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 2-1-2 Press?
A 2-1-2 Press has two players up putting pressure on the ball. There is a single middle defender who will roam in the middle of the press and decide where and when to go trap the ball. The final two players are back. The 2-1-2 press is normally a 3/4 court press. This puts the front two defenders between the 3-point line and half-court, the middle defender right at half-court and the two back players around the 3-point line.
The 2-1-2 press is a more passive press. The trapping is going to come only from the middle defender. If the middle defender does not see a good spot to trap, then they will not trap. However, if the middle defender does leave the middle to trap, then the other 3 defenders rotate towards the ball to try and get a steal. A trap might only occur half the possessions in a 2-1-2 trap because it can be difficult to get a trap in this press.
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 is not as good as it could be. These two wing players are the key to the 1-3-1 press. The wings have to be long, athletic, and smart or the press is not going to work.
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 forward pass before the trap is there. This is going to be the fastest player on the team.
Best Team Personnel for a 2-1-2 Press
The key to running a good 2-1-2 Press is the middle defender. This player must have a high basketball IQ, can anticipate well, and be fast. All three of these skills are necessary from the middle defender in order for the 2-1-2 Press to work. No other press relies on a single defender as much as the 2-1-2 press relies on the middle defender.
The middle defender must have a high basketball IQ. They need to understand and know where every player is on the court and why they are there. They have to know where the offense is trying to take the ball and the passes coming out of those areas.
A bad rush by the middle defender leaves the defense down 2 players. If the offense sees the trap before it gets there, then the offense has easy passes out of the trap and the offense is able to attack the back two players with numbers.
The middle defender must know exactly when and how to rush the ball to get the trap. Not many players have the high basketball IQ to understand and read what everybody is doing to know the exact moment to rush.
The middle defender must be able to anticipate well. The ability for them to get an extra step or two before anybody else can be the difference between a trap and almost a trap. By reading the game well, the middle defender can anticipate and start to move where the trap is going to be rather than where the ball currently is at. Those 1 or 2 steps can make all the difference for the defense.
Finally, the middle defender must be fast enough to get to the trap when they decide to rush. A slow defender will not cover the distance quick enough to catch the offense unaware. The middle defender must be at the trap faster than the offense is able to see them coming. Basketball is a fast-paced game so having the speed to be at the trap the moment before the ball handler sees it coming is an absolute must.
The middle defender is the key to the 2-1-2 press. They have to be a special kind of player. And simple put, there are not too many high school basketball players that possess all the necessary traits to make this press work. The handful of players that are able to do execute in the middle defender’s spot are going to be the best players on the court more often than not.
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 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 2-1-2 Press?
The first thing to have when running the 2-1-2 Press is the middle defender as I stated earlier. After that the 2-1-2 Press can be used at any point in time during a game.
The 2-1-2 press is a more passive press in that it should be used to control tempo rather than trying to get steals and turnovers. It is going to make the offense slow down to break the press. It is going to take the transition game away from the offense. This will turn the game into a half-court game rather than a full-court game.
The middle defender can trap when the time is right but they do not have to ever trap the ball. They can stay in the middle and the defense can do a slow retreat out of the press. The 2-1-2 press can be shown and slowly retreated to make the offense stop transition and get into a press offense. Then the defense can retreat back to a half-court defense and force the offense into a half-court game. This is when the 2-1-2 press is being used to its fullest advantage. And with this strategy the middle defender can be anybody because they are not leaving to trap the ball.
Advantages of the 1-3-1 Press Over the 2-1-2 Press
1) More Aggressive; More Steals
The 1-3-1 Press is an aggressive press looking to get traps and steals. Steals normally will lead to runouts and layups. The runouts and layups are easy points giving the defense an advantage over their opponent. When a team has long, athletic wings they are able to get more deflections and steals. Add in the 1-3-1 press and these players are going to be in positions to trap and influence bad passes. All of this makes the 1-3-1 a favorite press to come back from a deficit.
The 2-1-2 Press is a much more passive defense meaning the defense is going to get considerably less deflections and steals. The lack of steals are not going to give the offense as many easy points for the defense. When a game is decided by less than 5 points, one or two steals and runouts can be the difference from winning and losing the game. The 1-3-1 press will help get those steals whereas the 2-1-2 press will not.
2) Does Not Need One Key Player
The 1-3-1 Press needs all 5 players doing their job to make the press successful. The wings and point must work together to get the ball into a trapping area and be there together to get the trap. The middle defender must prevent the ball from coming into the middle of the floor. And the back defender must prevent any over the top passes from the offense.
The 1-3-1 Press is having all 5 defenders in the right spot at the right time. No one player is more important than any others. It takes each player fulfilling their role to make the 1-3-1 press a success.
The 2-1-2 Press is having 4 defenders keeping the ball in front of them waiting on the middle defender to make a decision on what to do. The middle defender is key and only when they rush does the press put pressure on the offense. While the middle defender is deciding, the other 4 defenders are waiting on them. The 2-1-2 press relies on the middle defender to decide on how the press is going to be played every possession.
3) Trapping is Natural
The 1-3-1 Press is set up in a way where the trapping of the press is natural meaning when the ball is in certain locations the defense should automatically converge and trap. This makes trapping in a 1-3-1 press easy to understand and do. Trapping is not forced. The press is not having to manipulate the defense to get traps.
This lets the players play without having to process what the offense is doing. Trapping is easy to learn and understand. Players do not have to have a high basketball IQ to execute the 1-3-1 Press at a high level. This gives the 1-3-1 Press the ability to be used by all ages and skill levels of teams. The 1-3-1 press can be executed with all types of teams. This makes it a nice press to use year after year after year.
The 2-1-2 Press is a hard press to learn and the traps will come from all manner of places and angles. The traps in a 2-1-2 press can be made at any place on the court and at any time. The middle defender will trap when they feel they are able to get a trap. The freedom the middle defender has in trapping means traps in the 2-1-2 press are unpredictable.
For some players the uncertainty of when and where trapping is going to occur makes the press hard for players to learn. The offense can do the same action two possessions in a row and one possession the defense traps and the 2nd possession the defense doesn’t. This can be difficult for players to understand.
Advantages of the 2-1-2 Press Over the 1-3-1 Press
1) Better Rim Protection
The 2-1-2 Press is different than most presses in that there are two players back in the press. The 2-1-2 press puts less players up front but in keeping two players in the back the offense has a lower chance of getting an easy layup off of the press. A press is only good if the defense is not giving up easy baskets on the back end of the press. By keeping two players back the defense will have a much better chance of making the offense set up in a play after beating the press.
The 1-3-1 Press is gambling up front so when an offense is able to beat the press they have a good chance of getting a layup off of it. When pressing there is a risk of giving up an easy layup when the offense is able to beat the press. The 1-3-1 press will give up those layups whereas the 2-1-2 press is less likely because of the two players in the back of the press.
2) Does not need long, athletic players
The 2-1-2 Press does need a very good player to be the middle defender, but the other players can be of any size or speed. The middle defender is key. The other 4 players are all playing in response to what the middle defender is doing. Because the 4 players are waiting on the 1 player to make a move, they are not having to try and initiate a play. This means the 4 players can be tall or short, slow or fast, or any other type of player.
The 1-3-1 Press needs size and length at the point and wing positions. Short players in a 1-3-1 Press are not going to be effective because the offense will be able to pass the ball over them. With the empty space up the sidelines for the offense to be in, passes cannot be allowed to go over the top of the defense unless it is a long looping pass.
Tall wings are able to prevent those passes. Short players do not. The 1-3-1 Press has to have a certain player group in order to play well in a 1-3-1. Some teams do not have the size needed, so the 1-3-1 Press is not a viable option for a pressing defense.
3) Keeps Offense Unsure and Off-Balanced
The 2-1-2 Press is very hard to prep for and play against. Most defenses have certain rules that moves the defense is certain ways. When an offense knows this they can work at exploiting some of those movements. Zone offenses and press offenses work because they are taking advantage of a perceived weakness in the defense.
The 2-1-2 Press gives the middle defender the freedom to move freely without restriction. This freedom makes it so there is no pattern to the press. Since there is no defensive movement pattern, the offense cannot predict what the defense is going to do. Now the offense has to change what it is doing each possession to counter the freedom of the middle defender.
Offenses at the high school level and lower may not have the offensive players skilled enough or smart enough to play basketball with a bunch of freedom. When players have to react correctly without keys they can make the wrong decisions.
The 2-1-2 Press makes the offense play in response to the defense. This keeps the offense unsure of how to play because each possession is different. The 2-1-2 Press is thinking the uncertainty of the press will cause the offense to make mistakes that the defense will be able to take advantage of those mistakes.
The 1-3-1 Press is a pattern defense. When the ball is in a certain spot the defense will rotate in certain ways. The offense is able to plan for those rotations and play in ways that do not allow the defense to gain an advantage. The offense knows where and when the 1-3-1 Press is going to trap, so the offense can play in ways to prevent those traps from happening.
Which is Better? The 1-3-1 Press or the 2-1-2 Press
The 2-1-2 Press can be an effective press if a team has a player good enough to play the middle defender spot. As a coach, I have never had a player that I trust to play that spot. It is more likely to occur at the younger ages because of the skill level difference that can occur at a younger age. At the high school level where players are more skilled, the 2-1-2 press becomes much harder to use.
The 1-3-1 Press needs height to use well. But with the more patterned movements and rules, more players are able to understand how to play the 1-3-1 Press. Players can learn how to play the 1-3-1 press due to the rules of the 1-3-1 Press. Players do not need to have a high basketball IQ to play 1-3-1 press.
Out of these two presses, I would have to say the 1-3-1 press is the better option. This is because of the high standard needed for the middle defender in the 2-1-2 press to be effective. The middle defender in the 2-1-2 press has to be a special player and there is not a lot of players that can fulfill that role to the level needed to make the press work. The 1-3-1 press is easy for players to understand and execute. Defenses are only able to work if the players are able to execute the defense. More players are able to play the 1-3-1 press than the 2-1-2 press. That is why I give the advantage to the 1-3-1 press.
