Extended 2-3 Zone Defense

In our AAU State Championship, we utilized an extended 2-3 zone defense with great results. We applied heavy ball pressure on every pass emphasizing butt down and hands ALWAYS high. Our ball defenders would go out as far as needed to apply pressure, sometimes 25-28 feet! We forced a lot of turnovers and quick shots and we kept our 6' 5" post around the rim. Have you ever extended that far out to pressure the ball in a 2-3 zone and do you think it can be effective long-term? We used m2m about 75% of the time this weekend.

Thanks

I think you can extend your defense as far out as you have to, to either disrupt their offensive flow or take their 3 point shooters out of the game.

We did that out of our 1-3-1 match up and I saw another team use their match up and go out further than we did to control the game and get the W. We kept our post player insdie also in out match up.

Everything revolves around execution on both ends of the floor. I think its a good thing to change defenses once in awhile... keeps the other team off balance and can make your defense more effective. JMO

I read somewhere that extending out that far doesn't allow a player time to rotate to her position on the next pass leaving the middle open etc. I feel having a good rim protector and ball pressure make up for it.

Thanks

I was just coming back to add something... our match up worked this way... our post ( 5 ) played their post player m2m using m2m fundamentals.... on the ball, 2 passes away etc. Everybody else rotated around him.

http://www.coachesclipboard.net/MatchupZone131.html

There is a film clip of one of our games on this site.

I have seen other coaches extend their 2-3 zone with success. But it all depends on your personnel and your defensive goals. If you have quick guards you can do it. If the other team is quicker than you, then extending will probably hurt more than help. And having a big center to protect the basket helps a lot too. But the key is having quick guards that can get up and pressure and cover distance quickly.

I know Al Marshall will extend his 2-3 zone when he has the right personnel and he talks about that a little bit in his dvds.
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/pr/marshall-zone-defense.html

Good thoughts Jeff -

Another good friend of mine, Creighton Burns always says..... " IF your Jimmies and Joes are better than my Xs and 0s, you are going to win the game. " :-)

Are their exceptions? Of course, sometimes you just outplay the other team, or in the case of that film clip, we outshot them most of the night..... 9 fpr 10 from the arc and I think it was 15 for 21 from the FT line. Shoot like that and you will win a lot of games. My players made me look like Coach of the Year that night. They were #8 in the state at the time and we were -- Who knows.

It's amazing how much better your defense becomes when you are shooting well, it puts lot of pressure on the other teams offense. JMO

In the end, it is all about making shots isn't it!?

I am laughing as I read that..... how true..... make shots and the team and coach looks good... miss them and the coach doesn't know anything about the game.