Dear Coaches, Players, Friends,

Today's Quotes:

"The best man defense looks like a zone and the best zone defense looks like a man."

"I hate it.  It looks like a stickup at 7-Eleven.  Five guys standing there with their hands in the air." ~ Norm Sloan, on zone defense

2-3 Zone Defenses (with Variations)

Today's email discusses variations of the 2-3 zone defense.

Featured Articles:

2-3 Zone Defense
The 2-3 zone defense is the most common zone defense.  It has the advantage of protecting the inside, the "paint", and keeps your "bigs" inside.  It's weakness is that it can be beaten by good outside shooting, with open areas on the wings, point and high post.... read more.

Al Marshall's Aggressive 2-3 Zone Defense
Coach Marshall has 42 years of success at Cascade HS in Cascade, Iowa, accumulating 629 career wins.  His teams have led Iowa the past six years in lowest points allowed per game.  He is ranked 4th in all-time wins in the state of Iowa, with 39 district and conference championships.  Coach Marshall is noted for his great defensive teams and his 2-3 zone defense... read more.  

Breakdown Drills for Teaching the 2-3 Zone Defense
Just like teaching man-to-man defense, to get good at it, you must also break down the 2-3 zone defense into drills, so that rotations become a habit, without players having to think about it... read more.

The "Circle" Defense
Coach Dave Robbins' circle defense is an aggressive, trapping zone that can be run out of either a 2-3 or 1-2-2 set... read more.

The Buzz - Twilight Zone Defense
Coach Mike Divilbiss also calls this the "Twilight Zone" defense, which is a variation of the 2-3 zone defense.  This zone defense puts defenders in the passing lanes, rather than directly on the ball and causes the offense to make lob (instead of straight line) passes, and "forces the action."    It is an aggressive defense that forces teams that like to delay and slow the pace of the game, to pick up their tempo, resulting if quick outside shots, long rebounds and opportunities for easy baskets in transition (off steals and long rebounds)... read more.

Coaches... get Al Marshall's DVDs.