Brian Barone

Southern Illinois University (Edwardsville)

Press & Zone Attacks
4/2/20

Coach Lynch FastDraw Playbook on Coach Barone’s Sets:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10DWWX_eQGSD-HRWWs5QKCcEeiy5KbF0b/view?usp=sharing

I. Press Attack Needs

1. Someone who is Good at ​Taking the Ball Out

● Must see who is open
● Must be able to receive the ball back and not get in trouble

2. Need a PLayer that can ​Advance the ball ​to the Other End of the Court
● Need Someone with Vision
● Stay Away from Players that cannot see Their Teammates

3. Have Someone who can ​Score at the Other End​ of the Press
● Someone Who Knows what to do with the Ball
● Converting into a Score turns the Psychology of the Press in Your Favor

Press Thoughts -
A. Are you Prepared to Break a Press without a Timeout?
● How often do you do Late Game Special Situations
● Practice your Press Break right after a Water Break
B. Do you have a 3/4 Court Press Break?
C. Who is your Best Baseball Pass In-Bounder?
● Emergency Situations
D. Possession over Positions
● Must Meet the Pass
● Don’t just Stand & Wait for the Ball
E. Don’t Anticipate being fouled- Play as if you’ll Advance the Ball

Sample Press Break ​- Pretty Standard Press Break vs a Zone Press Attack
● Don’t be afraid to put a skilled 4 as the inbounder
 ● Small Tweak​ to that Press Breaker where the PG becomes the Inbounder
● Maybe this is something you go to is you don’t have a dependable non PG to enter the ball with.

Special Iso Press Break -

● PG Takes the Ball Out
● Everyone Else clears out - Let the PG Attack in Space
No Middle Stack Press Breaker-
● 5 Man Stays Deep Not allowing his Man to get involved in the Press Break
II. Zone Attack Basics

Basics of Zone Offense -

1. You should Attack both ​Horizontally and Vertically
2. Never Allow 1 Defender to Guard 2 Attackers - “Make 2 Guard 1”
3. Use ​Pass Fakes & Shot Fakes
4. Your Alignment should Distort the Zone
● 1-4 Alignment Distorts any Zone
5. Spacing is Critical
6. The ​Short Corner​ is a Key Spot
● Need to have a Playmaker in that Spot
7. Snap your Passes,​ Don’t Float Passes
8. *Don’t Shoot Quick* - Set Up Quick
9. Prepare your Rebounding Angles
● Wedge, Go Weak Side, Attack From the Top
10. Expand and Contract the Zone​ with Your Movements
11. Post the Bigs Above the Block to Compact the Zone
12. Use the ​3 Point Line​ for Spacing & Penetration Angles
13. Run to Beat the Zone (Use of 3 Point Shot here)

Zone Offense Thoughts -

● Does your Offense ​Distort the Zone​?
● Are you Attacking Gaps? ​2 Must Guard 1
● Do you have ​Overloads​?
● Are you ​Screening​ Various Areas of the Zone
● Are you using ​Cutters and Replacing​ them with Cutters?
● Are you ​Moving the Zone​ from Side to Side? (Dribble & Pass)

More Zone Offense Thoughts -

● Be Willing to run your Man Stuff
○ Matchup Zones are perfectly suited to this kind of stuff
● Let your Offense Figure out the Zone.... Give it Time
○ Two Guard Front
○ High 14 Alignment
○ Direct Screens
● How Quick is a Good / Bad Shot?
○ We want to Shoot the Shot we Want
● Demand Hard Cuts and Occupy Bodies

➔ How often do you practice Zone Offense?​ For Most Coaches this gets kicked to the curb. Find the
Time to do this Consistently.