The year 2013 for the world of basketball is undisputedly the worst year there has ever been.  In the 2013 college basketball season a very aggressive Syracuse team decided to spring their brand new, never seen before 2-3 zone defense on their conference.  Throughout the season they had proven that it was unbeatable.

This zone has spread like wildfire throughout the high school basketball scene.  Not long ago, every coach anyone talked to would preach the man-to-man defense as the best kind of defense any team could run.  However, now at the high school level, many coaches would speak about the effectiveness of the 2-3 zone defense and how it brought them from a good team to a state championship team.

All of this has happened because coaches and players alike were not educated on how to beat this new zone that came tearing onto the court.  It’s understandable, a new zone unlike any other that puts immense pressure on the ball, but doesn’t have big gaps that players can exploit, “it’s the evolution of the sport” some would say.  However, as someone always does, one coach found a way to beat this defense. The way he beat this defense shows exactly why it is such a great pressure zone though, as it is more than likely the most dangerous defensive formation any team will ever have to try and compete against.

Before we go into detail on how you overcome a 2-3 zone defense, we are going to talk about what it is a 2-3 zone is trying to achieve.  The 2-3 defensive formation has two players at the head of the defense, and three players behind them.  The back three are level with the block spread evenly to cover everything down low inside the 3 point line.  The 2-3 zone defense is planned out to double team the opposing point guard as soon as his feet pass half court.  This forces him into a situation where he can’t back up, but also doesn’t have a good passing option. 

If the offense break this first line of defense, then the zone wants the ball to go to the wing position.  It is here that one of the guards will be double teamed against the sideline forcing him into the same position that the point guard was in moments ago.

  Two double teams will likely cause a turnover, but if the offense gets passed both of those traps then the zone will reposition, all while keeping two guys on the ball the whole time. 

If a guard is to drive, he will instantly find himself surrounded by defenders as the zone collapses too fast for him to shoot or kick it out.  If the ball finds its way to short corner, it will get double teamed and trapped up against the sideline leading into yet another turnover situation.

For the readers that understand basketball, they might be thinking that’s “every spot you just told us is a strong spot for the zone”.  Well, that’s because it is, the weakness isn’t the ball pressure or gaps that are unprotected.  The weakness is that with a double team going on everywhere it puts the backside in danger.  The problem with beating this defense is that the middle of the court is always defended.  So, like Pittsburgh the offense must attack quickly were the zone is strongest.

When Pittsburgh beat Syracuse they showed the entire nation how to defeat the 2-3 zone, and this is the play they used to beat it.

When the point guard is coming down the court he doesn’t have to cross half. It is much easier to avoid the double team waiting for him there by rifling a pass to one of the guards as they will move up the court about five feet towards half to give the point guard an early option.

  In doing this, the zone will shift, moving one guard to mid-court and one wing defender from the bottom three out to double team him.  This gives the guard two options.  Option number one (the one you will want to take if it is open) is also the most dangerous spot to go to against this zone.  Option one is short corner, this shot must be a quick release. Short corner will be open for about 1-2 seconds after the guard drives down.  The side wing will have to jump out to double team the guard, and the middle man in the 2-3 will move up court for a few seconds while the leading guard in the zone recovers.  That is why short corner if hit early when the guard drives with the ball is an opportunity to score some points.

Option 2, at the point when the guard gets to the three point line he can lob a pass over to the opposite guard.  This pass is both easy and safe, because there will be nobody on that side guarding him.  If there was a hole and this pass was able to be a chest pass instead of a lob there could be time for the opposite side guard to drive to the rim and draw a foul, however, this is not an often occurrence. 

Often times at this point the guard will find himself unable to drive.  This is normal, instead, give it straight to the short corner on his side because this shot will be open about 80% of the time that the ball gets there. 
If the ball does get to short corner, but is then stopped the guard who passed it there needs to cut to the rim and look for a give and go.  The give and go is often your last resort.  Most cuts are heavily defended against any defense though, so if that fails the other post on the opposite short corner is open. He will never not be open once the ball is in a short corner.  If the ball can’t be passed in to the cutter then, you will have to get the ball to the other short corner. There will not be much time to do so. 

Multiple times during the Pittsburgh vs Syracuse game the Pittsburgh post actually jumped out of bounds before looking, and just rifled a past to the opposite short corner.  He trusted his teammate to be there, as that was his last chance he had to avoid a turnover.  This is a perfect example of the teamwork needed to defeat the 2-3 zone.

Obviously, the short corner will many times be taken away because it is still the heart of the defense.  This is why it is important that when facing the 2-3 zone that the offensive moves quickly.  Where ever the ball goes, the rest of the team needs to react fast, because if the ball is in any one person’s hands for more than three seconds, this person will find himself double teamed and often times give the ball up.

Of course, as with every zone you will ever encounter, the last option remaining is to shoot over the top with three pointers.  If the offense has great three point shooters then there are two wide open positions for three pointers against this zone defense.  Right at the beginning, when the point guard makes the first pass, the guard he passed to will be open after getting to the three point line.  If this isn’t the shot the offense wants for some reason, then the backside guard is also open for a three pointer, if they get the ball over to his side.

This is the play that Pittsburgh used to beat Syracuse’s 2-3 zone defense. To see the Pittsburgh vs Syracuse game all you have to do is head to google and type “Pittsburgh beats Syracuse 2-3 zone 2007,” it doesn’t happen very often, it won’t be hard to find.  Hopefully this 2-3 zone breaking offense will help teams destroy this defense, because it’s the only breaking offense we have.