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 3-2 Zone?
A 3-2 zone defense is a defense with 3 players across the top of the zone and 2 players on the bottom. The 2 bottom players will start on each block. The middle player in the 3 across will be right at the top of the key on the 3-point line. And the 2 wings are going to be extended out closer to the wings of the offense.
The point man or middle man of the 3-2 zone is going to follow the ball and stay in between the ball and the basket. They will stay almost on the lane lines as they go around the floor following the ball. This player is the most important player in the 3-2 zone. They have to be able to guard the opponent’s guard when they are at the top of the key. They also must be able to guard the opponent’s post players when they are on the block.
With the point man rotating around the entire floor, the other players do not have to rotate as much. The post players are going to be staying on their side the majority of the time in the zone. This means the post players can be slow and still be effective within the zone defense. It also means the post players of the zone are going to be on the backside of the zone for rebounding.
The wings are also going to stay on the outside more often. They will have to rotate to the high post when they are on the backside, but they will never have to drop down to the block. This keeps the post players near the basket and the wings on the outside of the defense except for the point man who will be covering both.
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 3-2 Zone?
The key to the 3-2 zone starts with the point man at the top of the zone. This player has to be able to guard the perimeter and the block. They have to be able to defend quick guards as well as post players. Without this one player, the 3-2 zone is not going to work. A quick stretch 4 or a tall guard are ideal for this spot.
The next personnel for the 3-2 zone is usually a team with 2 bigs on the court at the same time. The bigs are usually slower players. The 3-2 zone helps to limit the movement of the 2 bigs on the block. The 3-2 zone helps to maximize the advantage of having two bigs on the floor at the same time. It also helps to reduce the disadvantages of having two slower players on the floor at the same time.
The two wings can be any type of player. The taller these wings are the better, but they are going to be staying on the outside, so they do not have to be tall.
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 will lead 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. If they see the opponent is not good at shooting outside shots, then they can 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 3-2 Zone?
The 3-2 zone is a zone defense that is more aggressive than the 2-3 zone but not as aggressive as the 1-3-1 zone defense. It gives the defense the ability to pressure the ball on the perimeter while maintaining a good presence around the basket.
It is a good defense to add along with the 2-3 zone or the 1-3-1 zone to give the ability to be more aggressive or more conservative without going to an extreme. It can give a passive defense the ability to become more aggressive. It can give an aggressive defense the ability to become more conservative. It can give the defense a little adjustment to get the offense out of rhythm.
The 3-2 zone is also a good zone to get closeouts on the perimeter. All 5 defenders are responsible for a portion of the 3-point line. This gives the defense the ability to cover more of the perimeter and reduce outside shots. This would be a good zone to use against a team that likes to play a 5-out offense. The 3-2 zone has the ability to spread out and maintain cover around the perimeter.
Advantages of a 2-3 Zone vs 3-2 Zone.
1) Better Rebounding
The 2-3 zone has the 3 players across the back of the zone. This formation gives the zone more coverage around the basket. When the offense shoots the ball, the defense should have at least 2 players right next to the basket and this could be as many as 4 players depending on the rotations of the defense.
One way to get more rebounds is to get more players around the basket. The 2-3 zone has a formation where there are going to be more players around the basket. It can still be difficult to rebound because players still need to make contact and box out but there is a higher chance the ball bounces to a defensive player more often even without box outs.
The 3-2 zone only has 2 players around the basket not 3. And the point player of the defense rotates all the way down to the block. A smart offensive player can move in a good rebounding position against the point before the ball is shot. This makes rebounding out of a 3-2 even harder because the point could struggle to get good positioning.
So, not only does the 2-3 zone put more players around the basket but it also puts the bigger players around the basket more often, then the 3-2 zone.
2) More Help of Drives
The 2-3 zone has the players more centrally focused. There should be 2-3 defenders in between the ball and basket at all times. This means when an offensive player drives, there should be additional defenders to step up and help stop the ball. This could be as many as 1-2 defenders helping the drive.
The 3-2 zone is more spaced out and is focused more on the outside. This means there is space on the inside of the zone that is open. This space gives the offense the ability to drive into the middle of the zone.
3) Makes it Harder to Score on the Onside
The 2-3 zone is putting a bunch of defenders in the paint. This makes it hard for the offense to get the ball in the paint and then to score the ball. A post player catching the ball is going to have a natural double team every single time. These natural double teams result on the offense needing to score from the outside.
The 2-3 zone works so well at the younger level and younger ages because most kids do not start to develop outside shots until jr. high or high school. The 2-3 zone should force teams to take more outside shots and at a young age most kids are not able to make outside shots consistently.
Advantages of a 3-2 Zone vs 2-3 Zone
1) Better Coverage on the 3-point Line
The 2-3 zone has better inside coverage but the 3-2 zone has better outside coverage. The 3-2 zone uses all 5 players to cover a section of the 3-point line. This gives the defense the ability to closeout better to the 3-point line and preventing the offense from getting outside shots.
The 2-3 zone is concerned about stopping the inside game of the offense. The 3-2 zone is more concerned with stopping the outside game of the offense. This difference is what makes all of the strengths and weaknesses of the 2-3 and 3-2 zones opposites. The 2-3 zone does well what the 3-2 zone does poorly. The weaknesses of the 2-3 zone are the strengths of the 3-2 zone.
The 3-2 zone is designed to closeout and prevent teams from getting good outside shots. The 2-3 zone is designed to make teams shoot outside shots.
2) Able to Put on Better Ball Pressure
The 2-3 zone is a passive zone meaning the defenders react to what the offense is doing. The 3-2 zone can be more aggressive in putting on ball pressure. This ball pressure can force the offense to start playing faster or creating turnovers.
The 2-3 zone should not be extended that far up the court because it will open up space behind those defensive players. This forces the defense to rotate into wrong positions and the defense breaks down because of that.
The 3-2 zone can extend out farther on the wings to create ball pressure because they are not leaving huge open areas behind them on defense. Players can extend out farther in the zone without causing potential issues for the overall success of the zone.
3) Able to Play With 2 Post Players
All zones have certain personnel groupings that work best. A 2-3 zone is better with just one post player in the game. What happens if the team has 2 post players that need to be in the game at the same time?
The 3-2 zone works well with 2 post players. They do not have long rotations so speed should not be an issue. One of them is always on the backside of the play so rebounds coming off on the other side of the rim are going towards the post players.
This leads to the 3-2 zone working around the post players rather than the post players trying to work into a zone defense. In a 2-3 zone where a post player has to play on the block, the offense can do things to force the post player into bad positions. One of things I do with a post player on the block is go away from them and then throw a skip pass over the top. This will force the post player to closeout to the wing. Now the wing should have an advantage over the post player by being so far away from the basket.
In a 3-2 zone the post player only has to go out to the corner. Now the post player has the baseline available to them to help defend the dribble drive. This little bit of assistance is all most players need to maintain good defensive position. The 3-2 zone allows a team to “hide” 2 post players in the defense without having a negative effect.
Which is Better? A 2-3 Zone vs 3-2 Zone
Both defenses are good. The choice of which defense is better is really about what is the defense trying to do? Is the opponent more of an inside threat or outside threat offensively? The way in which the opponent scores their points will determine which defense is better for each game.
The 2-3 zone is all about stopping the opponent from scoring on the inside. Teams that have good post players or a height advantage are more apt to see a 2-3 zone. The 2-3 zone has a better chance to work against good post players or size disadvantages. The 2-3 zone tries to reduce those advantages by putting more bodies in the lane.
The 2-3 zone can also work well against a poor outside shooting team. Teams are going to get open 3-point shots against a 2-3 zone. The ability to make those outside shots are what really hurts a 2-3 zone. If an opponent struggles to score from the outside, then packing a defense in with a 2-3 zone is a good option.
On the reverse if the opponent is a more guard orientated team with good outside shooting, then a 3-2 zone would be the better option. The 3-2 zone is able to cover the 3-point line better. It is able to match up better with a guard orientated opponent. A guard orientated team is going to have more players on the outside of the zone so the 3-2 zone puts more players around the outside making it easier to match up.
Both defenses are good to teach to younger players and teams. I do not particularly like the 2-3 zone in the younger ages because it is going to work because of the lack of strength and outside shooting skill of young kids. But it is something nice and easy to learn. The 3-2 zone is also an easy defense to learn and use as long as the point position is able to filled. The lack of rotation for both defenses make them very friendly for all teams.
So, the better defense is the one that works better against the next opponent. The 2-3 zone is better against teams who score close to the basket. The 3-2 zone is better with teams that score from the outside.