Bruce Weber & the Principles of Zone Offense

Hey everyone...it's been a little while since I last posted.  I wanted to share some notes from a recent video purchase, Bruce Weber: Drills & Plays for Scoring Against Zone Defenses.

I've always found Bruce Weber, Head Coach of Kansas State University, to be an intriguing coach. Maybe it's because, if I'm honest, we share some offensive sensibilities. He's been quoted as saying about shot selection:

"Closer isn't always better. Open is better." ("K-State basketball under coach Bruce Weber has unique tempo, strategy", The Collegian, February 7, 2013)

And regarding his offensive philosophy:

Weber’s offense has been predicated on the ability of his players to make open jumpers. His fluid motion system is meant to create these opportunities. Players are constantly on the go, making instant reads on how to react. What it does not do is present a plethora of opportunities to get to the foul line. (The Collegian, February 7, 2013)

When he was at the University of Illinois, it was said...

“Weber's offense…requires players to create significant spacing in a half-court setting to spread out defenders and establishes roles for players either to screen or cut for the ball with astonishing quickness.

The players are in constant motion without a distinct directive, making it extremely tough for opponents to scout the Illini. Each time Illinois runs motion, its unpredictability leaves even Weber guessing what might happen next.

"I lose control; they have freedom," Weber said. "Some coaches can't deal with it and can't run motion." ("Poetry in Motion", Chicago Tribune, February 11, 2005)

  

Regarding his thoughts on zone offense as he shared in his new video:

“You want to teach them how to play. The more you teach them how to play, it makes it easier on you as a coach. If you have to draw a play and have them execute it every time down the court you’re going to fail as a coach.”

Against Zone

1.)   Push the basketball. Don’t let the zone set up. Worse thing you can do is see that they’re playing zone and start to walk it up. Get into a secondary break.

2.)   Take the basketball up to the defense. Have the confidence to make someone guard you.

3.)   Reverse the basketball. Move the ball and make the defense work.

4.)  Get the basketball inside every 3 or 4 possessions. Make the defense drop in and open up the outside.

5.)  Attack the gaps of the zone. Make two guys guard one. Attack closeouts so you can get into the gap. That gives you an advantage.

6.)   Use the skip pass to distract defenders.

7.)   Overload the zone to create advantages. Put more players on a side than they have defenders.

8.)  Use screening actions against the zone. Screens are difficult to defend. Use the same screening actions from your man offense, you’ll put the defense in a bind. Ball screens can lead to overloads and the defense scrambling. Cross screens to put defense and let someone flash, you’ll put the defense in a disadvantage.

 9.)   Space the court. You want to be where they’re not…like the short corner, mid-post.

10.) Use the misdirection. Take the ball one way to pull the zone and then go back the other direction, you get the defense to shirt.

11.) Rebound.

Here is a clip from Coach Weber's video: 

In the clip below, is one of Team Hurricane's favorite sets, VCU "Flood".

And here is another clip of some quality zone offense plays:

In The Zone

Started this blog with every intention of primarily focusing on offense – my favorite aspect of the game. But for those who know my tendencies as a coach, they know while I like offense, people also know that when it comes to defense….I’m in the zone.

I guess what else would you expect from a Syracuse University grad?!?

When I first started coaching I wanted to be a man 2 man coach. Aggressive, denying the pass, in your face, mug you kind of defense. But quickly, I soon saw the value of playing zone. Here are 4 reasons why I love playing zone.

1. The size and quickness of the players can effectively take away the open 3-point shot.

2. Teams spend most of the season working on their man-to-man offense.

3. It is easy for a team that plays zone to know what its opponent will do against them. There are far more man-to-man offenses to prepare for than zone offenses.

4. The zone can dictate the tempo, not to mention momentum, of the game.

Numbers 2 and 3 are key elements. I’ve noticed that very few teams will run plays against our zone. They just pass it around hoping to get a good shot. And in many cases, when teams don’t have plays to run against our zone, what inevitably happens they get frustrated and their frustration becomes visible. You see teams start bickering and arguing amongst themselves.  They get exasperated with one another.  I absolutely love that element of the game….playing the type of defense that gets inside the head of an opponent. I love this psychology part of the game. Getting into the minds of opponents.

While my teams don’t have the length of Syracuse there are many elements that about how Syracuse plays zone that I look to emulate with Team Hurricane.  Here are some basic thoughts and notes:

1.     Contrary to popular belief, Syracuse’s 2-3 zone is not a “passive defense” by any means. It’s not a defense that Jim Boeheim uses to mask his team’s weaknesses, rather it’s a defense he uses to utilize his team’s length and athleticism. For my team the zone best utilizes our quickness and athleticism, in particular our guards. We have quick, pit bull guards who can be very disruptive. Coach Kent Tacklyn is big on pressure and has our guards pressure the ball, he wants to disrupt the ballhandler as they cross halfcourt. As a result, we play an extended zone. Not passive in any shape or form.

2.     There are a multitude of traps that Syracuse can run out of the zone but it is not generally known for forcing a lot of turnovers. Instead the zone holds the opposition to a low shooting percentage by forcing them into uncomfortable shots altered by the length and athleticism of its defenders.

3.     "It's not the way it works," Boeheim says, "it's the way these guys play it. You can't simulate that. It's like Louisville's pressure. You can't simulate that. You can practice it all you want, but it's not the same.”

4.     As University of Cincinatti coach Mick Cronin says, “You shoot jumpers, that’s what they want. You’ve got to be able to score from 15 feet in. If you can’t, you’re not going to beat them.  It’s like this: If you’re constantly putting from four to six feet, and I’m putting from 15 to 20, you’re going to beat me, eventually.’’

5.     The way Boeheim coaches the 2-3 makes it even more impenetrable. “He concedes the baseline. The back three in the zone allow foes five feet out from the baseline. If you try to exploit that gap by passing to it, they trap you with two monsters. If they’re late getting there, they’ll block the shot. (Mick Cronin).

6.     With the baseline ignored and the zone extended, good shots become hard to find. That’s when the psychology of the zone kicks in. It takes so much effort, constantly cutting inside and back out, just to get a shot. If you miss it, that’s where it really affects you psychologically.’’ (Mick Cronin).

7.     What people don't talk about is the quickness, the speed that allows Syracuse to recover and to close a gap that for a split second looks open. This quickness plays to my team’s strength as well. It’s the players' speed that is deceptively critical. As Jim Boeheim’s right hand man Mike Hopkins says, “It's like when Miami started putting safeties as linebackers and defensive ends," he said. "It just looks like speed so it's like, 'Oh, that's open. Uh-oh, no it's not."

8.     “Everybody’s talking about the 2-3 zone. That’s not a 2-3 zone. The 2-3 zone has been with us since the dawn of time. It’s the way it slides and moves out there, like a damn amoeba. “The only time it’s a 2-3 zone is when they’re waiting for you to bring the ball to it. Then, it becomes something else.” (John Thompson, Jr., Georgetown University)

An excerpt from The Triangle by Brett Koremonos encapsulates why I love Syracuse’s 2-3 zone and playing zone for my team:

It almost looks choreographed. You can see two men slide, and then two men slide over behind them, and, anytime a slice of daylight appears, there’s an arm and a hand there to block it. The traps come suddenly, and from all angles, and with startling speed. You never get two identical looks from the zone on successive possessions. It is a simple defense played within a universe of creative variations.

And they play it cleanly; they had only 11 team fouls against Marquette, and only 17 against Indiana. To watch the five men move almost as one, and to see the gaps disappear as quickly as they do, is to see that Thompson’s basic point is correct. This is only a 2-3 zone when it is completely at rest. In full cry, it is, quote, “something else.”

The movements are so precise, and the results so thorough, that the Syracuse zone has unique effects on the game completely missing from any other team that plays this most basic of defenses. Usually, teams facing a zone play patiently, and the game slows to a crawl. However, teams facing the Syracuse zone seem to lose their minds, cranking up the tempo to a preposterous pace. Sooner or later, you just look desperate, which means you feel desperate, which means you are.”

And there you have it, why I love to play zone. For me personally, as I mentioned earlier, it plays into the psychology of the game. When played well, it can get into your opponents head. And that, many will say, is half the battle in playing winning basketball.

Return of the Black Mamba

Kobe Bryant is back after injury to lead the NBA scoring at 27.6 points a game (though he’s shooting just 40.2 percent).  Kobe has shown he still has it with great footwork and a game IQ that is as good as ever.  We won't talk about a video-game type performance of taking 37 shots he took against Phoenix (Nov. 4th) whereby he made only 14  and missed 23.  But the Black Mamba seems to back in form after missing most of the 2013-14 season.  And I thought it be great to look back on some quotes from Kobe Bryant to see what fuels this great competitor.

Kobe on the Physical

"You have to understand that your body is a machine and you have to take care of it."

Kobe on the Fundamentals & the Game

"When you get low, your legs get heavy.  Pick and choose when to get low."

"When I was growing up, every aspect of the game was important to me. Defensive footwork was important."

"When I drill, I do moves with counters."

"I feel that I don’t have any weaknesses, because I have been working on my game since I was 10. Now, I just have to stay in shape and stay healthy."

"Be an assassin. Focus on practice and every rep."

Kobe the Motivator

I have self-doubt. I have insecurity. I have fear of failure. I have nights when I show up at the arena and I'm like, 'My back hurts, my feet hurt, my knees hurt. I don't have it. I just want to chill.' We all have self-doubt. You don't deny it, but you also don't capitulate to it. You embrace it.

I can't relate to lazy people. We don't speak the same language. I don't understand you. I don't want to understand you.

Sports are such a great teacher. I think of everything they've taught me: camaraderie, humility, how to resolve differences.

I'm reflective only in the sense that I learn to move forward. I reflect with a purpose.

The topic of leadership is a touchy one. A lot of leaders fail because they don't have the bravery to touch that nerve or strike that chord. Throughout my years, I haven't had that fear.

If you're afraid to fail, then you're probably going to fail.

Kobe Bryant - An Apt Final Thought

"I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. No matter what the injury - unless it's completely debilitating - I'm going to be the same player I've always been. I'll figure it out. I'll make some tweaks, some changes, but I'm still coming."