Zone Presses Research Paper

Swish! The sound of a basketball falling perfectly through the net is one of the most beautiful sounds in sports. However, scoring is not the only important part of basketball. Defense is also a major part of basketball, and the full-court press is one of the most exciting aspects of playing defense. One of the most famous full court presses was created by Coach Nolan Richardson at the University of Arkansas and was known simply as “40 Minutes of Hell”. Richardson’s defensive philosophy of putting pressure on the ball handler the entire length of the court eventually lead to Arkansas winning the National Championship in 1994. The three most important things to understand about full court presses are how a man press works, how a zone press works, and the significance of proper communication both on and off the court. A full
The main difference between man and zone is that in a zone each player is assigned a zone to protect and not a specific player. There are many different forms of zone presses, including the 1-3-1, the 1-2-1-1, and the 2-2-1. With so many different forms of zone presses, it can be overwhelming trying to understand them all. The basic idea of all zone presses is to trap the ball and force players to the sidelines or corners. The 1-3-1 press has one player stationed at the free throw line of the opposing team’s basket, and their job is to apply pressure to whoever has the ball on that side of the court and force them to the sidelines. Three players are placed at intervals along the half court line with one in the middle and one on each side. The players on the sides look to trap the ball whenever it is on their side and drop back to the basket whenever the ball is on the opposite side. The player in the middle looks to take away any passes to players cutting through the middle of the court, and the final player in the back protects against any passes thrown