Zone Defense 101

The best offense is a good defense.  It is a rule that all of my coaches instilled in me and I coach my teams with the same frame of mind.  I will begin my blog on how to coach a youth basketball team or any team that is inexperienced beginning with a basic 2-3 Zone Defense.  I will assume that everyone knows the basic terminology of basketball.

*The terminology of basketball will be blogged at a later time unless requested sooner.

2-3 Zone

It is called a 2-3 Zone because there are two defenders on the top of the key and 3 defenders on the bottom of the key.  Each defender has a zone area that he must follow.  This zone is used for defending teams that have pretty good interior offense like strong posts or teams that like to drive to the basket.  If a team is a good shooting team, then a 3-2 zone is the best defense which will be covered in a blog in the near future.

Set-Up

If you are facing the basket that you are defending the even number players are always on the left side of the court while the odd numbers are on the right side.  The only exception in this kind of zone will be the "5" (center), he will be in the middle of the key under the basket.  The "1" (point guard) is found on the right elbow.  The "2" (shooting guard) is on the left elbow.  The "3" is on the right block, and the "4" (small forward) is lined up on the left block.