What is a 2-3 Tandem Guard Press?
A 2-3 tandem guard press is a press using the same formation of a 2-3 half-court zone defense but extending it up the court. In doing this the two front players are going to be across the half-court line. The 2 block defenders are going to be almost to half-court. And the middle defender is going to be back around the 3-point line.
The 2-3 tandem guard is a tempo controlling press. The press is trying to slow the offense down and make them work to get the ball across half-court. This kind of a press is not designed to get a bunch of steals. Rather it is designed to control tempo. And it can be used as a way to extend a 2-3 zone up the floor into a press but keep the defensive players in good positions for a half-court zone defense.
The 2 guards up front can work in a tandem to apply some pressure to the offense. The tandem is going to move these two players around but keep the back 3 players of the zone lined across the back so they are not going to be rotating or interchanging.
The 2 guards can be set flat across keeping the look of a 2-3 zone or the guards can be stacked making the press look more like a 1-3-1 press but keeping the players in their 2-3 positions. A 1-3-1 press is an aggressive trapping press trying to create turnovers. A 2-3 tandem guard press is the opposite. It is trying to create a slower tempo. It is not trying to create turnovers. Any created turnovers are a plus.
Advantages of a 2-3 Tandem Guard Press
1) Control Tempo
This is a great press defense when going against a team that wants to score in transition or a team with a really good point guard. In both cases the ability of the team or player to be in the open court and create is usually high. By using a 2-3 tandem guard press, it removes some of the open space the team or player has. This forces them to slow down. It turns the game into a slower paced game by taking away a strength of the opponent.
This is also a good press to use with a defensive team wanting to play in the half-court. One of the ways to beat a zone defense is by getting the ball down the floor as quick as possible before the zone has time to set up. A 2-3 tandem guard uses the guards to pick up the ball early giving the bottom 3 defensive players enough time to get back into the zone defense.
The 2-3 tandem guard can help a big slower post player remain in the game for longer periods by not allowing the opponent to turn the game into a track meet. A slow player needs time to get back on defense. This press can provide more time for the player to get all the way back on defense.
2) Keep Good Defensive Positioning
One of the most problematic times of any press is the transition from the press to the half-court defense. Depending on the press and the half-court defense, the defense can be in a lot of chaos during this transition. This is the time in a defense where the offense has the best chance to have somebody come open to get a good shot.
The defense needs to try and make the transition between full-court defense to half-court defense as easy as possible. The positions of the players in the 2-3 tandem guard press are the exact spots for a 2-3 zone. This positioning eliminates the possibility of a player having to cross the floor to go from full-court defense to half-court defense.
3) Ability to Conserve a guard’s energy while pressing
In a 2-3 tandem guard setup, the guards can be put into a stack formation. One guard is extended up front and is chasing and guarding the ball while the other guard is staying in the middle of floor. The guard put in the middle is denying any middle pass.
By keeping a guard in the middle of the court and not having them chasing or guarding the ball, they are not going to be moving very much even within the press. This is a way to help conserve energy for a player that is playing a bunch of minutes. This is also a way to hide a player defensively that is in foul trouble without taking them out of the game.
So, a 2-3 tandem guard press has 1 player up front doing all of the work and the other guard staying in the same spot. The guard staying in the same spot can conserve energy especially if it is a player that never comes out of a game. This is a defense to help a player get a break without having to take that player out of the game.
Disadvantages of a 2-3 Tandem Guard Press
1) Little to No Turnovers
A 2-3 Tandem guard press is not going to create a bunch of turnovers. If you are wanting a bunch of turnovers, then a 2-2-1 Box Press or 1-2-1-1 Diamond Press are better options.
A 2-3 Tandem guard press is going to slow the offense down and keep the game in a half-court game. It reduces the ability for offenses to get points in transition. It, however, does not create a bunch of turnovers.
Defensive presses can do a lot of things and knowing what each type of press is designed to do will help to put the team into the correct defense for each situation. A 2-3 tandem guard press is not going to create turnovers.
So, it is not a press that is good to use when a team is down and trying to come back. This situational press only works well when the defensive team is ahead. This means the 2-3 tandem guard press is only going to work in certain situations and should not be used in others. This also decreases the overall value of the press in comparison to others.
2) One Guard Chasing the Ball is Using a Lot of Energy
The 2-3 tandem guard setup has one guard standing in the middle conserving a lot of energy while the other guy is out in front chasing the ball and using a lot of energy. A team with 2 good guards is either going to have to switch the two guards in the press or they should not use the press at all.
I liked to use this press when I subbed in a backup guard into the game. If I know they are only going to play for a couple of minutes, then I would use them up front to try and create as much chaos as possible during their few minutes at a time. I could use a backup player to run around trying to get deflections and steals while the other starters still on the floor did not have to move as much.
The front guard in the tandem is not going to be able to sustain the amount of running and pressure needed for the press defense to work. This player needs to be switched every couple of minutes. Depending on how many players are in the team’s rotation, a team may not play enough players for this press to be used.
3) One Chance or No Chance for a Trap in Press
One of the advantages of the 2-3 tandem guard press is the lack of rotations. This advantage becomes a disadvantage because the defense is not going to rotate to get a trap in the press. The players are going to stay in their relative same positions which means they are not going to run around trying to get a trap.
If the offense puts the ball into a trapping area and the defenders are there ready to trap, then they trap. If the offense keeps the ball out of these trapping areas, then the defense is going to drop back into their half-court defense without trapping.
This means there will be possessions with no traps. And I have a 1 trap rule with this press. If the defense can get a trap, then we are looking to get a steal out of it. If the offense is able to pass or dribble out of the trap, then the defense falls straight back into half-court defense. The defense is not going to start chasing a 2nd trap if the first trap does not work.
Positions of a 2-3 Tandem Guard Press
The positions of the 2-3 tandem guard press are easy. Outside of the front guard, the other four players are going to stay in their same spots throughout the press. They are not going to be rotating. They are not going to be chasing the ball around the floor. They are going to stay in their spots and wait for the ball to come to them.
The 2-3 tandem is a modify 2-3 zone extended into a press format. The forward(3) and big(4) are the block defenders. They are extended almost up to half-court.
The center(5) is the middle defender of the 2-3 zone. They are coming up to around the 3-point line.
The two guards in the 2-3 zone are going to stack into a 1-1 formation instead of staying in a 2 across formation. This stack formation puts the point(1) in the middle of the floor. The point(1) is preventing any middle pass that could easily break the press.
The guard(2) is up front. They are the only player in the press being really active. The guard(2) is chasing the ball all over the floor trying to get deflections or steals. As they are trying to cause chaos, they are also trying to funnel the ball to the sideline just across half-court into the two main trap areas.
These positions are a 2-3 half-court zone setup with the guards stacked. These gives the defense the ability to drop at any point straight back into a 2-3 zone. It also gives a 2-3 half-court zone the ability to extend up the court without losing the structure of the zone.
A half-court 2-3 zone struggles applying pressure out front. This press will help to add pressure where there is usually none.
Trapping in a 2-3 Tandem Guard Press
There are two trapping spots in the defense. If the ball does not enter these two spots, then there will be no trap for that possession. The traps are only going to occur in the trap area next to the sideline right after the ball crosses half-court.
The forward(3) and big(4) are trying to bait the offense into dribbling into these areas. They are playing off of the half-court line initially. They will rush the ball as soon as the ball crosses the half-court line. The guard(2) is out in front chasing the ball and trying to force the offense to dribble into these two areas. As soon the ball crosses the half-court line the trap is set by the guard(2) and either the forward(3) or big(4) depending on which side of the floor the ball is on.
The point(1) is in the middle and should move to take away the next pass to the middle of the floor. The center(5) rotates towards the ball looking to take away the sideline pass out of the trap. The non-trapping forward(3) or big(4) will rotate back to the foul line or front of rim area.
Even with the trap and rotations, the defense maintains the half-court 2-3 zone shape. No player has crossed over a teammate. The back players are not coming above the front players. The front players are not dropping down towards the back row of players. The shape of the 2-3 zone is there throughout the entire press.
Keys to a 2-3 Tandem Guard Press
1) Active player in front of the zone
The more active the front player is, the more pressure they can apply, and the better chance the press has of working. The front player needs to go 100 mph for 2-3 minutes at a time. Then another player needs to be put in this spot. With 4 players in the press not moving much, the front player has the single job of causing as much stress as possible to the offense.
A lazy or tired front player is not going to be able to disrupt the offense into any mistakes. This is a passive press so the only player being aggressive has to be as effective in creating chaos as possible. They set the tone for the entire press so the more active this player can be, the more effective the overall press is going to be.
2) No passes into middle of court
The 2-3 tandem guard press has the two guards stacked with one of the players being in the middle of the floor. They have to take away any pass coming into the middle of the floor that could beat the press. The press is trying to keep the ball in front of them and gradually drop as the offense moves the ball across half-court. A through pass breaks the press and sends the defense into chaos.
The guard in the middle should be staying in a position to prevent any pass to a player in the middle. At the very least if a pass is made to the middle, the middle guard should be in a good guarding position to prevent the offense from attacking the basket in the open floor.
There is no reason for the offense to be able to get easy baskets out of the press because the press is not being aggressive. The press is trying to slow the offense down. If the offense is still able to run and score quickly, then the press is not working and should be changed.
3) Knowing when to drop out of press
The press is a passive defense trying to slow the offense down. I have a 1 trap rule when running this press. The press is trying to get 1 trap and that is it. And there are some possessions where the offense stays out of the trap areas so there is no trap for the whole possession.
It is better to drop out of this press too quickly rather than too late. Once the offense has to slow down, the press has done its job. I would rather drop out of the press into the half-court defense at this point rather than staying in the press for too long and giving the offense a chance to attack late in the possession.
The players must not stay too long in a spot trying to get into a trap. If a trap comes, then that is great. If the offense stays out of trap areas, then the defense must concede and drop back to half-court defense. The players must understand when the trap is not going to happen and drop immediately. A good possession can turn bad if players are sticking around too long trying to get a trap that is not happening.
Youth Basketball and the 2-3 Tandem Guard Press
The 2-3 zone seems to be used in a lot of different youth leagues and teams with the people I have talked too. The 2-3 tandem guard press keeps the formation of the 2-3 half-court zone defense but extends it up the floor. This is a good way to keep things simple for all players at the youth level.
The problem is that a lot of players hear the word press and think it is time to run around and be really aggressive. Kids could have trouble being patient and waiting in a press. If the players are able to understand not going for every trap and just running around, then it can be a good press at the youth level.
Conclusion
I personally like this press and usually put this in my defensive rotation. It is not an all the time press though. The press works really well in a couple of different spots and outside of those situations it is not a good press to use.
The first situation is late in a game when I am ahead. The offense is going to be trying to push and go fast to catch up. The 2-3 tandem guard press makes the offense slow down. This slows the speed of the game and hopefully reduces the total number of possessions left in the game. The fewer possessions an offense has the less of a chance theyhave of catching back up.
The 2nd situation is against a team that is very good in transition or wants to play in transition. This will force the offense to slow down and not give them the chance to play out in the open in transition. The press can take away or at least limit the transition game of the opponent.
The last situation is when an offense has a really good point guard. I want to reduce the open space a really good point guard has to create and this press can extend the defense so the point guard does not get a running start before getting to the defense. The 2-3 tandem guard can funnel the point guard into the trap areas forcing them to pass the ball. This is making the opponent use a different player to handle the ball. The press is getting the ball out of the opponent’s best player.
The 2-3 tandem guard press is an effective press when it is used in spots where it is designed to be successful. It is not a turnover producing press. It is a tempo control press and when it is used to control the tempo it can be very effective.
It is not a 2-2-1 box press or a 1-2-1-1 diamond press. Those presses are trying to trap and create turnovers. It can be a great press to mix in with those presses to help speed up and slow down the game. This press should be an additional press defense to use but it is not a good primary press defense. It has some problems but when used correctly it has good value.
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