Basketball Offense - Attacking the Diamond 1-2-1-1 Full Court Press

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First see "Attacking the Full Court Press" for general pointers on how to beat the press. Realize that the weakness of the 1-2-1-1 full-court press is up the sideline at mid-court. Use a 1-2-2 setup. Stack the two on the free throw line side by side or in a stack formation. Have two at half court, near the sidelines. Oftentimes, you often like to go up the middle against the press, but in this case, always have a receiver along the ball-side sideline near mid-court. The point guard will look to the middle and the ball-side sideline for the pass.

1. Have one of your post players inbound the ball as quickly as possible after a made basket, before the defense gets set. Have the same player take it out each time and make sure he knows that this is his assignment.

2. Get the ball into the hands of your best dribbler and passer. Optimally, your point guard gets the ball in the middle, where he/she can dribble, pass up the middle or to the left side, or dribble and draw the defense and dish off. But often the center pass is not possible, so let's say O1 cuts toward the right corner. O1 has to look immediately to the middle, or up the right sideline for the quick pass, and not dribble with head down into a trap.

3. The forward at half court who is opposite the ball-side comes toward the ball in the middle for the pass, and is a good target for a pass because of this movement toward the ball. A pass to a player moving away from the ball is often intercepted. The ball-side forward at half court should be in position to receive the pass along the sideline (see diagram). Once O3 gets it in the middle, he/she pivots and faces up-court and looks to pass to O2 cutting up the left sideline, O5 on the right sideline, or back to the point guard cutting up the right sideline. Once you get those passes back to the sideline cutting guards, think "attack" and lay-up!

4. OK, the middle pass is covered and you can't get it there... look up the ball-side sideline and pass to O5. You'll notice that usually one defender will cover both O3 and O5 and will straddle between them. Teach your passer to make a quick pass fake to one, and then pass sharply to the other. The pass fake will get the defender leaning one way, and will open up your intended passing lane.

5. If nothing is open, you may have to outlet back to O4 in the paint who passes either to O2 on the left side, or O3 in the middle, or maybe back to O1 on the right sideline. You usually don't want O4 dribbling unless he/she is one of those exceptional post players who has good ball-handling skills. But assuming O4 is not a great ball-handler, teach him/her to look first to make the quick pass left, and not just start dribbling as so many kids do.

Another way of beating the full-court press is to use your secondary press break (see "Secondary Break"). Also see: 80 Press Offense 1-2-1-1 Press Breaker 4-Across Press Breaker.

Helpful DVDs

	Bruce Weber: Drills for Breaking Full-and Half-Court Presses By Bruce Weber, University of Illinois Head Coach; 2005 NCAA Runner-Up. In this DVD, Coach Weber assembles the pieces that make up a successful press attack; it must be simple, provide continuity and be consistent. Features of this presentation include Press Attack by Fast Break, which requires a quick inbounds pass to the point guard up the floor. Nine drills are shown... (more info) Price: $39.99
	Secrets of the North Carolina Secondary Break By Roy Williams, University of North Carolina Head Coach, 2005 National Champions, 4X Time National "Coach of the Year," Winningest Active Coach in College Basketball. After 17 years as a head coach, Roy Williams unveils the secrets to the North Carolina Secondary Break! It all started with legendary coach Dean Smith at North Carolina and was "passed down" to Coach Williams... (more info) Price: $39.99
	Roy Williams: Tar Heel Offense & Transition Drills with Roy Williams, University of North Carolina Head Coach; 2009 and 2005 NCAA Champions. Explore the secrets of the Tar Heel offense with four-time National Coach of the Year, Roy Williams Get easy baskets using this tournament-tested transition offense. Discover drills to improve your primary and secondary breaks. This offensive system guided North Carolina to 90.2 points per game in 2009. Many of Roy Williams' current beliefs were developed in his early days of coaching high school basketball in North Carolina. This basketball DVD will illustrate the "Tar Heel Running Game" with the use of players in an impressive on-court demonstration. This style relies on running the floor and sharing the ball with teammates. Advantages of this style are that the running game negates the defense's ability to get set, which leads to many easy baskets. Coach Williams covers his three offensive rules against a set defense... (more info) Price: $39.99
	Mike Krzyzewski: Duke Basketball - Breaking the Press with Mike Krzyzewski "Coach K", Duke University Head Men's Basketball Coach; NABC "Coach of the Decade," 12X NABC "Coach of the Year," Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (2001), 3X NCAA National Championships ('91, '92,'01). Learn how to break any press on your basketball team from the National Association of Basketball Coaches Coach of the Decade, Mike Krzyzewski Basketball drills for beating any press Numerous tips and insights to all your team to enter the offense quicker and create scoring opportunities without generating turnovers More and more teams are using half-court, three-quarter court and full-court zone presses to disrupt their opponents' continuity and produce turnovers. With this in mind, Coach K takes the court at Cameron Indoor Stadium to share his effective press break drills and his revered coaching philosophy. (Examples: … "players need to acquire the basic skill of catching the ball by meeting the pass" … "most teams need to cut down on the dribbling … use passing to advance the ball quicker!"). Coach Krzyzewski guides you through a series of effective drills used to break the 2-1-2 half-court press, 1-3-1 half-court press, 2-2-1 three-quarter court press and the 1-2-1-1 full-court press... (more info) Price: $44.99
	Tom Izzo: The Numbered Fastbreak with Tom Izzo, Michigan State University Head Coach; 2000 NCAA Champs, 3X National "Coach of the Year". •Learn the numbered fast break from three-time National Coach of the Year, Tom Izzo •Tactics for having a successful fast break •Two- and three-man drills are first step in building a productive fast break Coach Tom Izzo believes in scoring quickly by pushing the ball up the floor. The numbered break puts each player in a position to score. Izzo stresses that this fastbreak limits turnover and confusion by players. Two- and three-man drills are the first step in building a productive fast break. These drills can serve as a warm-up and are good for conditioning. Other drills... (more info) Price: $39.99
	Morgan Wootten: Foundations for Successful Basketball Full-Court Offenses with legendary high school coach Morgan Wootten, De Matha High School (MD). In this video, Coach Wootten demonstrates his most effective full-court press breakers, fast breaks, and sideline inbound plays. Wootten uses live demonstration to teach each offensive set, and includes great drills to build each offense. He also demonstrates methods for being aggressive during press breaks and teaches an effective primary and secondary fast break. Great for junior high and high school-level coaches! (more info) Price: $29.99
	Billy Donovan: The Unstoppable Transition Game with Billy Donovan, University of Florida Head Coach; 2007 & 2006 NCAA Champions, 2000 NCAA Runner-up; One of only two people ever to serve as head coach, assistant coach, and player in a Final Four. Coach Donovan shares concepts for winning transition basketball that are usable at any level of basketball! The basis for his offensive philosophy is imbedded in fundamental skill and player mentality. Donovan demonstrates the drills that helped turn his inexperienced team into a "teamwork machine." Practice drills are the Two-Man Sideline drill, Three-Man Sideline drill and Five Cycles drill. A popular peer pressure drill is the "Laker Fastbreak" drill, where the ball is not allowed to touch the floor. The Gator transition game is based on concepts instead of patterns, which offers many obstacles for the defense.... (more info) Price: $39.99