In this video I show you exactly how to beat a 2-3 zone in basketball. I’ll show you specific plays, film breakdowns, and whiteboard drawings with the best ways to attack a 2-3 defense without settling for long 3’s.

When I first started coaching 10 years ago, I looked up how to beat a 2-3 defense and I couldn’t find anything to help me out. Over the years I’ve created my own strategies and figured out the best ways to attack a 2-3 through studying the game and learning from the best coaches in the country.

I decided to share my strategies to help other coaches who are in the same position. It can be very frustrating, so I’ve put this video together to help you beat those annoying zones.

In order for us to beat a 2-3 zone defense in basketball. We first have to understand what a zone defense is used for?

A zone is put in place to do a few things. First, it keeps your offense outside on the perimeter, forces you to take deep shots, and drive into multiple defenders. A 2-3 zone also keeps the bigs from rebounding. If you a smaller line up in the game, you may go 2-3 zone to make sure there's always 2 or 3 players inside to help rebound, and 3 and most important, a 2-3 zone takes away the ability to go 1 on 1 and makes your offense work as a team.

If an offense has 1 or 2 star players, and the others don't do much, a zone may be the perfect solution to make those stars move the ball around and if they don't, they'll be going into 2 or 3 defenders and taking bad shots.

So, now that we know that the purpose of the zone is keep us the offense outside and on the perimeter, and as an offense, if we don't play extremely smart with a high basketball IQ, then a 2-3 could easily dismantle a high powered offense.

No, the answer to a zone is not to just jack 3's. That's probably why they play zone against you in the first place. At younger ages, you'll see that teams play zone because younger kids can't shoot consistently from deep.
The first key is to beating a 2-3 zone is excellent ball movement along with excellent player movement.

Great ball movement is always needed to beat a 2-3 zone defense. The ball must move quickly from player to player in order to get the defense to move.

Remember, each defender has an assigned area, and our job is to move the ball and our players quick enough to get those defenders out of their assigned areas.

[BALL MOVEMENT AND PLAYER MOVEMENT]
When beating a zone, ball movement is the number one key.

Do not waste any dribbles. Many players love to catch and dribble twice before passing, and this just allows the defense to adjust into position. The faster the ball moves, the more difficult it is on a 2-3 zone.

The key to quick ball movement is to get the defense to move. The more we get the defense to move out of there assigned area, the more openings we'll have to take advantage of.

[ATTACKING THE GAPS]
Basketball is a game of angles, and those angles are extremely important when beating a 2-3 zone defense. If you wait patiently for those gaps to open up and use the appropriate angles, you'll have easy scores all day long.

[HIGH POST]
When beating a 2-3 zone, you must have a player flash into the high post. If you're all standing on the perimeter, you're in trouble!

Once you get a flash to the high post, you can now become a threat to pass,
high low pass opposite pass, or square up to the basket and become a threat to score.

[BASELINE RUNNER]
the baseline runner is essential to beating a 2-3, this player is extremely important because he is the only player on the court that can see everyone, but not everyone can see him or her. You're watching and reading the defense from the defenses perspective which gives you the ultimate advantage.

Utilizing a player that's a great passer in this position can create easy layups or wide open shots.

You must be able to fake a pass and make a pass. Unfortunately most players are working on their euro step and therefore, they never learn how to make a great pass. This is a key to beating a zone.

In this video, I've covered how to move the ball quickly against a zone while not wasting any dribbles. We covered how to move the ball to the high post and get some high low action. Along with the flash to the high post, you can also step out and set that back screen on the top defenders. Don't forget to use your baseline runner in order to utilize the corners and short corner area.

Thank you for watching HOOPSIQ with Coach Novak.

#BEATZONE #HOOPSIQ