1-2-2 Zone Defense

Content:
Coverage Areas 0:00
Ball Up Top 1:40
Ball on the Wing 2:00
Ball Back Up Top 2:45
Ball To The Corner 4:04
Ball In The High Post 5:52
Ball In The Low Post 6:35
Skip Pass "Wing To Corner" 7:00
Skip Pass "Corner To Wing" 8:54
Skip Pass "Top To Corner" 10:21
Skip Pass "Corner To Top" 11:03
Skip Pass "Corner To Corner/Baseline Drive" 11:23

Today we are going to talk about the 1-2-2 zone defense.

I like to teach the 1-2-2 to help progress my players playing a pack line defense.

The Strengths in this zone are being able to pressure the ball and can be effective against a good 3 point shooting teams.
The weaknesses are the high post area, and the corners. In this defense getting attacked from the corners is a large weakness because post players must guard the corners. If possible, we don’t want any baseline drives to occur.

Rules:
Post Player needs to front the post to get out and guard the corners.
Must prevent inside passes.
All defenders sag back and prevent the inside pass.
When the ball is in the air we must move to our spots.
Hands need to be up the whole time.


Coverage areas:
Note* The coverage areas are the main areas that each player guards. It doesn’t mean that they won’t need to get out to other areas of the court.

Player 1- covers the top and the high post is referred to as the top defender.
Player 3 - which is referred to as a wing defender guards the high post, wing and in special circumstances the corners.
Player 2 - which is also referred to as a wing defender has the same responsibilities as player 3. Guarding the high post and the wings and in particular circumstances the corners.
Player 4- is referred to as one of the post players. Post players main responsibilities are to guard the low blocks and the corners.
Player 5- is the other post player and has the same responsibilities as player 4 guarding the low blocks and getting out to the corners.

Post anticipating the pass:
Success from this defense is going to come from the two post players. For great success the three post needs to do two things:

1. They will need to act like they are on a string. If one post moves the other post must move. In the video for example we see if a post player must get out to the corner the other post has to guard the ball side low block.

2. When the post players move we need to do what I call “Be One Away.” I hope to perform a video on this in the future but to simplify it for you now, the 4 main spots are the corners and blocks. If a post player is in the corner, the other post player must be on the block. If there are no offensive players in the corners the post players need to each be on their blocks.


Being one away is very important for help side defense.


3. Post players are going to need to fight for the top position. It is best to have a 3-4 player rotation in the post because the post players will be battling for position on defense the entire game.

Skip Passes:

The best way to prevent skip passes from hurting the 1-2-2 zone is by pressuring the player with the ball.

The idea is if they are going to make the pass, we will want a high arcing lob to allow our posts and wing defenders to be able to move and be there on the pass.

Key Terminology:

Lob Pass: is a pass that is thrown over the top of a defender(s). It is often thrown as an arc to get the ball to a post player that is being fronted.

Skip Pass: is when a player passes the ball from one side of the court to the other.

Fronting: The defender stands between the post player and the perimeter player that has the ball.

¾: is when the post defender straddles the offensive post players top leg. Having the defender have a foot behind and Infront allows the defender to get around the offensive post player or behind.

Bump: When defensive player gets caught in a defensive rotation guarding a player they are not assigned to. The player that is responsible for that player will come and “bump” the other player back to the person they are responsible for guarding.


Player Personnel:

1: Player that can stay in front and get after it. I have played this with a small guard and a large forward. The biggest requirement to play the top defender spot is they must pressure the ball, play with their hands up.

2 and 3: The Wing Defenders need to be players with good court awareness to understand where players are and know when to go to the corner on the skip pass and drop down to the baseline.

4 and 5: Post players that are your strong and bigger players. Must have the quickness to get out on the perimeter and strength to fight through screens. The post players are going to be battling all game.


Thank you for taking the time to watch the video and reading the description.
I hope you found some of these tips and explanations helpful. I would like to advise that there are multiple ways to play a 1-2-2 zone. If you would like information on these other variations or have any questions feel free to reach out!