3 2 zone defense

York House Basketball Playbook3-2 Half Court and

1-2-1-1 Full Court Zone Defenses

Initial Alignment

X1 - Usually our longest and most athletic perimeter player.

X2/X3 - Other two perimeter players.• Usually X2 is our best on ball defender

because most teams initiate offense to that side of the floor.

* All three perimeter positions MUST be interchangeable as they will be required to cover for one another throughout the game.

X4/X5 - Our two forwards (or biggest) players.

• X4 is usually our best rebounder, as most shots from the right side will come off on this side of the floor.

On the pass to the wing:

X2 - puts pressure on the ball.

X1 - drops to the high post area

X5 - Fronts the strong side post (if there is one) or finds the halfway spot between the corner and the post area.

X3/X4 - shift to the hoop line upstairs/downstairs positions.

York House Playbook - 3-2 Zone Defense - 1

On the pass to the corner:

We assume a flat 2-3 zone position.

X5 - checks the ball in the corner. X2 - jumps to the ball and denies the return pass to the wing.X4 - fights underneath the post and plays the baseline side.X1 - drops to clog the middle/high post area.X3 - drops to the baseline and protect the hoop.

On the skip out of the corner:

We would like to stop the ball from changing sides (or at least slow the reversal action)

X3 - must hedge and recover to the wing.• If the point guard is a threat then X3 will

stay with the ball.

X1 - checks the ball (protecting inside out).• If X3 stays with the ball, then will cover

the wing.

X2 - drops to the junction.

X4/X5 - recover to the low post blocks.

On the high post entry:

Whichever baseline defender (X4 or X5) does not have a offensive post player on their side, must jam the offensive player at the high post. The other post player slides to the front of the rim.

X3/X2 - drop to the low blocks.

X1 - drops and doubles the ball.


On the kick out pass:

• The strong side wing defender follows the ball.

• the low baseline defender slides to the halfway spot.

• X4 drops to the basket

Wing Trap - We can have a verbal, situational, or hand signal that indicates a change in defense (in this case, wing trap).


X1/X2 - trap the wing receiver.

X5 - moves to intercept the release pass to the corner.

X3 - moves to intercept the release pass back to the point.

Trap positioning -

Any time we trap, we want to be in this 2-2-1 positioning.

X1/X2 - in the trap.

X3/X5 - interceptors

X4 - safety.


Corner Trap -

On the pass to the corner:

X2/X5 - trap the corner receiver.

X1 - moves to intercept the release pass to the wing.

X4 - fronts the post.

Trap positioning -

X2/X5 - trapping the corner

X4/X1 - interceptors

X3 - safety

3/4 Court 1-2-1-1 Trap -

X1- Tries to force the ball towards one of the wings.

• will immediately trap the advancing pass.

• will stay with the ball handler and then trap with the wing.

If the ball handler dribbles towards the wing:

X2 - retreats, then aggressively traps the ball handler when she gets to the wing.

All the other players shift towards the ball.

X4 - Looks to cut off the immediate “up” pass.

X5 - Takes the deep “up” pass.


If the ball is passed up the wing -

X2 - Follows the pass up the wing and tries to set a second trap with X4

X1 - immediately breaks the trap and retreats to the level of the ball.

X5 - rotates towards the wing.

X3 - rotates back towards the hoop.

Our trapping positioning.



X1/X2 - trap the pass.

X4 - denies the middle release pass.

X5 - denies the “up” pass.

X3 - shifts to the middle and looks to shoot the gap on a pass back to the middle.

If there is a penetration pass middle -

X2/X3 - Immediately drop to the level (or deeper) than the ball.

X4 - Jams the receiver.

X1 - doubles the receiver.

X5 - shifts to the middle and protects the hoop.


Full court 1-2-1-1 -

X1 - forces the inbounder to pass to one side of the floor.

X2/X3 - keep the ball out of the center lane.

X4 - shallow safety.

X5 - deep safety.

Ideal Trapping Spots -

If executed well, there are four trapping possibilities.

1. Immediately on the inbounds pass, there is an opportunity to use the baseline and the sideline as additional defenders.

2. As the ball crosses half court, there is another opportunity to use the sideline and the timeline as additional defenders.

3. Although not as effective, trapping just before half will force a team to reverse the ball quickly to avoid an 8 second call.

4. The release pass to the freethrow line extended provides an opportunity to trap when the team thinks they have broken the pressure.


On the inbounds pass -

X1/X2 - immediately trap the receiver, trying to force them to throw an errant pass.

X3 - looks to shoot the gap on the pass back to the inbounder.

X4 - cuts off the wing release pass.

If the ball handler breaks the trap up the sideline -

X2 - follows the ballhandler up the sideline, looking for an opportunity to trap with X4.

X4 - retreats and then looks to trap the ball handler at center.

X1 - Immediately breaks the trap and retreats towards the center circle.

X5 - rotates towards the sideline.

X3 - sprints back and becomes our new safety.


If the ball is passed up the wing -

X2 - Follows the pass up the wing and tries to set a second trap with X4


X5 - rotates towards the wing.


If there is a second pass up the wing -

X4 - Follows the pass up the wing and tries to set a second trap with X5 at the free throw line extended.


X3 - rotates towards the corner/low post.



3 2 zone defense

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