Bruce Weber: Plays and Drills for Scoring Against Zone Defenses

Zone defenses are becoming increasingly popular among basketball coaches and are creating difficulties for many teams. Bruce Weber lists the keys to playing against a zone as well as multiple plays to get your team open shots against both a 2-3 and 1-3-1 zone defense. Using on-court demonstrations, Coach Weber illustrates plays that utilize the keys to beating zone defenses.

Keys to Playing Against a Zone

While sets are great quick hitters if you need a bucket in a hurry, you still need a continuity offense or motion to beat the best zones. Coach Weber shares 11 key points to attacking a zone. You will learn why:

• Pushing the basketball is important against a zone
• Taking the basketball up to a defense is important
• You should reverse the ball against a defense
• Skip passes can help you beat a zone

Breakdown Drills to Beat the Zone

Learn how to use three breakdown drills and shooting drills to teach offensive concepts that can be run effectively against a zone defense. Coach Weber uses these drills to teach players how to play and execute the zone offense with sound offensive principles. You'll get:

• A 3-on-4 drill for perimeter players designed to teach spacing, use a variety of cutting actions, and utilize on-and off-ball screening actions.
• A drill that transitions into a 4-on-3 defense drill before going into a 4-on-4 sequence with a second big against a four-man zone.
• A second transition drill that starts as 4-on-5 against a zone and flows into 5-on-4 before building up to 5-on-5 action.
• Motion/Zone Shooting - a series of shooting drills geared for teaching how to shoot the basketball using motion offense concepts while running zone offense.

Set Plays Against Zones

If you need a bucket in a hurry, you need to have a variety of quick hitters. Coach Weber demonstrates 10 different quick hitters that are simple and effective against a 2-3 or 1-3-1 zone.

Coach Weber shows why his teams are effective against any type of zone. You will easily pick up a few sets or actions that you can install into your own zone offense package. Your opponents will never want to play zone against you again!

Produced at the Spring 2015 Overland Park Clinic.

66 minutes. 2016.