(Rental)-Strategies For Beating Zone And Man To Man Full Court Defense

Press Break & Strategies for Beating Zone Defense 

Brian Giorgis has had a ton of success as the head women’s basketball coach at Marist College. Part of that success comes from knowing how to win and how to handle pressure. Despite facing much more athletic teams, Marist has twice led the country in fewest turnovers committed. In this video, Coach Giorgis covers how his teams handle pressure defense. He demonstrates how his teams beat a diamond, 1-2-2, 2-2-1, 1-3-1, and 2-1-2 full-court presses.

Press Break Roles and Responsibilities

Coach Giorgis begins by reviewing each player’s role and responsibility within the press attack. The press break uses a 1-4 set up, something Giorgis calls regular. The purpose of the 1-4 alignment is to create mismatches in the open court and advantage situations once you get past half-court. Against the diamond for example, Coach Giorgis shows you how to get the ball to the wing, point guard, or post player and still confidently attack the press every time down the floor.

Press Breaks

From the same setup, Coach Giorgis demonstrates how to attack the various presses. The key is to distort the middle defender once the ball has entered play. Players learn to read ball reversals and skip passes, which can help create mismatches. All guards must know what to do with the ball once it crosses half-court. Picking up the ball just past half-court is a no-no for Coach Giorgis. Here is how he attacks each press.

• Diamond Press: Using the same 1-4 alignment, Coach Giorgis explains the reads, rotations, and replacing movements as well as the use of the short and long corner. Giorgis also shows you how to get your point guard to the middle of the floor.
• 1-2-2 Press: The key to beating this press is to distort the back end of the zone. Giorgis shows you certain actions that do so and leave the defense exposed at the rim.
• 2-1-2 Press: You will witness how you deal with the middle trapper to easily defeat this press.
• 1-3-1 Press: After the ball is inbounded, Giorgis shows you how his team takes a 2-1-2 shape to attack the back end of this press. You will see how important it is to draw the baseline defender away from the rim.
• Man-to-Man Press: The key here is whether or not the inbounder is being defended or if the defense has a floater. Giorgis shows you how to create speed mismatches and use screens to get certain players the ball.

Once your team has mastered the 1-4 set, Coach Giorgis gives you some options for when opponents make adjustments. Each option offers counters to different pressures. Coach Giorgis has mastered the press break and offers a solution for teams that face increased pressure on any given night. Rent this press break DVD today.