What is a 1-3-1 Press?
A 1-3-1 Press is an extension of the 1-3-1 half-court zone defense. The 1-3-1 press extends the defense usually out to 3/4 of the court. Since it is an extension, the defense is able to press and then drop straight back into a 1-3-1 half court defense. The defensive responsibilities of the half-court defense are basically the same as the 1-3-1 press. This helps players because they are doing the same things but just covering more of the floor.
The 1-3-1 Press tries to get the ball to the sideline to trap with the point and wing right after the ball crosses the half-court line. The 1-3-1 Press is looking to trap in the two corners by the half-court line where the offense is at the biggest disadvantage. The press also keeps a player in the middle of the court to prevent any middle passes from being made.
It is an aggressive press by having 4 players up past half-court to start the press. This leaves long over the top passes and diagonal passes as the hardest passes to defend. When using the 1-3-1 press, the defense is looking to get deflections and steals. It is a good press to use when behind and needing to get back into the game.
What is a 1-2-2 Press?
The 1-2-2 Press is normally a ¾ court press with the defense in a 1-2-2 setup. One player is the point who will put the initial pressure on the ball as it comes up the floor. Two players will start around the half-court line. These two players are going to be the 2nd player to trap the ball with the point. Or they are going to be covering the middle of the floor. This will depend on the location of the ball.
The last two players will start somewhere around or above the 3-point line. These two players are going to either prevent a sideline pass or be the rim protector. The back two players should not be moving up the court for any reason. The 1-2-2 Press is really about the front 3 players getting up and trapping with having the two back players as protection.
Best Team Personnel for a 1-3-1 Press
The team personnel for a 1-3-1 Press is the same personnel as the 1-3-1 half court zone defense. The keys to the press and half-court defense to work are the same for the 1-3-1 zone. That is why a team that runs a 1-3-1 half-court zone would be wise to have the 1-3-1 press as their first press installed.
The front player in the press needs to be going 1000 miles per hour. They can never stop. This player is going to get tired. They are chasing the ball sideline to sideline. They are trying to keep it from reversing as much as possible. The taller the front player is, the better. But they need to be moving and chasing at all times. The key is they have to be in the spot for the trap when the wing comes up. That is the biggest job of the front player.
The wings need to be long and athletic. Short wings are going to allow teams to throw over the trap. They also need to be smart. They are the players initiating the trap. They have to rush at the right time or the press will not work. These two wing players are the key to the 1-3-1 press. The wings have to be long, athletic, and smart.
The back player needs to be fast and anticipate well. The back player has to get to every over the top or diagonal pass. The 1-3-1 press is aggressive meaning the long passes could be open. The fast back player is the key to preventing those long passes over the top. They also need to anticipate the wings rushing the ball for the trap. They need to move with the wings to prevent the sideline pass before the trap is there. This is going to be the fastest player on the team.
Best Team Personnel for a 1-2-2 Press
A team with 3 tall guards are the best personnel for the 1-2-2 Press. The back two players are going to stay back and protect the rim. The front 3 guards are tasked with trying to get traps and steals. They are having to cover a lot of floor space. The taller these front 3 players are, the more likely the press is going to work.
Speed can help with the press but size is the biggest indicator of success with the 1-2-2 Press. The 1-2-2 Press uses the advantage of having taller guards to its maximum. Teams with taller guards can struggle at times getting the most benefit of having taller players.
The 1-2-2 Press is a great press to try with taller guards because the open passing lanes for the offense is always over or around the taller guards. This can make it harder on opposing guards if they are smaller because of the size difference.
When to Use the 1-3-1 Press?
The 1-3-1 Press is best used to extend the 1-3-1 half court zone to be more aggressive on defense. This will force the offense to play against the 1-3-1 defense for a longer period of time. This increased time gives the defense more time to get deflections and steals. It is going to help to speed up the offense as well. Offenses that start playing faster than they want too are more likely to turn the ball over.
The 1-3-1 Press is trying to get steals. It is going to be best used to come back when a team is behind and needing extra baskets to get back into the game. It is going to speed up the offense which should lead to more shots taken and more points scored. So, the 1-3-1 Press can help to give the defense more chances at scoring the points necessary to make a comeback.
The 1-3-1 Press can also be used against a team with either short guards or poor ball handling players. The 1-3-1 Press makes passing hard for the offense so short guards will have trouble seeing through the press to know where and when to make a pass. The aggressiveness of the press is also going to cause problems for teams with poor ball handling. The 1-3-1 press makes the guards have to do a little more with the ball and if the opponents are unable to do the extra, then it could lead to turnovers.
When to Use the 1-2-2 Press?
The 1-2-2 Press is one of the safer presses to run because it does not extend as aggressively as other presses. The 1-2-2 Press extends and traps much like other more aggressive presses but does not leave the offense any openings on the back end if they break the press. The reward of the press is still there but the amount of risk has been reduced. It is a good press to apply pressure without leaving the defense wide open for the offense to take advantage of the aggressiveness.
The 1-2-2 Press is also a great press to use when a defense has really tall guards. The 1-2-2 Press keeps three guards up front and trapping. This will maximize the size advantage of tall guards. A 1-2-2 Press with 3 tall guards makes it very difficult for the offense to dribble through or pass around the taller guards.
Another time to use the 1-2-2 Press is when a team has multiple post players on the floor at the same time. The 1-2-2 Press leaves two players in the back of the press. These back two players do not have to rotate up and get involved in trapping during the press. This gives the defense the ability to press with a team who has multiple post players. Teams with slower post players can struggle to have a quality press, but with the 1-2-2 Press those teams have a viable pressing option.
Advantages of the 1-3-1 Press Over the 1-2-2 Press
1) Keeps the Ball Out of the Middle
One of the easiest ways for an offense to beat a press is to get the ball into the middle of the floor. The 1-3-1 Press keeps a defender in the middle of the floor to prevent the middle pass. The offense will then have to keep the ball closer to the sidelines. This is an advantage to the defense because the traps of the 1-3-1 Press are going to occur on the sideline. Defensively, trapping on the sideline helps because it will prevent the offense from moving in one direction.
The 1-3-1 Press is positioned in a way to force the ball to the sideline and out of the middle. This restricts the ability of the offense from attacking the defense in multiple ways. Against a 1-3-1 Press, the offense should be limited to beating the press with sideline passes and over the top passes. Sideline passes should lead to traps. Over the top passes should give the defense chances for deflections and steals.
The 1-2-2 Press is similar to the 1-3-1 Press but the middle defender in the 1-3-1 Press drops back giving the 1-2-2 Press its formation. The middle defender dropping back leaves the middle of the court wide open. The offense now has the ability to pass the ball into the middle of the floor. A middle pass breaks the press and should lead to the offense attacking the back 2 defenders with a likely 3 on 2 scenario.
The 1-2-2 Press not having a middle defender is a big weak spot of the press. The 1-2-2 Press is a game between the offense and defense of trying to get the ball in the middle for the offense and the defense trying to prevent the ball from getting into the middle of the court. But the formation of the 1-2-2 Press leaves the middle wide open making it much easier for the offense to get a middle pass through.
2) More Aggressive = More Steals
The 1-3-1 Press is an aggressive defense. It pushes 4 defenders up into the press. And the back defender is covering sideline to sideline and will still look for trapping chances when the ball is passed over or around the press.
This commitment to the press puts a lot of pressure of the offense. Good defensive pressure helps to push the offense into making more mistakes. Those mistakes are normally turnovers. As a defense, the ability to get a steal will lead to easy layups. Teams that start making mistakes and having turnovers can struggle to get things corrected. If an offense takes too long to correct those mistakes the defense might have gotten enough steals and layups to have a comfortable lead.
The 1-2-2 Press is aggressive with the front 3 defenders but it is never as aggressive as it could be because the back 2 defenders are never going to come up and get more involved in the press. The back 2 defenders prevent the 1-2-2 Press from being a really aggressive press.
The offense if positioned correctly should always have a pass available to them even if it may be a backwards pass. So, the offense should always have a way to relieve pressure. This can keep the amount of turnovers and mistakes the offense is making to a minimum.
3) Can Be Used With More Guard/Outside Players
The 1-3-1 Press does not really on post players to be an effective press. In fact the 1-3-1 Press can be ran using all guards and forwards. The ability to have all outside offensive players on the floor for the 1-3-1 Press can help the offense in being able to run a 5-out offensive system without having problems with the defense.
As the game of basketball is evolving and going to a more guard-orientated 5-out style of play, the 1-3-1 Press can be used to keep the personnel of the offense on the floor for defense. The offense and defense of a team must match up with the personnel of the team. The 1-3-1 Press is adaptable enough that different personnel groups can be used without losing the team dynamic.
The 1-2-2 Press is a press where the back 2 defenders are much more suitable to having multiple post players on the floor. This type of personnel will not match with an offense system of playing in a 5-out system. The offense of the 1-2-2 Press will need to be a 2-post offense.
More players are playing on the outside on offense where 20 years ago they would have been back to the basket post players. The 1-2-2 Press does not maximize using stretch forwards. The back 2 defenders are much more stationairy. Stretch forwards are able to run and cover a lot of floor. Presses should not keep them in one spot but utilize them in the press rotations.
Advantages of the 1-2-2 Press Over the 1-3-1 Press
1) Can Play With Multiple Post Players
The 1-2-2 Press is best when the team personnel has 2 post players. At the high school level, recruiting, at least where I am from, is not allowed. This means high school teams have to play with the kids in their school district. This means there will be times when multiple post players are on the team. Coaches have to be able to adjust to the players in the school district and not try to fit players in their systems when it is not a good fit.
The 1-2-2 Press can be used when the players in the system are bigger and slower. This is going to happen at times at the high school level. Good coaches are going to adjust their system to match with the differing players throughout the years. The 1-2-2 Press can help mesh good pressing guards with multiple post players.
The 1-3-1 Press can use 1 post player but will have a major weakness if ran with multiple post players. With 2 post players on the floor, 1 of them will have to play out in space and cover a lot of ground. Opposing teams can take advantage of having a post player on the outside of the press. By attacking the post player, offenses can gain advantages in breaking the press.
2) Less Risk of Giving Up an Easy Layup
The 1-2-2 Press can be aggressive with the front 3 players while still having good rim protection on the back end. A team that can break the press will not have an easy layup because the back 2 defenders will still be there to guard against any potential layup.
Most presses are either really aggressive in trying to get steals but leave openings for teams to break the press and get open layups. Other presses are not aggressive to prevent giving up easy layups. The 1-2-2 Press is a good mix of aggression while also having a setup to prevent any possible open layups.
The 1-3-1 Press is really aggressive up front in trying to get traps and steals. But if an offense can break through the press, then the 1-3-1 Press only has 1 player back and that is normally a smaller quicker guard. They are going to struggle to stop any layups if the initial press does not work.
The 1-3-1 Press can be great if it is getting traps and turnovers. It can also be bad if the offense can beat the front 4 defenders and get a possible 2 on 1 at the basket. So, the 1-3-1 Press is a very high risk-reward press. It can help a team build a lead but it can just as easily give the offense a lead.
3) Less Rotation
The 1-2-2 Press simplifies a pressing defense by keeping rotations to a minimum. The front 3 defenders stay out in front. The back two defenders stay in the back. There is never a time where a front defender and a back defender are going to overlap. By keeping rotations simple, defenders should have a better understanding of how to play the defense.
Also, by having fewer rotations, the speed of the defenders is not an issue. Bigger, slower defenders can still execute the 1-2-2 Press at a high level. The potential weaknesses of a bigger, slower defender is negated with a low rotation press like the 1-2-2 Press.
The movement in the 1-2-2 Press is kept to just half of the court. Aside from the front defender, the other 4 defenders are covering their nearest sideline to the middle of the court. This splits the floor down the middle making it easier for each player to cover their area of the court. There are no long runs a defender is going to have to make.
The 1-3-1 Press keeps the middle defender mostly stationary but the other four defenders are required to cover a lot of area. The front and back defender are going to cover sideline to sideline. The two wings are either trapping the ball or rotating to the back as the rim protector.
A quick reversal pass by the offense could have a player trapping on one side of half-court and then rotating back to the basket on the reversal. This is a long run for any player. This scenario can require a defender to be in the front of the pass to trap and then be in the very back of the press all during the same possession.
The 1-3-1 Press has many rotations and every rotation has the chance for a defender to not get to their rotation. Any rotation that is not fully completed can give the offense a chance to make a through pass and break the press.
Which is Better? The 1-3-1 Press or the 1-2-2 Press
This really comes down to the team personal. A team with 1 post player would be better to run the 1-3-1 Press. A team with 2 post players would be better with the 1-2-2 Press.
So, the question of which is the better press comes down to which press to use when a team has all guards and forwards. By removing the post players, neither press has an advantage or disadvantage with team personal.
The 1-3-1 Press is the better press. The reason is how offenses try to attack and beat a press. Offenses are going to try and get the ball into the middle of the floor, turn, and attack the back end of the press. A 1-3-1 Press has an easier time preventing this pass because of the middle defender.
The 1-2-2 Press leaves the middle of the floor and press open. This gives the offense a better chance to cut a player into the middle to receive a pass. Once the middle pass happens, the 1-2-2 Press is broken and is in scramble mode trying to recover back.
The middle of the court is the key to breaking most presses and the 1-2-2 Press leaves too much open space there. By putting a defender in this open area, the offense has to adjust to the sideline which restricts the number of directions an offensive player can go in. A good 1-3-1 Press will use the sidelines to their advantages that cannot be used if the ball is in the middle of the court.
