The shape
Three defenders in a line across the free-throw line extended: the point guard at the top and the two wings a step outside the arc on each side. Two bigs sit low on the blocks. The top three stay with the ball on the perimeter, so a wing pass is met at once rather than after a slide. On a corner pass the ball-side big steps out and the weak-side big crosses to the ball-side block.
Roles
- Point (top of the three). Pressures the ball above the arc and drops to the high post when it goes to a wing, so must be fit.
- The two wings. Guard the wings and contest every three; away from the ball they sink to the elbow to cover the high post and prepare for the skip.
- The two bigs low. Protect the blocks and the corners on their side: ball-side big steps to the corner on a pass there, weak-side big covers the lane and the lob, both rebound.
Strengths
- Takes away wing and corner threes better than any other zone.
- Keeps two rebounders under the basket.
- Hides two slow bigs who would be beaten off the dribble in man-to-man.
Weaknesses
- The high post is wide open whenever the point is slow to drop.
- Short corners pull a big off the block every time.
- A big who can catch at the foul line and pass or score ruins it.
- The middle of the key is empty when both bigs are drawn to the corners.
When to use it
Choose it, where zones are permitted at your age group, against a team of perimeter shooters with no post presence. It is a specialist look for under-16s and above, because the top three need the discipline to sink and recover on every pass. Against a team with a decent centre you give up as much inside as you save outside, so switch to 2-1-2 or man-to-man once they reach the foul line more than twice.
What to coach in training
- Shell drill with the top three only, against four perimeter passers: pressure, sink and close out while a coach tracks who has the high post, then add the bigs.
- High-post scramble: the offence feeds the foul line, the point drops, both wings pinch, both bigs hold the blocks, repeated until the flasher has no easy drop pass.
- Short-corner reads 3v3: wing, corner and short corner against a wing defender and two bigs, so the ball-side big learns when to leave for the corner.
Works well against
It suits a 5-out offence and any 4-out-1-in with a post who cannot score, because the arc is blanketed and the inside is left to one defender who can cope. It is destroyed by a 1-4-high or any set that puts a capable big at the foul line, and by a 1-2-2 team working the short corners.
