The Buzz the Best 2-3 Half Court Trapping Defense

The Buzz or Twilight Zone is a very aggressive and intensive style of defense. The idea of this half-court trap zone is to force a quick play, risky lob passes and players to use their fundamental skills to attack the basket immediately instead of running plays. To be effective in this 2-3 zone defense players have to be very aggressive and play with high intensity, which should cause fast and long shots, and that should reflect to the rebounds and transition that gives a lot of offensive opportunities for your team.

1. This trapping zone defense is perfect for a team that is physically ready to run in transition and score easy baskets after a good defense and rebounding. 
2. In case that you have a dominant low post player and you want to keep him away from making fouls, running a Twilight Zone would be a great option.
3. If you play against the team that is non-shooting team, this half-court zone defense can definitely close the key from penetration and provoke long-range shots. 
4. By trapping the dribble, this defense is giving a hard time offensive players to set up any play and forces them to improvise. 
5. It's easy to disguise this kind of defense and surprise the opponent, since there are many other formations very similar to this one, but with another idea.
6.  The Buzz makes offensive players to spread out and look for a quick shot, which leaves the key wide open. That gives your players the opportunity to rebound the ball easily, regardless of the size.
7. It's extremely hard to play the whole offensive time (24/30/35 sec) against this 2-3 zone-trapping defense. So if you want to take advantage of the shot clock this defense is highly recommended.

1. Like any other zone, Twilight Zone is not working very well against good outside shooting teams. 
2. The idea of all zone defenses is to protect the space around the basket and stop penetration and close shots. When you play a Buzz defense, your focus is mostly above the free throw line, so a potential hazard could be a baseline cut from the corner.
3. If you are not disciplined in this kind of defense, you can let your opponent a lot of easy shots by trapping and bad rotation in covering. 

A very important thing in playing this defense is positioning your players in the right spot. 

For instance, the position of the big guard( Position 2) is positioned on the right-hand side of the point guard since we assume that he is taller than a point guard (Position 1) and we want to force a lob pass by marking passing lanes. These two players must be constantly aggressive on the playmaker with the ball.

Position 5 on the court is our tallest player. Although he is the tallest, this player has to be able to run, and Coach Mike Divilbiss mentions that as the only restriction of this play: the big man has to move fast. He is positioned between the ball and the basket, and in case of a potential post-up, he has to get in the front of that player. 

Position 4 is the best rebounder on the court, and his position is on the weak-hand side of the point guard with the ball. The reason for this is simple: most of the shots will be taken from the strong side and according to statistics 70% of the missed shots are rebounded long. 

Finally, position 3 is the best athlete, and he is located on the other wing. As we mentioned above, the most shots will be taken from that side, so his job is to make these shots the hardest possible, to react fast, and potentially steal a lob pass. 

The Buzz defense can be successfully played by any high school or college team. Even the advanced middle school team could try to run this type of defense in case that they have already learned and mastered the fundamentals of man-to-man defense.

It's up to the coach to decide if he will run this defense as a primary protection, or as an alternative solution. Most of the coaches use the Buzz to change the tempo of the game and to surprise well-organized teams. 

    Learn Coach Entire Buzz Defense from  Mike Divilbiss by renting the DVD. Just click below.