A good zone offense attacks the defense where their is opening spots on the court. Against a 2-3 Zone the open space is right in the middle of the floor at the foul line. The battle between the offense and a 2-3 Zone Defense is whether the offense can get the ball to the foul line. The offense has all kinds of options once the ball gets to the foul line.
The zone offense of flash is constantly moving a player out of the foul line area just for another player to flash into the open space. This constant flashing is what gives the offense its name. The offense is waiting for the defense to react to the player leaving the middle to open up the space and pass for the next player flashing into the middle.
Flash is an easy offense but it works given enough time. It is an offense for a team with 4 players who can all play on the outside and one player that is an inside player. The four players will stay on the outside with one player cutting into the middle. The inside player will stay on the block as the outside four players work to get the ball into the middle of the zone.
Once the ball gets to the middle, the offense has a few good scoring options. The flasher can catch and shoot. They can catch and make a pass down to the block. Or they have kickout options to both wings and the top.
The key to “flash” is good quick player and ball movement. The ball can not stick. It has to keep being passed around the perimeter until the through pass to the foul line can be made.
Player movement has to be quick with each cut. Slow cuts give the defense too much time to react. The offense has to be in sync because 3 players are going to cutting together with each ball reversal. The 3 cuts need to made at the same time with quick precise movements.
The offense starts out in a 1-3-1 set. The center(5) is on the block and will stay on the block. The other four players are going to be moving and interchanging with their cuts. The point(1) starts the offense by entering the ball to one side. It does not matter which side the initial pass is made too.
Once the ball is on the wing, the 3 offensive players on the backside are all moving together. First the point(1) is cutting to the backside wing. The big(4) is cutting quickly up to the top of the key. The big(4) has to leave the middle quickly.
The forward(3) is reading the defense to find the open space made by the big(4) leaving. As the big(4) leaves, the forward(3) cuts into the middle. The entire offense is designed to get the ball to this middle cut by the backside wing. The guard(2) is looking to get the ball to the forward(3).
If the guard(2) cannot pass the ball to the forward(3), then the play moves to the next phase. As you can see, after the 3 cuts the offense is still in a 1-3-1 setup.
The ball is reversed. The center(5) follows the ball looking for a post up. As the ball gets to the wing, the 3 players are getting ready to cut again.
Once the ball gets to the wing with the point(1), the 3 other outside players are cutting just like before. The big(4) is cutting from the top of the key to the wing. The forward(3) who just cut into the middle previously is now cutting up to the top of the key. And the backside wing is flashing to the middle.
The point(1) is catching the reversal and looking down to the center(5) for a post feed first. Then the point(1) will look at the flashing guard(2) coming into the middle of the lane 2nd. If neither of these 2 players are open then the ball will reverse again.
The point(1) will reverse the ball back to the other side to the big(4) who is now on the wing. The big(4) started in the high post and has now been at the top of the key and is now on the wing. The 1-3-1 setup is kept even with all of the cutting.
Flash keeps repeating with the ball reversal and the 3 cuts. The player at the top of the key cuts to the backside wing. The player in the middle cuts up to the top of the key. And the backside wing cuts into the middle. The center(5) moves block to block with the ball.
Flash is looking to get the ball into the middle. Once there the offense has multiple options to score. The center(5) has a duck in chance. The middle flasher has the chance for a catch and shoot. And there are 3 players on the 3-point line ready for kick out.
This is a great zone offense for a team with a bunch of outside players. It keeps 4 players rotating around the 3-point line with just one player moving block to block. The game of basketball is moving towards having more outside players so this play can be used without having to change personal when an opponent uses a 2-3 zone defense.
