1-3-1 Zone Defense by Rory Hamilton

Written by Coach Peterman

I have coached at the NCAA Division 2 (Southwestern Oklahoma State University), NAIA (USAO), and JUCO Levels (Blinn College and Carl Albert State College) as well as high school. I just felt that fellow coaches especially young coaches need to constantly work on their “game”. Just like the basketball players that we coach. We as coaches need to improve ourselves. That is my story and why I do this blog.

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Basketball Coaching | Basketball Defenses

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February 1, 2014

1-3-1 Zone Defense by Rory Hamilton

As post season draws closer for us basketball coaches and we look to add a wrinkle into our defensive playbook, look no further than the 1-3-1 zone defense. This defense has been a staple in our defensive playbook for 7 years and has helped our program get to the state tournament the last two seasons. We like the 1-3-1 because of its versatility and the ability to play the passing lanes and force lob passes. You can also extend, trap, or pack in the 1-3-1 depending on your personnel. We like the 1-3-1 zone defense because so many teams attack it in either a 2-1-2 or a 2-3(double-low) alignment, which allows us to prepare and drill our coverages for these attacks. There are way more zone offenses for a 2-3 or 3-2 zone; we have found that most people attack our 1-3-1 zone defense in a similar ways, which makes our preparation easier and more effective.

Simple Keys/Concepts for the 1-3-1 zone defense

1. Big On the Ball/ Wide off the ball (Offense mush throw around you or over you and never through you)

2. Play the passing lanes 1st—Quick Ball Movement makes it hard on the baseline (warrior) defender, lobs help us move on airtime of the pass

3. Clogger must always keep ball off the high post and funnel ball to the corners.

4. Give your wings freedom for soft traps and hard traps in the corners.

5. Keeper must fly to weakside block on every shot from the wing or corner to aid in rebounding.

6. Force all dribble penetration into the middle of the zone into what we call an “umbrella trap”

If you have any questions or would like to know some of the drills we use to teach the 1-3-1, you can contact me anytime at rhamilton@mountstmary.org

Coach Hamilton is the head girls coach at Mount St. Mary High School in Oklahoma City Oklahoma. He has 13 years of basketball coaching experience at various levels. He has coached at the collegiate, middle school and high school level. This past year he led Mount St. Mary to its first ever state tournament and ending the season with a 20-7 record.