Basketball Offense - "80", "60" and "40" Press Offenses

By James Gels, from the Coach’s Clipboard Basketball Playbook, @ http://www.coachesclipboard.net

If you like this free page, please give us a "Like", a "+1" or a "Follow". Thanks! - Coach Gels

Follow @coachgels

First, see the articles on "Transition Offense" and "Attacking the Full-Court Press".

Think of the court in four sections. Full court = "80", 3/4 court = "60", half-court = "40" and 1/4 court = "20".

Examples of various press defenses are:

Full court (80): 1-2-1-1 (diamond) press where there is pressure the entire court including on the inbound passer.
3/4 court (60): 2-2-1 press where there is no pressure on the inbound passer.
1/2 court (40): a half-court press such as the Viking 1-2-2 press.
1/4 court (20): this is the defense's usual zone or man-to-man defense.

Use this drill progression in teaching these press offenses.

"80" Press Break

See the diagrams below. The defense has pressure on the inbounder in a 1-2-1-1 defense. See our standard positioning in diagram A. O3 is always the inbounder. O1 is up to get the inbounds pass. O2 and O4 are at the sidelines just inside the half-court line. O5 goes long, as in our numbered break.

The defense will often try to trap the inbounds pass in the corner. With varsity level players, our first option is to look to make the inbounds pass up the sideline to O2 or O4. If this pass is open and completed, we usually get a 2-on-1 attack fast-break. Otherwise, the pass goes to O1 in the corner, and the opposite half-court player (O4 in the diagram) will move toward the middle looking for the pass. Meanwhile, the ball-side half-court player (O2) moves up the sideline looking for the pass "over the top". O1 looks to pass to either O4 or O2, or if necessary, can pass back to O3, circle back, and then get the pass back from O3. O3 always stays behind the ball for the pass back out of trouble. If O3 gets the pass, then O1 always stays back behind O3.

Diagram B, O4 looks to make the pass to O2. O2 has a 2-on-1 situation and looks to attack the basket for a layup, the foul or pass-off to O5. Make sure O5 is on the opposite block.

Now look at diagram C. If O1 is being denied the pass, O2 and O4 (after a count of 2) sprint up the sidelines looking for the pass. Once the pass is made to the sideline, O1 cuts hard up the middle expecting the return pass from the side, and O1 can now attack as the press is beaten.

"60" Press Break

See the diagrams below. This is a 3/4 court press with no pressure on the inbounder... a 2-2-1 zone press. Notice that we start with the same positioning setup as in "80". As the ball is passed into O1 on the side, the opposite sideline half-court player (O4 in this case), moves to the "center of the box". The imaginary "box" is formed by the 4 defenders, as if you connected lines from X1 to X2 to X4 to X3 and back to X1. So O4 gets and stays in the center of that box looking for the pass from O1. As the box moves, so does O4, always staying in the middle of the box. Diagram B, O1 can probably start a dribble, but looks to pass to either O4 or O2 (over the top), or could hit O5 deep. O4 looks for O2. Again, once O2 gets the ball, it's a 2-on-1 attack as in "80".

Now look at Diagram C. Suppose the defense is denying the pass to O1. O2 and O4 sprint up the sidelines, possibly all the way to the endline. If O2 and O4 are also being denied, after reaching the endline, they backcut and go long for the over the top pass up the sideline. O1 "walks" the two defenders down to the baseline, and then suddenly back-cuts for the over the top inbounds lob pass (red line). O1 will usually receive this pass on the run, in the middle of the court, somewhere around the 3-point arc area. This often works well as the two half-court defenders (denying O2 and O4) sprint up the sidelines to the baseline with O2 and O4, leaving no defenders, no interceptors, above O1. So O1 just seals and cuts beyond the two defenders for the lob pass. Or if the pass goes up the sideline, after walking the two defenders down, O1 cuts hard up the middle and gets the pass from the sideline. With either pass (lob or sideline), once O1 gets the ball, he/she speed dribbles up the court, the press is beaten, and we are looking for a layup.

"3-Thru" Option

If the defense is in a 61 deny press with two defenders on our point guard (below left), we can run O2 and O4 up the sidelines as seen in the diagram below to get the pass. Instead of O1 cutting up the middle for the pass, O1 stays back and the inbounder O3 cuts up the middle for the pass from the wing. This will work better if O1 takes his/her two defenders down and a little toward the opposite side (to create better spacing for O3's cut). If one of those defenders goes with and denies the pass to O3, we still have O1 back behind the ball in a 1-on-1 situation and he/she can now get the pass and go.

Triangle

Below right is an in-bounds formation that we may use late in the game when the defense is denying and fouling to stop the clock... here we get the ball in-bounds to O2, our best free-throw shooter. O4 and O1 double-screen for O2, who cuts around the screens to get the inbounds pass. After screening, O1 and O4 should seal and roll to open spots as well.
3-thru press breaker

"40" Half-Court Press Break

Here the defense is pressing just at half-court. A common press is the 1-2-2 (or 3-2). This half-court press-breaker will work against most half-court presses. What the defense is trying to do is force O1 (or a pass) to the sideline just inside half-court where they can easily trap us. They will "invite" the point guard to come across on the side and then trap.

See diagram A below for our setup. O5 goes deep, as usual. O2 is up the sideline. O1 brings the ball up and moves to one side to get the defense to commit to him/her. O3 always stays back behind O1 a couple steps, on the opposite side. Once again, O4 moves to the "center of the box" created by X2, X3, X4 and X5 and the pass could go to there. See Diagram B. Our preference is for O1 to move to the side but stop short of half-court, back dribble a couple dribbles and pass quickly over to O3 on the opposite side. With the defense shifted to the right, O3 now dribbles quickly across half-court. Once O5 sees the pass go to O3, he/she cuts out to the 3-point arc to get the next pass from O3. O4 can then cut to the hoop, looking for the pass from O3 and the layup (Diagram C).

Now if the defense starts expecting the pass from O1 back to O3 and X3 steps into that passing lane and denies that pass, O4 should be wide open in the middle. It's pretty hard for X3 to cover both our O4 and O3.

In summary, the above "80", "60", and "40" press-breakers, along with "3-thru" should take care of any presses that you encounter, as long as you stay calm and are on the attack. We run these press offenses with the thought of not just breaking the press, but to get a 2-on-1 or 3-on-2 advantage and score a lay-up (or get fouled).

Several 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