Attacking a Zone Defense
place its center or power forward, whichever is bigger or stronger, in the low post portion of the swing forward's zone, thus taking advantage of size. The offense's swing forward or shooting guard should be positioned in the power forward's zone, thus taking advantage of speed. The remaining big player, either the power forward or center, goes to the middle to keep the defending center from cheating. The offense has a number of new options that can be utilized due to the match-up problems that have been created for the defense.
9) Rely on ball movement more than player movement
Against man-to-man defenses, player movement is critical to force defenders to make choices and thereby create shots. Zones, however, react to the ball rather than to players. Ball movement is therefore crucial. Quick passing will force a zone to react and may enable the offense to get around the point of the zone and attack the weak side. Cross court passes, which are dangerous against man-to-man, are highly effective in reaching the weak side of the zone. Zones are designed to guard the one-man-away pass and the penetrating pass. Ball movement makes the zone rotate and may open temporary gaps or seams that can be attacked.
10) Use the dribble to "distort" the zone
Coach Bob Knight coined the term "distort" when referring to the goal of an offense playing against a zone. Since a zone is designed to effectively guard areas, zones are set-up to cover all areas of the floor. If, however, one player in the zone is forced to make a choice or react to an action that does not effect the other defenders, then the defensive alignment has been shifted slightly, or "distorted", and new gaps or seams may exist. Since zones react primarily to ball movement, simply dribbling the ball along the edge of one player's zone will force that defender to make several choices without causing the zone to rotate. For example, if the offensive player dribbles the ball to the three point line at the top of the key and then continues dribbling along the edge of the three-point line toward one baseline or the other, the defender at the top of the key must react to this movement while the zone will not yet rotate. When the defender moves, how far does he move? At what point does the player in the next zone move over to compensate?
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