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.
What is a 1-2-2 Zone Defense?
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 zone. 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 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone 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.
Best Team Personnel for a 1-2-2 Zone Defense
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 zone has the ability to play with 2 post players without giving a big advantage to the offense. The 1-2-2 zone defense 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 defense 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 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone 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 is when the defense has a significant height advantage over the offense. The height advantage of the defense added to the positioning of playing in the passing lanes makes 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 corralling the scorer into an area and then overwhelming them with defensive players. This can help limit the ability of the scorer to score.
When to Use a 1-2-2 Zone Defense
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 zone allows the defense to extend the defense and put pressure on the offensives guards while keeping good rim protection around the basket.
Advantages of a 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense Over a 1-2-2 Zone Defense
1) Foul Line Area is Covered
One of the easiest ways to attack a zone is to get the ball into the middle of the zone and then attack inside out. This has the offense getting the ball into the foul line area and either attacking the rim from here or looking for the defense to collapse to get a kick out 3-point shot. The right offensive player who can pass and shoot can destroy a zone if they can get the ball in the foul line area.
The 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense does a great job of keeping the ball out of the middle of the zone because the middle defender should be there to stop any pass being made into the area. This can cause problems for the offense because they are not able to put the ball in the middle and then attack from this spot.
The 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense forces the offense to play and attack from the outside of the zone rather than the inside. A good 1-3-1 Zone will have the middle defender and point defender staying in the high post area to prevent the ball from getting into the middle. This middle coverage can make it difficult for the offense to effectively score against the zone.
The 1-2-2 Zone Defense has major issues when the ball gets into the foul line area. The reason is how the 1-2-2 Zone Defense is going to rotate when the ball gets into the middle. The two biggest problems for the 1-2-2 Zone Defense are who is guarding the ball at the high post? And where is everybody rotating too?
When the ball enters the high post, the 1-2-2 Zone Defense has to decide who is guarding the ball. If a block defender steps up then that leaves the block wide open for a cutter. And the elbow defender now has to drop all the way down to prevent the cutter. This is now forcing 2 defenders to overlap in the zone.
Or the 1-2-2 Zone Defense can have one of the elbow defenders guard the foul line. But this leaves the wing area open. The 1-2-2 Zone Defense biggest problems is when the offense is able to get the ball into the foul line area. The 1-2-2 Zone Defense has to rotate so much that there is a breakdown somewhere on the court for the offense to attack.
2) Can Be Used with More Lineups
The 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense can be used alongside the 1-3-1 Trapping Zone Defense and the 1-3-1 Press. But what makes the 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense unique is the ability to use multiple lineups all with success.
The 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense is not looking to put on ball pressure and traps. It is trying to isolate the ball and prevent any passes from being made. Because the focus is on isolating the ball and not pressuring the ball, the defenders do not have to be quick or long. While quick defenders and long defenders can play the 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense, it can also be played with slower and shorter defenders.
Slower defenders are going to be playing in spaces between the offense. They are not necessarily going to be guarding any offensive player. This gives the 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense the ability to play a slower player on the outside of the defense without compromising the defense.
The 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense can also decide to play with a more guard orientated lineup. The defenders are all playing in the gaps so they can quickly double the ball when it gets inside the zone. This type of doubling allows the defense to play without a post player.
The 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense relies on the defenders playing together in space. This lets all different kinds of personnel lineups be used with this defense.
The 1-2-2 Zone Defense relies on the two bottom defenders to protect the rim and get most of the rebounds. This is why the 1-2-2 Zone Defense is played most often with multiple post players in the game. A non-post player can struggle when playing on the block. So, this leaves the 1-2-2 Zone Defense as a defense needing 2 post players. Any other personnel grouping is going to be better suited to play in a different zone defense.
3) Better Length Out Front
The 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense wants taller players out front and on the wings to help prevent any passing lanes. A smaller guard is likely to be placed on the bottom to cover the corners. The 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense wants as much length as possible out front to disrupt the offensive’s ability to pass the ball.
A smaller player out front is not going to give the offense any issues on being able to pass the ball. Therefore, a taller defender will be out front. This taller defender out front can make shorter offensive guards’ ability to pass the ball really difficult. Shorter guards are not going to be able to see around or pass through the defense with a height disadvantage.
The 1-2-2 Zone Defense wants good length out front. But, the two wings have to drop to the blocks during the 1-2-2 Zone Defense rotations. A team has to decide whether to have a shorter defender up top or on the wing.
If the shorter defender is up top, then the offense should have an easier time passing the ball. However, if the shorter defender is on the wing, then the defense can have a harder time rebounding the ball because of the rotations that will send the short defender down to the block. As a coach you have to decide whether to have less length out front or less length on rebounds.
Personally, I will sacrifice length on the outside to have a taller defender closer to the basket to rebound. Not all coaches agree with me. The ones that do not and have more length on the outside have to rely on a shorter defender to rebound the basketball. I will choose to miss on more steals by keeping the shorter defender out front rather than giving up 2nd chance scoring opportunities because a short defender can not rebound.
Advantages of a 1-2-2 Zone Defense Over a 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense
1) Can Play 2 Post Players
The 1-2-2 Zone Defense is a great defense when a team is playing with multiple post players. The game is moving to a more guard orientated game where post players are not as valued as they once were. Defensive matchups can be hard when a team is playing multiple bigs and the opponent is playing more guards. The 1-2-2 Zone Defense allows the defense to keep 2 post players on the court by not sticking them out on islands like other defenses can do.
The 1-2-2 Zone Defense still has the post players guarding the perimeter at times but it is reducing just how much of that perimeter each post player has to defend. Post players tend to be bad outside defenders. Offenses can take advantage of these mismatches by isolating the big in more open space leaving help defense too far away.
The 1-2-2 Zone Defense only has the post players guarding the ball on the outside in the corner. This gives the big both the sideline and baseline to reduce the amount of space the offensive player has to use to score. The 1-2-2 Zone Defense helps to minimize the advantage an offense could gain with the defense having multiple post players in the game at the same time.
The 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense has the four defenders on the outside all having to rotate with each pass. While the 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense is easy to play with a slower defender on the outside than a 1-3-1 Trapping Zone Defense, it is still a hard defense to play with a post player on the outside.
The middle defender of the 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense can be easily played by a post player. But the outside defenders have to be able to defend guards on the outside. This is very hard for a post player to accomplish. A slower post player normally struggles when trying to defend on the perimeter. The offense can take advantage of this making it hard to play 2 post players in a 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense.
2) Better Rim Protection
The 1-2-2 Zone Defense has great rim protection due to multiple post players being in the game at the same time. No matter where the ball is in the half-court, there should be at least 1 and sometimes 2 post players around the basket. This gives the 1-2-2 Zone Defense better rim protection against any opposing guard dribbling into the basket. The duel post players can help to force the offense to score from the outside.
While the 1-2-2 Zone Defense will have a guard rotate down to the backside block for rebounding purposes, there should always be a genuine post player in between the ball and basket. This helps to prevent the offense from scoring easy layups when they attack the inside of the zone especially with the dribble. The offense will need to make an additional pass at the basket to score or they will need to make a contested shot at the basket to score.
This forces the offense to beat the 1-2-2 Zone Defense not once but twice to score at the basket. The offense will need to beat the guards on the outside to get the ball into the interior of the defense. And then the offense will either need one more pass to go around the rim protector or make a basket with a contested shot. The 1-2-2 Zone Defense benefits by forcing the offense to complete two actions to score instead of just one.
The 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense struggles with rim protection. The middle defender tries to be the rim protector. But a good offense will screen and move the middle defender to get shots at the basket. Screening the middle defender can be a great tactic by the offense against a 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense to get the ball on the inside for scoring chances.
The other issue for the 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense is the bottom defender normally being a shorter quicker guard. The bottom defender needs to be able to cover corner to corner. This means they have to be fast. The faster players tend to be shorter. So, the defender closest to the basket in most instances is going to be a shorter player. Short, fast players can be great defenders, but they are not good rim protectors.
3) Shorter Rotations
The 1-2-2 Zone Defense has all 5 defenders responsible for defending a portion of the 3-point line. This splits the outside in 5 parts instead of 4 parts like most zone defenses. The additional portion helps to reduce the distance each player has to rotate within the defense.
The 1-2-2 Zone Defense is using all 5 defenders almost equally so each defender has less of a zone to cover. Other zone defenses like the 2-3 Zone Defense has a middle defender that pretty much stays in one spot the entire time leaving the other 4 defenders to cover more area.
The 1-2-2 Zone Defense is setup to have multiple post players in the game at the same time. Post players tend to be slower. Therefore, to compensate with the slower players, the 1-2-2 Zone Defense has shorter rotations so the slower players do not have to cover as much of the floor.
Zone Defenses with one post player can leave them in the middle and have the other 4 faster defenders cover more area. The 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense is a prime example of this. The middle defender stays in the lane the whole time. They only have to move from the foul line to each block. This puts the slower post player in a spot where they are not having to cover a lot of area.
The 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense keeps the middle defender stationary so the other 4 defenders are required to cover more of the court. The bottom defender covers corner to corner in the 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense. The block defenders in a 1-2-2 Zone Defense cover one corner to the opposite block. This is almost half the distance of the 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense.
Which is Better? A 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense or a 1-2-2 Zone Defense
The value of the 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense is better than the value of the 1-2-2 Zone Defense. The 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense can be paired with the 1-3-1 Trapping Zone Defense and the 1-3-1 Press to make it more effective. The entire 1-3-1 Defensive System can be used as a benefit to the 1-3-1 No Trapping Defense.
The 1-2-2 Zone Defense can be extended up into a 1-2-2 Press but I think the 1-3-1 Press is better than the 1-2-2 Press. And there is one major reason why. The middle of the court is occupied by the 1-3-1 Zone and 1-3-1 Press.
Offensively, teams are constantly trying to get the ball into the middle of the zone or press. Once the ball gets to the middle then the zone defense has to distort giving the offense an advantage.
The 1-2-2 Zone Defense has the foul line area wide open. Once the ball enters into this area, the 1-2-2 Zone Defense breaks down. The 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense keeps a middle defender in this area to prevent the ball from getting on the inside.
That foul line area is so important for the defense to keep the ball out of and so important for the offense to get the ball into this area. The openness of the 1-2-2 Zone at the foul line area makes it hard to use on a regular basis. The 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense helps to close off the area making the offense play on the outside.
Therefore, the 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense is better than the 1-2-2 Zone Defense. Basically, for two reasons. The 1-3-1 Defensive System is better and the middle of the court is better protected. The 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense and the 1-2-2 Zone Defense have some similarities, but the differences are far worse for the 1-2-2 Zone Defense. These differences give the advantage to the 1-3-1 No Trapping Zone Defense.
