Rick Pitino Louisville Zone Set Plays by Bradley Zellner

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 Plays | Basketball Set Plays | Zone Offense

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March 6, 2014

Rick Pitino Louisville Zone Set Plays by Bradley Zellner

The key to beating a zone is having great player and ball movement. Syracuse has been one of the best teams in the country this season and the reason has been the success of Jim Boeheim’s 2-3 zone defense. There is one team that seemed to have the zone figured out. The last few years of Big East play, Louisville always had a great game plan against a zone. The Rick Pitino Louisville Zone Set Plays are extremely effective. Whenever Syracuse played the Cardinals you knew it is going to be a fun, well played game to watch. It will be great when Louisville joins the ACC and theses 2 teams get to play yearly again.

Rick Pitino has the ability to extend the zone. When the defense is extended they are forced to make decisions and covering the floor becomes more of a challenge. A great way to attack the Syracuse zone is from the foul line area. The first Rick Pitino Louisville Zone Set Plays is a great quick hitter that allows the offense to get a pass to the rim or a three point shot from the corner. Louisville gets the ball to the middle of the zone and quickly spaces out. The quick movement makes it difficult for the defense to cover the entire floor and there will almost always be an open player.

Another Rick Pitino Louisville Zone Set Plays was used to attack the middle of the zone with quick ball movement and sending cutters to the foul area to find a gap in the middle of the zone. The offense would try to get the ball inside and then extend the zone. Pitino wants his wing players to always sprint to the corners whenever the ball goes to the foul line area. He always seems to have a couple shooters that will knock it down from the corner. I was not impressed with the sets when I first saw them on paper. When I saw them used in practice/games, I was able to see how the plays are effective in breaking down a zone.

Brad Zellner was most recently the Associate Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Indiana University Southeast in New Albany, IN; where he was deeply involved in all phases of the program. From daily practice planning and coaching to game preparation in decision making, Zellner played an integral role in the program’s daily operation. During his 4 years at IU Southeast, the team was consistently a nationally ranked team (the highest ranking being 3rd), while winning 4 straight regular season and 4 conference championships. IU Southeast made regular appearances at the NAIA National Tournament with 2 sweet 16, 2 elite 8 and 1 final four appearance. Zellner also help recruit and develop 11 All-Conference, 2 Conference player of the year, 3 Honorable Mention All-Americans, 1 Second Team All-American and 1 First Team All-American.

Coach Zellner also served as Head Coach for one season at Miami University Hamilton in Hamilton, Ohio. When hired at Miami-Hamilton, Zellner had to recruit almost the entire roster with only 5 weeks before the start of classes. The season finished with 14 wins and a runner up finish in the ORCC State Championship.

Prior to that, Zellner served his first stint as an Assistant Coach at IU Southeast. He helped rebuild a program that had won only 6 games prior to Zellner’s arrival. He was involved in all aspects of daily operations, served as the recruiting coordinator and worked mainly with the development of the perimeter players. IU Southeast averaged 17 wins a season, won 3 conference championships and made one appearance in the NAIA National Tournament. Coach Zellner helped recruit and develop 9 All-Conference Players, 2 Conference Players of the Year and 4 Honorable Mention All-Americans. Coach Zellner has worked numerous summer basketball camps. He served as camp director at Indiana Univeristy Southeast. He also worked summer camps at The Ohio State University, Northern Kentucky University, Xavier University, University of Cincinnati, Taylor University and Eastern Kentucky University. He was also involved in AAU basketball for Team Southern Indiana and Denali Basketball Club. Coach Zellner holds a Master’s of Sports Science degree in Sports Management/Coaching from the United States Sports Academy and a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Eastern Kentucky University. While at EKU, Zellner served as a student manager for the men’s basketball team. He handled various administrative duties for the basketball program.