It’s a common coaching saying that “defense is the best offense”, but Scott Drew’s Baylor Bears and their 1-1-3 zone take that concept to a whole new level. Watching them play defense has you unsure which team is meant to be attacking. Their guards harass opposing ball handlers, their wings are are lengthy and quick to trap, and their center is an intimidating presence in the paint.
And it’s working. So far this year, the Baylor Bears are holding opponents to just 0.9 PPP and an astounding 0.71 PPP in the half court.
Anyways, enough chat, let’s break down the 1-1-3 zone defense!
I’ve been watching a lot of college basketball recently and noticed an interesting trend- unless they’ve called a timeout to draw something special, most coaches use the same starting alignment for every baseline out of bounds (BLOB) play. Coach Bill Self’s Kansas Jayhawks is a great example of this idea. Although I (and the opposing team) knows that they’re going to go to a box every time, they regularly get open dunks and 3’s.
If you watch the NCAA, one offense that you’ll see often is the high post spread motion. Many teams run this offense, including Dana Altman’s Oregon Ducks and Brad Underwood’s SFA and Oklahoma State teams. All these teams have winning records and the highly versatile high post spread offense is a reason why.
This system uses “4 out, 1 in” spacing with 4 perimeter players spread out above the free throw line and one big at the high post. This unique arrangement is great because:
Score inside without a dominating big man– this offense draws the big up away from the basket, creating space for drives and back door cuts.
Good vs pressure– overplaying will lead to an open backdoor layup/make the defense vulnerable to the many back screens in the offense.
Can run vs many defenses– the spread offense works vs a zone or man because it’s so versatile. Anti-zone concepts like overloading, spacing and using the high post are already applied.
Easy to teach basic continuity, plenty to build upon– as my videos will demonstrate, teams regularly get buckets off its standard action, yet there are also dozens of sets for special situations.
However, there’s a couple of reasons why only high school or college teams tend to run this offense:
Need a scrappy, yet skilled big man– the high post big is one of the most important positions on the floor. You need a big who can not only shoot and drive from there, but also set tons of tough screens and fight for offensive rebounds. However, he doesn’t need to be able to score with post moves.
Entire team needs great timing on passes and catches– everyone need to be able to pass the ball in this offense, not just your point guard. If you want to run this offense you’ll have to run tons of passing drills from day one of practice.
That said, as we’ve seen with these NCAA teams, when you have the right personnel, you can pile up tons of points on defenses. It’s certainly a great offense for player development as it puts players in situations where they’ll have to read the defense and decide whether to pass or attack.
Exclusive Download: If you already coach the spread offense or think you’ve got the base motion down I know you want more. How about these Brad Underwood spread offense quick hitters? Click here to download these plays as a PDF .
So far in this blog, I’ve advocated for coaches to run the motion offense, but there are reasons why you might want to use a set play from time to time:
Initiating the motion offense– sometimes you just need to mix things up if the defense has read and adjusted to your first options.
Getting a shot with limited time– whilst I’m certainly part of the camp that says you should run motion offense throughout the fourth quarter, if you’ve only got 10 seconds on the shot clock, your team has to make a move quickly.
Inbounding the ball– if a team is pressing or zoning you’ll need something set to beat it.
A play’s success shouldn’t be contingent on executing an exact sequence of moves, but rather on the fundamentals of the team. Another thought is that the more you run a play, it becomes less set and more “motion”, meaning that your players will learn about the different options available to them and be able to react to the defense rather than just follow what you’ve drawn up. Keep these ideas in mind as you browse these 5 successful plays used by NCAA college teams:
Those aren’t my words- they’re the words of Coach John Calipari, Kentucky Wildcats coach and the most prolific practitioner of the dribble drive motion offense today. The dribble drive motion offense is not just about teaching basketball skills- it also requires you to drill a relentless “attack” mentality into your players.
This week, I’ve put together 11 classic dribble drive motion drills that teach skills fundamental to the offense. Because of the uniqueness of this offense, my team had one special criteria when researching drills- each of these drills had to be presented by either Coach Calipari, or the creator of the DDM, Coach Vance Walberg.
We had to pore through dozens of videos but it was worth it. Not only are we sure that the drills are presented accurately, but the coaching points in this article are all supplied by these coaches as well.
When I asked the readers of my newsletter to write in the offense they ran, many responded with “5 out motion offense”. Even without elite shooting, the 5 out motion offense is a great offense for many youth basketball teams, and could be the perfect fit for your team too.
The strength of a 5 out motion offense starts with spacing. Think about it. If everyone’s standing spread out on the perimeter then:
There’s no defenders in the paint to help on drives.
The nearest defender on the perimeter is several feet away.
Defenders that help must move away from their man.
These advantages will create space for your players to drive and cut for layups. But there’s also several non-tactical reasons for you to consider:
Teaches universal basketball principles– your players’ future coach will thank you when he/she realizes that your players are great at getting open and making decisions.
Doesn’t pigeon hole players into positions– if you’re a youth coach you’ll never know how tall your players will be. Shooting, passing and cutting are vital skills for all positions.
Demands even contribution from all your players– no single player on the court is doing most of the dribbling, shooting, or posting up. The 5 out motion is a great offense for player development.
Easy to teach, easily scalable– what I mean is that the basic principles (pass and cut, fill spaces, spread out) are simple and quickly picked up. But as we’ve seen with the Warriors and Spurs, there’s plenty of areas for growth, should you coach a higher level team.
Even if you’ve already got your own offense ready, the 5 out motion is so common you’ve probably come up against it before. It pays to know what the other team is running!
Keep reading for a complete break down of the 9 rules of the 5 out motion offense.
