenses begin with a 2.

Odd-front zones begin with a 3 (zone defenses that have one or three men at the point of attack: 1-2-1-1, 1-3-1, 3-2).

Even-front zones begin with 4 (zone defenses that have two men at the top: 2-2-1, 2-3).

Combination man and zone begin with a 5 (box and one), 6 (triangle and 2), and 7 (diamond and 1).

The second number tells you where the defense begins on the floor. 4 = full court, 3 = 3/4 court, 2 = 1/2 court, 1 = 3 pt. line.

For example, "24" is full court man to man and 22 is half court man to man. "34" is a 1-2-11 full court diamond press and "32" is a 1-3-1 half court zone. "44" is a 2-2-1 full court press and "42" is a half-court zone trap.

Communicating the Level of Pressure

The level of pressure you bring depends on what series you are in.

If you want to run your full court pressure defenses that end in a four, you are in the “cheetah series." The cheetah is the fastest animal in our system and symbolizes the pace we want to create with our full court pressure. Once the coach establishes the "cheetah series," the quarterback (point guard) has the power to change defenses to 24, 34, 44, or 54 on the fly.

Our 3/4 court pressure defenses are in the "tiger series" and end in a 3.

The "stag series" contains our half-court defenses ending in a two, like 32, while the “turtle series” contains our three-point line defenses and end in a one, like 71.

Using Hand Signals

Hand signals help multiple defense teams communicate and be on the same page in loud environments.

Players like to communicate in code. It makes them confident and feel part of a community that stands out from the rest. If we have established a particular series, for instance "cheetah" and we want to change to a different look, the quarterback or coach can use different hand signals so everyone knows what we are in. If the quarterback raises both hands, we are man to man, one hand up means odd-front zone, two hands down means even front zone, hands held together mean junk defense.

So if we are in "turtle series" and the coach has one hand up we are in a 3-2 zone, two hands up = man to man, and two hands down = 2-3 zone. The hands held together signal gets a little tricky because we have three different combination man and zone defenses in the "turtle series". We have to confirm which junk defense we are in with a verbal echo of 51, 61, or 71.

Putting it Together

While this system can appear difficult initially, it becomes the lexicon of a tough smart program that communicates constantly when players have confidence using the language.

We have three rules that help us change regularly and be prepared for particular situations...

• Rule number one is half-court man (22) on all missed shots and turn-overs, our fast break defense.
  
  
• Rule number two is our 2-3 zone, "41", on all baseline out of bounds.
  
  
• Rule number three is to change the defense on all dead balls. The quarterback can change the defense within the particular series, as decided upon by the coach, during pre-game, time-outs, and half time. For example, if we are in the turtle series the quarterback can change to 21, 31, 41, 51, 61, or 71.

Teaching the System with Special Situation Drills

Multiple defensive systems are built over time through special situation drills in practice...

The end of game drill from Don Kelbick is a great way of re-creating game like situations in practice. Put three minutes on the clock, tip off or place your team in a situation like a BLOB, play until one team scores six points (2s and 3s) and then start the clock. Play out the rest of scrimmage as if it was the end of the game and you'll find yourself in a variety of clutch situations.

Full court 4 on 4 on 4 (or 5 on 5 on 5), from Bob Hurley Sr., allows your team plenty of opportunity to talk, use hand signals, change it up, and play against different looks.

Make three teams of four players, each with a quarterback who calls the defenses and ideally a coach to work with. Place one team at each basket to play defense and one at the circle ready to play offense. The defense can choose man, box zone, diamond zone, or a triangle and one each time the offense comes down the floor. If they get a stop, they go down the floor on offense without pressure. If the offense scores, the offense can set up a 2 – 2 full court zone press and the defense quickly transitions to try and beat the press.

Coaches need to emphasize communication during practice and games through the "echo" call. When coach yells, "echo" the whole team should be responding with the same particular defense we are in at that moment. All communication, offensively or defensively, should be followed with a loud echo to increase confusion and havoc, our ultimate goal.

Confusing the Opponent (Force them to React to You)

When players understand how the system works and see how they have an advantage over teams that don't have a systematic approach to changing it up, your team has established its identity and other teams need to prepare for it.

Every time our opponent calls timeout because of confusion on offense, I am quick to point out how we were able to gain momentum and get in our opponent's head through our “confusing” multiple defensive system. I've told my teams over and over “we are the smarter team."

During those timeouts we will likely change for the sake of change and create even more confusion because the other coach probably drew something up for your previous defense. The chess game continues while your players buy in more and more to you and your philosophy, the ultimate goal for any coach regardless of what systems they have.

Tips for Implementing a Multiple Defensive System

Here are some other important coaching notes when implementing a multiple defensive system:

• Use box and one at beginning of games to get the opposing coach thinking about it. You'll use many other defenses during the game so it can be a waste of energy to focus on the box and 1.
  
  
• Use triangle and two late in the game as a way to confuse offenses that utilize dribble drive. There won't be enough time to respond to this new look and a dribble heavy team will wind up in the clutches of your zone.
  
  
• Making free throws is especially key in order to set up the defense you'd like instead of stopping a fast break with man to man. Emphasize free throw shooting in practice.
  
  
• 1-3-1 is good for a handful of possessions but offenses will adjust quickly. We spend the majority of our time with the details of our 2-3 zone and man because we will be in those more frequently.
  
  
• When pressing use the call "All-Over," to guard the inbounder, or "Straight" to free up the man defending the inbounder to be a safety or extra trapper of the first pass.
  
  
• “41 up” is a nice wrinkle that has the two top defenders in the 2-3 zone trap the ball when it comes over half court.

Through experience and careful coach emphasis, players become confident in a multiple defense system that forces offense to react to the defense. By establishing a logical system, coaches create a lexicon for their program that creates pride for their team and confusion for opponents.

Hand signals, series, and limited rules further strengthen a multiple defensive system. Well-planned practices with the end in mind and drills that re-create game like situations prepares players for a long run into the playoffs. Come tournament time players are ready and used to always being on the offensive and forcing opponents to react to them. The goal for any championship bound team.

Download and print the PDF numbering system.

Related Pages and Recommended Resources

Comprehensive Zone Defense Information

An Easy Way to Start a 1-3-1 Defense

Al Marshall's Aggressive 2-3 Zone Defense - The Defense Your Opponents Will Hate

Jim Huber's Man to Man Defense - Drills and Step By Step Process

Comments Most Likes First   Oldest First   Newest First Darren Kresge says: 12/23/2015 at 10:10:13 AM I like the glove idea and could use it to strengthen my use of series. Each glove could represent what series we are in. If I have a green glove on we could be in cheetah series and so on. That would emphasize the coaches decision to press or slow down the pace in the turtle series, a white glove. Like     login   register Coach Painter says: 12/22/2015 at 2:10:33 PM Back when I coached a Junior High team I used different colored gloves to change defenses. If I didn't have a glove on the players knew that we were in our standard man to man defense. If I slipped on a black glove we would go full court man, white was a 2-3 zone and red was a 1-2-2 half court trap. I had 5 different colored gloves in all and the players were taught to look at the coach's hand on all dead ball situations. This allowed for seamless transition from one defense to another and the coach never had to even stand up. It would catch the other team off guard . I would use word pictures in practice to help the kids remember what the different colors meant; for example, Black meant lights out (full court press) and red meant that we were out for blood( half court trap) etc. Like     login   register G says: 12/22/2015 at 10:12:36 AM Excellent! Thank you for sharing. Like     login   register

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