Why Playing Zone in Middle School is Wrong

Been to a lot of 8th grade games recently in my quest for an AAU team (a quest that has been less than successful thus far). I am astonished by the number of 8th grade teams that play a lot of zone. So in light of that I will lay out why playing zone in middle school is just not right. I am not an anti-zone guy, as a matter of fact the 1-3-1 was my base with our varsity last year. I am just against playing zone at young ages. My case is as follows.



1. Playing zone doesn't develop on ball defensive skills.
There is a certain skill to playing a guy one on one in man to man. Of course you still have the help, but it's your job to stay in front of them. When I watch 8th grade teams play zone, and it's a lot of sagging off, not pressuring, and just kind of watching when the guy drives by.




2. Playing zones doesn't allow the offense to work on driving the ball.
The drive has become a bigger and bigger part of our game, and players need to be able to work on it in a game setting. Against zone however, they spend a lot of time standing, passing hte ball around the perimeter, and then driving into 2-3 guys. Instead of teaching how to stop the drive, coaches at the youth level simply switch to a zone.

3. Playing zone forces a lot of players to jack up three pointers.
I have watched a lot of teams shooting three pointers



4. Zone doesn't teach good help defense and movement.
Help defense is great in the zone, because they are just standing there. They just kind of saunter form place to place. They don't have to defend a cut then jump to the ball to help on the drive. They just kind of let the cutter go through and then wait for the drive still in help. It's not an active defense usually and that gives kids the idea that defense is not an active task.

5. Most high school teams play man.
I can think of 1-2 high school teams in the metro area that play mostly zone. So most of the teams play man the majority of the time. I can see playing zone in middle school if they are only going to play that in high school, but it's not the case usually. So why play a defense at the middle school level they won't be playing when they get older? Again, it goes back to development vs. winning, what do you want?

You can say that any defense taught poorly is a bad defense, and I agree. I just think that zone defense lends it self better to engraining those bad habits in a player. And I know some of my arguments revolve around offense of the opponent, but let's be honest, like Stan Van Gundy said, are you more concered about winning an 8th grade league or developing players? At the middle school level, I feel that all of the emphasis has to be put on player development over winning. As you get older the ratio shifts, but I can say that with this 8th grade team I am taking I would rather lose a bunch of games and have the guys be successful as seniors in high school than win a bunch and watch them ride the pine. But that's just one man's opinion!

Beating the Sag with the Skip

Lately we've had a lot of teams sagging on us in the read and react taking away the basket cuts, back cuts, and drives. Forcing us to be a jump shooting team, which isn't a great option for most teams.

So how do you combat this? You can't drive, can't post, can't cut, and can't get inside.

The answer is easy, skip the ball. Skipping the ball makes the defense have to close out long distances since they are overplaying the help. These closeouts allow our players to make a move and attack with the bounce, and the help won't be in position yet, hopefully, having to come from the other side of the floor. It's why Coach Walberg's DDM was originally called AASAA - Attack, Attack, SKIP, Attack, Attack. Coach Walberg know that in DDM teams would overplay him with help and that's why the skip is vital.

Once you start skipping the ball, the defense starts to sneak out and try to defend the skip. This starts to eliminate the help as players cheat to be in better position to defend the skip. This then opens up the middle for driving and cutting. The other nice thing about the skip is it's always open because the defender is in extreme help in the lane. It's about taking what the defense gives you and exploiting it.

When to Slip a Ball Screen

At practice the other day, Coach Liesener came up with a great rule for players setting the ball screen. Our new rule for ball screening is as follows: As you sprint over to set the screen, you need to slip the screen to the rim if you can't see your defender. If you can't see your defender it means he is behind you and you can cut in front to the basket. Pretty simple rule that is very effective. It also really kills teams that get out to hedge early because you are always slipping screens and beating them for layups. It forces them to hedge later or softer to protect against the slip. This allows your guard coming off the pick and roll to have a better driving angle at the rim.

When NOT to Get On a Player

I have the privilidge of coaching an 8th grade team with the Minnesota Magic this spring. I chose to coach at the 8th grade level because then I can really focus on player development instead of "exposure" at this level.

Because of this, I have been watching a lot of 8th grade basketball. I have seen some really good things, lots of good team work, good attitudes and sportsmanship for the most part. A little too much zone and guys coaching in tee shirts, hats, and sweatpants, but that's another post and another time.

Something I saw a few weeks ago frustrated me though, and I have been meaning to blog about it. In an 8th grade game a team was down at half to a team they should have been beating and the coach was irritated - understandable. But then he proceeds to berate a player for missing shots. There is no teaching point there like "your shot selection needs to improve" or "you need to be shooting different shots". It was just you need to make shots.

I have no problem with a coach getting on a player at all, I get on my guys as much as anyone. But it was WHY he got on his guy that left me shaking my head. In my opinion, we as coaches need to get on guys about things they can control. It wasn't like when the kid was missing on purpose, he was doing his best to knock down shots and they were not falling.

Some things that I think are important to get on players about:
1. Lack of effort - without question this is the one that always gets me.
2. Mental lapses - not doing something because they just were mentally lazy.
3. Execution of What You've Taught - If you have taught something well, then there is no excuse for them executing it. I have a problem with this one as a coach at times because I always think I have not taught it well enough.
4. Dumb Fouls - Fouls because they are not moving their feet, they are reaching, or gambling.
5. Poor Attitude - This one is a no duh. But many coaches appear to be more worried about shots going in than how guys carry themselves. This is an opportunity for coaches to teacha life lesson.
6. Poor Shot Selection - Not that the shots are not going in, but the shots they are taking. Shots that are outside their range or not in the best interest of the team.


Some things I don't think you need to get on your guys about:
1. Shooting - They know the point is to put the ball in the hole. They are not missing on purpose! Are they good shots? Are they shots you want shot? If the answer is yes then let the misses go.
2. Effort Fouls - Anytime they foul going hard (loose balls, rebounding, etc) it's ok.
3. Things You Have Not Taught Them - If you haven't taught it, or taught it well, they are not going to do it. And don't assume players know something, teach it so they know. If they are not doing it, it may be because you haven't taught it well enough or they haven't practiced it enough.




So there you go. Although I noticed it at a youth tournament I am sure it happens at the high school, college, and NBA levels as well. What do you think?? Comments?

Stan Van Gundy Video on

This is a short video clip from Orlando Magic's Stan Van Gundy on youth basketball. I think it's spot on and everyone needs to see it - especially youth coaches.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ9jTOAMTtk

Using the Dribble Weave Against Half Court Man to Man Pressure and Trapping

Recently, I watched a game where one of the teams is known for their stifling half court pressure and trapping out of their man to man. The other team utilized an interesting technique against their pressure and trapping.

They ran the dribble weave from a five out set. They basically ran the dribble weave continuously until they say an opening to turn the corner. They also looked to slip the hand off and throw the ball over the top to the slipping player. Another thing they did was to back cut when one of the defenders left to try and trap the dribble. Once they decided to penetrate it was a matter of the bottom two defenders collapsing and they would either kick out for a three or the corner would cut in to the rim as their defender left to help. Their front three were very wide, around the volleyball line. It just did a good job of making it hard to trap the ball and create turnovers for the other team. I think, however, that you have to have pretty good ballhanlders to make it work.




Along this same line, I was watching a college practice the other day and they did something similar with one of their sets. They would dribble weave in a 3 out 2 in look. Eventually their opposite post would flash to the ball, they would enter it to the high post and look to move or cut from there. They used the dribble weave to lull the defense to sleep and then attack with the pass and the back cut.

Why Chris Carter Was Great

I am listening to Cris Carter, former Vikings wide receiver, sitting in as a guest host on Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN. They were discussing the idea of a quarterback and talking to a wide receiver about running a route wrong during a game. The cohost was asking Carter if that is the right thing to do - would he want a quarterback doing that to him? Carter's answer was classic and spot on. He said something to the effect of "Why wouldn't I want someone to help me if I wasn't doing my job right? I want to do the right thing." That's exactly why Cris Carter was a truly great wide receiver. All that he wanted was to be great, and it didn't matter how he got there.