Running an Effective 1-3-1 Zone Defense

with Will Jones,
Quality Education Academy (NC) Head Coach;
North Carolina A&T Head Men's Coach from 2019 to 2022;
2020 MEAC Coach of the Year;
played college basketball at South Carolina State

Coach Will Jones takes the floor to explain his version of the 1-3-1 zone defense. Jones shows how you can morph your zone defense into a 2-3 zone while matching up in man-to-man. Additionally, he provides his calls that will have your players ready to quickly slide into the defense you want.

Process and Alignment

Coach Jones' emphasis in the opening of the video is about leading players in the right direction. He explains how being process orientated and not results orientated will make you a better coach when teaching any aspect of basketball.

Next, Jones discusses how he uses the 1-3-1 defense and how the shape of the defense, as well as its principles, are dictated by alignment and where personnel are placed in the zone. Sometimes the shape can remain the same and the defense can react differently. He shows that this can be accomplished by adjusting the pick up point when the ball comes up the court.

Running the 1-3-1 Zone

Aspects you will learn about Coach Jones' 1-3-1 zone defense include:

• The most important position in the defense is the top position
• When and where to trap
• How to defend passing lanes
• Weak side coverage
• How the zone should rotate when the ball moves east to west
• How to defend the corner
• Rotations and coverages
• How to transition from the 1-3-1 to a 2-3 zone or player to player defense

Additionally, Jones demonstrates how to defend baseline out of bounds plays and adjusting to various alignments teams will use against the 1-3-1. He also covers the most common attacks that will cause the 1-3-1 to break down.

This is a great video for any coach looking to not only use the 1-3-1 defense, but to have a defense that can be flexible enough to change during a possession and wreak havoc on the offense.

93 minutes. 2022.