What is a 2-3 Zone?
A 2-3 zone defense is a zone defense with a player on each elbow, a player on each block and one player in the middle of the lane. The defense has two players across the foul line and 3 players along the baseline. That is where the 2-3 gets its name.
The 2-3 zone defense is designed to get and keep a bunch of players around the lane. It tries to force the offense to take a bunch of outside shots by keeping every defender closer to the basket. This also has the added effect of trying to gain an edge in rebounding by having so many players around the basket.
The 2-3 zone is usually one of the first zone defenses a player learns growing up. It is also a defense that is used sparingly at the college level and at the pro level. The Syracuse Orangemen and Coach Jim Boeheim has used the 2-3 zone for the past 40 years to great success. The Miami Heat used a 2-3 zone against the Boston Celtics in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals to help them get to the Finals as an 8-seed. It can be effective at the highest levels of basketball.
What is a 1-2-2 Zone?
A 1-2-2 zone defense is a setup where 4 defenders are in a box formation on the elbows and blocks with one player playing between the half-court line and 3-point line as the point man in the 1-2-2. This keeps a box formation around the basket with one player extended above the 3-point line to try and put pressure on the offense.
The 1-2-2 defense is designed to be able to put pressure on the ball around the 3-point line. It has the ability to trap easily on the outside without losing its overall shape. Even with the additional ability to pressure on the outside, the 1-2-2 still provides some rim protection with the 2 defenders on the blocks. These two players give the defense rim protection while the front 3 provides outside pressure.
The 1-2-2 is a little mix of the 2-3 zone and the 1-3-1 zone. The 1-2-2 is more aggressive than the 2-3 but is not as aggressive as the 1-3-1. The 1-2-2 zone takes some of the weaknesses of the 2-3 and 1-3-1 and fixes them. But in fixing those issues, the 1-2-2 does produce some problems of its own.
Best Team Personnel for a 2-3 Zone?
There are usually 2 types of teams that run a 2-3 zone. The first is a small team that are trying to pack the lane. By packing the lane, the team should have an easier time rebounding missed shots because of the number of players close to the basket. It also helps the defense in being able to surround a good post player with a bunch of defenders. This gives the defense the ability to double team a post player much easier than other defenses.
The other type of team is either a slow team or a tall team. A slow team runs a 2-3 zone because the players are not covering as much of the floor individually, so the lack of speed becomes less of a disadvantage. The players are not having to move as much so quick offensive players are not going to be able to exploit their speed advantage as much.
Likewise, a tall team is going to benefit from the 2-3 zone because their length should cause problems for the offense. The zone is going to reduce the amount of movement for each player, so the size and length of the defense has a greater chance of causing problems for the offense.
The best team personnel for the 2-3 zone is a mixture of speed and length. The 2 guards at the front of the zone should be really quick so they can extend and pressure the ball as much as possible knowing they have help behind them. And the 3 bottom players of the zone should be tall and long. The taller those 3 players are, the harder it is for the offense to score on the inside of the zone. If the offense cannot score inside the zone, then they have to score from the outside. This is where the quick guards come into play. The faster those 2 guards are the more floor they can cover thus preventing outside shots with their own closeouts. This is the best personnel for a 2-3 zone. Two quick guards and three tall forwards.
Best Team Personnel for a 1-2-2 Zone?
The 1-2-2 zone is best used when a defensive team has two bigs. Most zone defenses are designed with a single slower post player being used in the defense. The 1-2-2 has the ability to play with 2 post players without giving a big advantage to the offense. The 1-2-2 keeps both post players closer to the basket without forcing those 2 players to extend out and guard at the 3-point line very often.
The 1-2-2 zone is also a good zone defense to use if a team has tall guards. The 3 front players in the 1-2-2 zone have the ability to trap. They also can play in passing lanes and make it harder for the offense to pass the ball. The taller guards have the ability to get out and pressure the offense. The point man on the zone has the ability to be aggressive looking to get deflections and steals. Deflections and steals by the point man can lead to easy layups.
When to use a 2-3 Zone?
There are several different reasons why a 2-3 zone should be used defensively. A couple of reasons are because of the defense and a couple of reasons are because of the offensive team the defense is playing against. Sometimes a 2-3 zone is a good choice because of the opponent.
The first reason to use a 2-3 zone is because the defense is unable to guard the opponent’s guards. If the defense cannot defend the guards of the opponent, then the defense is going to be helping constantly. By going to a 2-3 zone, the help side defense is simplified. The help is already behind the defenders making the defense easier and more effective.
The 2nd reason is because the defense is tall and long. Size can greatly influence the outcome of basketball games. A defense that is tall can cover more area than a team that is short. Having tall players and using a 2-3 zone gives the defense the ability to control the middle of the floor and make the offense shoot shots close to the basket over taller players. If the offense cannot shoot over the taller players, then they will be forced to take shots farther away from the basket. The farther away from the basket a team shoots leads to a lower percentage of made shots which leads to a lower number of points scored.
The 3rd reason is because the opponent are bad outside shooters. If a team cannot shoot from the outside, then a 2-3 zone works because the defense is putting more players closer to the basket forcing the offense to play farther away from the basket. This is why a 2-3 zone becomes much more effective the younger the players are. A 2-3 zone works great in youth basketball because youth players are usually not good outside shooters. The players are not strong enough yet. The 2-3 zone becomes less effective in high school and even less effective in college because so many players in high school and college are able to shoot from the outside. However, if a team does not have good outside shooters, then a 2-3 zone can still be effective in high school and college.
A coach can scout an opponent. They can see the opponent is not good at shooting outside shots. And then play a 2-3 zone against them forcing them to do something they are not good at doing.
The 4th and final reason is because the offense has a really good post player. If an opponent has a post player that nobody on defense can guard, then a 2-3 zone can be used to surround that post player with more defenders. By moving into a 2-3 zone, the defense is creating a natural double team scenario anywhere that post player goes on the inside of the zone. It also puts more defenders closer to the basket for rebounds to try and keep that dominant player from getting a bunch of offensive rebounds. The 2-3 zone should discourage teams from using the post player as much and make the offense use their guards more. The 2-3 zone is trying to force the offense to use other players besides their best post player to score.
When to use a 1-2-2 Zone?
The 1-2-2 zone is used when a team does not have the right kind of personnel to run a 2-3 zone or a 1-3-1 zone. The 2-3 zone and 1-3-1 zone are the two most common zones I see. However, if you are reading the zone defense guides and the different defensive comparison articles on this website, then you should have read about the right kind of personnel to run a 2-3 zone or 1-3-1 zone. If the team does not have the personnel to execute either of those defenses, then a different defense is needed. This is where the 1-2-2 zone comes in.
The 2-3 zone and 1-3-1 zone are not good options if a team has 2 post players who are slow. The 1-3-1 zone needs a fast player playing the bottom spot in the zone. What if a team has 2 slow post players? What if a team does not have that fast player? Then a switch to a 1-2-2 zone might be the best move for a defense.
The 1-2-2 zone keeps the rim protection of a 2-3 zone while using the aggressiveness of the front 3 players like a 1-3-1 zone. When a team does not quite fit well with the 2-3 zone or the 1-3-1 zone, then the 1-2-2 might be the perfect defense. The 1-2-2 allows the defense to extend the defense and put pressure on the offensives guards while keeping good rim protection around the basket.
Advantages of 2-3 Zone over a 1-2-2 Zone?
1) Better Foul Line Coverage
The big flaw of a 1-2-2 zone is the foul line. If an offense is able to get the ball into the foul line area, then the 1-2-2 is going to struggle getting stops. The 2-3 zone has the same issue with struggling to stop the offense if the ball gets into the high post, but by having the middle defender in the 2-3 zone there is more coverage in that area.
A good offense is going to attack a zone defense through the middle of the zone. That is getting the ball into the high post, and either attacking the basket or letting the defense collapse and then kicking the ball out for a wide-open shot. Any zone defense will struggle if the offense can get the ball into the high post area. So, a good zone defense works to prevent that from happening.
A 2-3 zone has the two elbow defenders with the middle defender to keep a body at the high post area thus preventing the offense from getting the ball into this area. A 1-2-2 moves the middle defender up above the 3-point line leaving the paint wide open. By leaving the paint wide open, the offense has an easier time getting the ball into the high post.
2) Rebounding
The 1-2-2 zone tries to extend defenders out away from the basket. By extending the defense out away from the basket it causes other problems to arise. One of those is the ability to rebound out of a 1-2-2 zone. The 1-2-2 zone relies on the two block defenders to protect the basket as well as rebound any missed shots. The 1-2-2 zone also has the two elbow defenders, usually guards, rotating down to the block at times. This rotation leaves a guard on the backside rebound. Backside rebounds get about 70% of all missed shots. This can be a problem with having a guard potentially trying to rebound against an offensive post player.
The 2-3 zone on the other hand has a compact setup which puts a lot of defenders in and around the basket. The thought is to overload the area with as many people as possible which will improve rebounding. This strategy can and does work. The defense does not have to rely on any one player to rebound. It is a total group effort. Size and strength advantages by the offense get diminished because of the number of players on defense around the basket.
3) Less Defensive Rotations
The 2-3 zone does not have a bunch of rotations needed for the zone to work. Every defender stays in their general area. The different areas of the zone have some overlap but not a lot. This means the 2-3 zone has fewer defensive rotations which leads to less confusion as to who is responsible for each offensive player and the ball.
The 1-2-2 zone on the other has a lot of overlapping areas as well as a lot of rotations necessary for the defense to work. For instance, when the ball is in the corner, the backside elbow defender must slide down to the backside block. Without this rotation the offense can exploit the backside block area that is open leading to easy baskets. The defense in a 1-2-2 zone has a lot of player movement which can lead to confusion. The 1-2-2 zone can also struggle if defenders do not get into their spots. The defense can struggle if the defenders are just slow getting into and out of their rotations.
Advantages of 1-2-2 Zone over a 2-3 Zone?
1) Ability to Extend the Defense Away from the Basket
The 1-2-2 zone is similar to the 1-3-1 zone in that it has the ability to extend the defense without having to change the setup of the defense. A defense could extend up the floor as much as they want. The 1-2-2 zone could be extended up into a press and as the offense breaks the press the defense just falls back into a 1-2-2 half-court zone.
This versatilely gives the 1-2-2 zone the ability to be used multiple ways while only having to teach and learn one defense. The rotations will still be the same just on a bigger and longer scale when the defense gets extended. If an opponent has bad guard play, then the ability to extend and pressure those guards can lead to turnovers. Those turnovers could be the difference between winning a close game and losing that game.
2) Better 3-point line Coverage
The 1-2-2 zone is designed to cover and guard the 3-point line. All 5 defenders have a section of the 3-point line they are responsible for guarding. A 2-3 zone only has 4 defenders covering the entire 3-point line. That additional defender allows the 1-2-2 zone to maintain better coverage on the outside of the defense.
Against a good outside shooting, the 1-2-2 zone has an advantage over other zone defenses because the zone is using all 5 defenders to guard the outside areas. This reduces the amount of space on the outside each defender is responsible for. This should make it harder for the offensive team to get good, clean, open 3-point shots.
3) Ability to Trap
The 1-2-2 zone with the front 3 players setup similar to the 1-3-1 zone has the ability to trap. A trapping defense can put a lot of pressure on the offense and cause the offense to turn the ball over. An aggressive defense can cause problems for any offense. The 1-2-2 zone can be a constant trapping defense. As long as the trapping is working, then the defense should get deflections and steals.
A 2-3 zone is a much more passive defense in that it can not really trap the offense. Without this ability the offense should have a much calmer approach to playing against the 2-3 zone. A defense that forces the offensive players to feel uncomfortable should have a much higher rate success.
The 2-3 zone without the ability to trap can be problematic if the defense is behind late in a game. The 2-3 zone struggles to pressure and trap the offense which means the offense could stand around and run clock without being pressured. This can cause the defense to use a different defense outside of the 2-3 zone. The 1-2-2 zone can trap late in a game meaning the 1-2-2 zone does not have to change in certain late game situations. This gives a defense the ability to use the 1-2-2 zone in any game situation.
Which is better? 2-3 Zone or 1-2-2 Zone?
I do not think there is a clear better zone defense between these two. It really depends on what you are trying to accomplish as a defense. The 1-2-2 zone is better against outside teams. Teams that are looking to score from the outside with a bunch of 3-point shots will struggle more against a 1-2-2 zone than a 2-3 zone. On the other hand, a 2-3 zone is much better against inside teams. A team looking to score a bunch of points around the basket are going to struggle more against a 2-3 zone than a 1-2-2 zone. The better defense between these two is more about who the opponent is and how the opponent tries to score their points.