What is a 2-3 Matchup Zone Defense?
A 2-3 matchup or 2-3 matchup zone is a man-zone hybrid defense. The players are going to be guarding man-to-man but only against the player in their zone. Once a player leaves the defenders zone, then that offensive player will be guarded by another defender. The defenders are constantly switching or passing offensive players back and forth as the offensive players are moving on the court.
In a 2-3 matchup, each defender will be guarding an offensive player at all times. However, as the offense moves the defensive matchups are always changing. The defense is called a 2-3 matchup, but the defense morphs and changes its shape to match what the offense is doing. So, if the offense has four players on the baseline, then the defense is going to look like a 1-4 zone defense. If the offense is in a 1-2-2 formation, then the defense will look like a 1-2-2 zone.
The matchup zone makes it hard on offenses because it is not a zone defense, but it also is not a man defense. This means that a traditional man offense may not work against the matchup, but a zone offense may also struggle to score against the 2-3 matchup. The matchup zone can force the offense into scenarios different from playing against both man defenses and zone defenses. This unfamiliarity can cause confusion with the offense playing against a 2-3 matchup.
What is a 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense?
A 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense is a zone defense setup in a 1-3-1 formation that uses positioning to try and stop an offense. The 1-3-1 no trapping defense does not trap the ball like its name indicates. This defense tries to play passing lanes to get deflections and steals. It is a passive defense in that it is not a defense built on ball pressure. The 1-3-1 no trap defense wants to force players to pick up their dribble and not be able to pass the ball to a teammate. This defense tries to force the offense to not be able to make any passes and make mistakes because of it.
The 1-3-1 no trapping defense goes against what a typical 1-3-1 trapping defense tries to do. By playing against the trends of a traditional 1-3-1 trap, the 1-3-1 no trapping defense tries to counter how an offense typically attacks a 1-3-1. The 1-3-1 no trap will leave the ball alone at times. The players will look to stay in passing lanes to prevent the ball from being passed around the court. This keeps the ball in one player’s hands thus preventing the offense from being able to properly execute an offense.
Best Team Personnel for a 2-3 Matchup Zone
The 2-3 matchup being a hybrid defense needs a little bit of personnel for a man defense and a little bit of personnel for a zone defense. All five players need to be able to guard 1-on-1. They do not have to be great defenders. Since the player each defender is guarding is constantly changing, they need to be able to guard multiple players on the other team. However, since the defense is going to be in a zone setup, each defender is going to always have help behind them. Because of the hybrid style there is not any one instance or personnel needed to play the 2-3 matchup. The 2-3 matchup lends itself to be used for all kinds of different personnel groupings or teams.
The ideal personnel group is two really quick guards on the top. These guards will be able to gamble a little bit more, going for steals knowing they have help behind them. The zone aspect lets them be more aggressive pressuring and gambling out front.
The middle player of the zone would be a serious rim protector. A shot blocker or shot changer is preferable. Having this type of player in the middle gives even more freedom for the guards to gamble for steals. The guards know if they get beat, then the middle player is going to block the offensive players shot. So, now the guards are even less worried about getting beat off the dribble which means they can be more aggressive with their pressure.
And the two block players would be either tall and long players that can fill gaps and space. Or really quick players that can cover a lot of ground. The tall players would make it hard for the offense to pass the ball around the 2-3 matchup as well as giving the defense more rim protection outside of the middle player. This can keep the ball out front having to constantly go against the quick guards who are trying to create turnovers.
On the other hand, quick players can give the defense the ability to extend the defense up the court making the offense start farther away from the basket. Their quickness gives them the ability to turn and sprint back if a pass is made over the top of the defense. If the quickness can make the offense start near half-court, then the offense is going to struggle to score. Either way, the defense can play to its strength in these two spots.
Best Team Personnel for a 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense
The best team personnel of a 1-3-1 no trapping defense is a very tall team. The 1-3-1 is based on playing passing lanes rather than guarding a player or the ball. A defense needs to be able to take away the ability for the offense to pass the ball. The taller and longer a defense is, the harder it is going to make it on the offense to be able to see around them and to make passes.
The one exception to this is the bottom player in the 1-3-1. The bottom player needs to be fast. This player has to cover corner to corner so the team needs a player fast enough to run sideline to sideline.
When scouting and preparing for an opponent, the 1-3-1 no trapping defense would only be considered if the point and wings of the 1-3-1 zone are all significantly taller than the opponents guards. Without this size advantage the offense might not struggle as much with the defense playing in the passing lanes. The 1-3-1 no trapping defense takes the size advantage of the defense and uses it.
When to Use a 2-3 Matchup Zone
There are coaches and teams out there that only use a 2-3 matchup zone. In speaking with them, they say it simplifies teaching defense. They do not have to worry about correctly matching the defenders to each offensive player. They morph it depending on the opponent. This is using the 2-3 matchup zone as a primary defense. What if you are using the 2-3 matchup zone as a secondary defense?
If man defense is the primary defense, then the 2-3 matchup keeps the fundamentals of the defense the same but gives the ability to play defense against a team that you cannot guard. Once the primary man defense is taught, the 2-3 matchup keeps all of that teaching the same except for switching offensive players as they move. This can help maximize time of practice. It gives a man defense team the ability to play a zone without changing much of the defense.
Likewise, if a team is a primary zone defense, it gives the team the ability to play in a more man to man defensive style while keeping the formation of the zone the same. It gives the players the familiarity of the primary defense while adding some components of the non-primary defense.
So, if a man defense cannot guard an opponent with man defense, then a 2-3 matchup can be used to provide the backside coverage needed to play against the team without losing the man defense principles. A zone defense can switch into a 2-3 matchup so they can extend farther away from the basket and put more pressure on the offense. It can take a zone defense from a reaction defense to a defense that can force the offense into bad positions by guarding more man within the zone.
When to Use a 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense
There are two instances in which the 1-3-1 no trapping defense would be the best time to use it. The first is like I stated above and that is when the defense has a significant height advantage over the offense. The height advantage of the defense added to the positioning of playing passing lanes could make it very difficult for the offense to score the ball. The offense would need to rely on a single player creating and making their own shot and at a height disadvantage. This is very hard to do.
The second instance is when the opponent has a dynamic point guard or driver of the basketball. If an opponent has a player that can drive the ball and score at a very high rate, then the defense has to do something to counter this one player. The 1-3-1 no trap would disguise what it is doing. And in turn invite the drive only to collapse around them when they do drive. The defense can use the 1-3-1 no trapping defense to help corral the guard to limit their scoring.
The 1-3-1 no trapping defense is going to play the passing lanes. So, if a player on offense has the ball out front, the point man of the defense is going to be playing the reversal pass and the wing on ball side is going to be in the passing lane to keep the ball out of the corner. This means the middleman of the 1-3-1 zone is actually guarding the ball in the traditional sense.
This is inviting the scorer to drive the ball at the middleman. Once the drive starts and gets close to the middleman, the point and wing can collapse down effectively triple teaming that scorer. The 1-3-1 no trap invites the drive only to surround the drive as the ball gets close to the lane. The offensive player can get too deep into the zone and panic. This panic leads to turnovers. It is basically corralling the scorer into an area and then overwhelming them with defensive players. This can help limit the ability of the scorer to score.
Advantages of a 2-3 Matchup Zone Over a 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone
1) Keeps Man Principals While in a Zone
A 2-3 Matchup Zone is a zone defense with Man to Man Defensive Principals. All the defenders are playing man to man defense but they are staying within a certain area of the court. The defenders are staying in their spots while the offensive players are continuing to move around the court.
A defender does not chase the offensive players around the court. Each defender is guarding the offensive player in their area. As the offense moves, the defensive players are passing off offensive players to the next area defenders and picking up a new offensive player as they enter their area.
Aside from the constant switching as the offensive players are moving, the defenders are using man to man defensive principals while the offensive player is in their area. This keeps the guards defending on the outside of the zone and the post players staying closer to the basket. The 2-3 Matchup works in a way where a post player is never guarding the ball at the 3-point line and a guard is never trying to defend a post move.
The 2-3 Matchup is an easy transition from Man to Man to the Matchup Zone because the only new concept is the passing of offensive players between defenders as the offense is moving. On the ball, one pass away and help side defense all stay the same between the two defenses. This makes the concepts of Man to Man Defense able to be used in 2 different defenses.
The 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone, on the other hand, is a completely different style of defense than any other zone. The defensive players have to adjust to a new concept of guarding the passing lanes and not the players. The offense is able to run free. The defense is trying to stay in between two offensive players but not necessarily guard either of them.
This new defensive philosophy can leave defenders confused and lead to breakdowns. There is normally a transition period of mistakes when players learn new concepts. The offense is going to get some easy baskets as the defense is learning how to play the 1-3-1 No Trap Defense. Over time those easy baskets go away as the defense gets better. But the only way to get better is to play the defense against an opponent where mistakes are going to occur.
2) Easier to Rebound
The 2-3 Matchup Zone is a great rebounding zone. Every defensive player should be matched to an offensive player at all times. This makes boxing out and rebounding assignments much easier. There should never be a case of an offensive player running free to a rebound or having two defenders boxing out the same player.
A 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense or most any zone defense can struggle rebounding the basketball because the defense has to quickly account for every defensive player. This can lead to offensive players running straight to the rebound without any contact.
The 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense will also have the quickest player in the back which is also normally a shorter player.
The biggest or tallest player will be in the middle of the 1-3-1 defense. This puts them around the free throw line a lot of times. They can be out of good rebounding position on a shot because of defending near the free throw most of the time. All of this can make rebounding in 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense much more difficult.
3) Less Likely to Give Up Open Shots
The 2-3 Matchup Zone is a zone defense with man to man concepts. Every defender is guarding man to man but only within certain areas of the court. The defenders are staying in their area and passing or switching offensive players as they enter and exit their zone area. This means every offensive player should be accounted for at all times.
The 2-3 Matchup Zone is going to account for every offensive player meaning their should never be offensive players running around the court wide open at any time. Screens are less effective because the defender being screened is not going to be chasing around the screen. This makes it harder on the offense to get open. The offense can struggle getting open and if they are not open then they are not going to get open shots.
Contested shots are harder to make than wide open shots. Contested shots are therefore more likely to miss meaning the offense is not going to score a bunch of points. The lower the score, the better chance the defense has to win the game.
The 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone is designed to guard passing lanes and not necessarily pressure the ball. This means the ball handler could be in spots without a defender right there next to them. This is going to give the offense more open shots because a defender might be playing off the ball rather than on the ball defense.
While it still may not be a good shot for the offense to take; they still are likely to get more open shots. Against a bad shooting team this could be really beneficial to the defense. However, against a good shooting team or player, the 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense could give them too much space offensively. A good shooting player could make a lot more baskets with the additional open space the 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense may provide.
Advantages of a 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Over a 2-3 Matchup Zone
1) Confuse the Offense
A lot of teams are prepped to play against a 1-3-1 Press or a 1-3-1 Half-Court Trap. The ability of the defense to execute a defense that looks the same as other defenses but plays completely different can really confuse the opponent. All the preparation an offense may do for a traditional 1-3-1 Trapping Defense does no good when the defense does not trap.
The 1-3-1 No Trap Defense takes the expectations of a 1-3-1 zone and changes everything to the complete opposite of what is expected. Instead of trapping and chasing, the 1-3-1 No Trap Defense plays soft on the ball and tries to prevent the offense from passing the ball. This changes the keys for the offense of where to go and when to be there. It also changes the attacking lanes the offense should use to beat the 1-3-1 No Trap Defense.
The defense can then change from trapping to not trapping and leave the offense completely confused on what to do. A confused offense is going to play slow. It is going to cause the players to think rather than react. And it is going to keep the offense from being on the same page.
All of the changes the defense can do with a 1-3-1 zone makes it hard for the offense to ever get comfortable. Confusion on the offense will often lead to bad shots and bad passes. And with confusion, the offense is being reactionary to the defense rather than attacking the defense.
The 2-3 Matchup Zone can confuse the offense and get the offense off-balance. However, with the right preparation and adjustments, the offense can quickly figure out what to do against the 2-3 Matchup Zone. A matchup zone changes enough of the zone concepts to confuse offenses if they are not familiar with the defense.
The 1-3-1 Zone can keep changing from trapping to not trapping to keep the confusion very high on the offense. The 2-3 Matchup does not have the ability to keep changing enough to keep the offense confused. After the initial confusion goes away, then the offense can adjust and attack the matchup zone with confidence.
2) Plugs the Lane
The 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone plays the passing lanes which should give the appearance to the offense of having open space to drive the ball. As the ball is dribbled into the middle, the 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone will collapse with the two closest defenders and the middle defender to surround and overwhelm the dribbler.
The defenders play out away from the lane to open up the interior space. Once the ball enters into the interior space, the defenders collapse and take away the open space that was there. It is essentially a cat and mouse game. The offense sees the open space. They go to the open space. The defense then takes away all of the space to try and get the offense to make a mistake.
The 2-3 Matchup Zone has one major weakness. It is not designed to rotate and recover. If the defense is able to guard well 1 on 1, then the 2-3 Matchup Zone works. The on the ball defense does not have to be great. The defenders just have to keep the ball in front of them.
The easiest way to beat a 2-3 Matchup Zone is to spread the floor out and attack the middle of the floor with a dribble. If the on the ball defender is beat then the offense has the advantage and usually an open shot.
The problem most teams have when playing against a 2-3 Matchup Zone is they attempt to beat the defense with screens and cuts. This does not work because the defense just switches and never loses its shape.
The dribble drive is what makes the 2-3 Matchup Zone breakdown. When a defender is beat off the dribble, the next defender rotates up to stop the ball. Now the beat defender has to replace the help defender and now defenders are crossing. Now the zone areas of the 2-3 Matchup have been adjusted and this can lead to major breakdowns.
3) Funnel the Guards in Problem Areas
The 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense is a great defense against a player who is very good at attacking the middle of a defense off the dribble. The defenders play off the ball to give the offensive ball handler space. The driving lanes will appear to be open. When the offensive player starts to attack the middle of the defense, then all the defenders can collapse around the ball quickly.
The point and wings of a 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense can play the passing lanes in ways to get the offense to put the ball into certain areas of the floor. Once the ball enters those areas, the defense should have a prepared response to create problems for the offense.
Personally, I like to funnel the ball into the elbow area and surround the ball with the middle defender, point and ball side wing. This makes a pass or shot really hard because the offensive player is being surrounding by 3 defenders. This does not necessarily mean the defenders are up close and trapping but just close enough to take away all of the space around the ball. This can overwhelm the offensive player and lead to a bunch of turnovers.
The 2-3 Matchup Zone’s major weakness is dribble penetration. The matchup zone is not going to try and funnel the ball into any location but react to where the offense takes the ball. A good driving guard can present major problems for the matchup zone because the on the ball defender may not be able to keep the ball out of the lane. As soon as the 2-3 Matchup Zone has to rotate, the zone breaks down and gives open shots to the offense.
Which is Better? A 2-3 Matchup Zone or a 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense
The better choice in this debate is more about each coach’s own personal philosophy. A coach that prefers man to man defense is going to see the 2-3 Matchup Zone as the better option. A coach who prefers zone defense is going to see the 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense as the better choice.
The 2-3 Matchup Zone is an easy defense to transition a man-to-man defensive team into a zone option defense. Most of the principals are going to stay the same from man defense to the matchup zone. This makes teaching the 2-3 Matchup Zone easy to do with a team that has been primarily playing man-to-man defense.
The 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense is a better choice when the team is already a heavy zone defensive team. The 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense can be used alongside a 1-3-1 Trapping Defense and a 1-3-1 Press Defense to create a defensive system that changes the pressure of the defense without changing the setup of the defense.
Personally, I think the 2-3 Matchup Zone is the better choice between the two. It keeps better ball pressure without giving up a bunch of possible wide open shots. I believe in contesting every shot. The 2-3 Matchup Zone should be able to do that. The 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone is going to give up some uncontested shots by playing in the passing lanes and not having constant ball pressure.
I also like to play man to man defense as my primary defense. This is going to make the 2-3 Matchup Zone a better zone defensive option for my teams. The 2-3 Matchup Zone Defense helps to transition a team from man to man defense into a more traditional zone defense. So, I like to install the 2-3 Matchup Zone before using any other zone defenses. This is why I would consider the 2-3 Matchup Zone as the better defense over the 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense.
