(2)”ZONE OFFENSES— CONCEPTS & PHILOSOPHY”
2. Every continuity zone offense used must possess the ability to flow seamlessly and quickly from any phase of the overall zone attack into the next phase of attack. With the zone offense not requiring or using any lapse in time for reorganization also means the zone defense will not have that same opportunity either. Each continuity zone offense used will give the opposition’s defense no time to recover or adjust from the offense’s previous phase of attack—whether it is from the from a secondary break phase, a quick-hitting phase or baseline/sideline out-of-bounds play phases. With the offense having the capabilities of quick, smooth and fluid conversions into the continuity offense should give the offense a huge advantage over the opposition’s zone defense. Each continuity zone offense must have a fluid transition from any phase of its overall attack into the actual continuity zone offense. The opposition has NO time or the ability to reorganize their defense before the offense’s next phase of attack begins. 3. A fundamentally sound philosophy is to not rely primarily on one type of scoring method or count on just one or two players or a specific style of attack. Depending solely on one or two players by having the offense always run through them with all plays/entries designed just for them is a dangerous presumption that the player(s) will always produce and score. Why not have a philosophy that incorporates three or four plays that are designed for three or four different players. Those plays are created to fit those specific players’ strongest skills and then highlight those skills. That way, the offense is not solely depending on that one star player. That star player possibly could fail to produce because of the opposition’s defense geared to stop him or he could simply just have a bad night. The star’s performance could be affected by a lack of playing time because of various reasons such as an injury, an illness, foul trouble, or discipline problems. If that player is neutralized, the team offense can move on to other players that have their strongest skills able to be utilized by carefully designed plays that give that player opportunities to succeed. In addition to creating plays to fit their strengths, these plays must have the capabilities of smoothly flowing into the desired continuity offense. Not relying on one or two players makes the offensive attack more diversified and less predictable and therefore more successful.
(1) ZONE OFFENSES—CONCEPTS & PHILOSOPHY
1. A good zone offense philosophy is to implement an offensive scheme that can begin from several different locations before being able to seamlessly and smoothly flow into a continuity offense that maintains a continuous attack on the opposition’s defense. A)The offense would begin from different situations, such as the various types of defense-to-offense conversion. This could be after an opponent’s turnover that then results possibly in one particular phase that could be a Primary Fastbreak with the offense looking for a quick shot while having a ‘numbers advantage.’ This could be the first phase of the offense attack. If the Primary Fastbreak does not produce a shot, the offense should seamlessly transition into the next phase of the attack—a Secondary Fastbreak. If the Secondary Fastbreak does not result in a shot, the offense should have the capabilities of smoothly and instantly flowing into the final phase of the attack—a designated continuity offense. B) Another origination of the offense could be after the defense secures a defensive rebound and again begins the attack with a Primary Break (that could then phase into a Secondary Break)( and then into the same designated continuity offense. There are still other starting locations of the initial phase that would then be able to instantly and easily convert into a continuity offense that will continue a uninterrupted attack on the opposition’s defense. These situations are: C) Still another possible beginning could be after the opposition actually scores with the original defensive team immediately in-bounding the ball to quickly initiate the (same) Primary Fastbreak that could also flow into the (same) Secondary Break; which could convert into the continuity offense. D) Another beginning could be after the opposition shoots (and makes or misses) free throws. A Primary Break that flows into a Secondary Break that then flows into a continuity offense could be executed in a similar manner as to the opposition’s made or missed field goal attempts. E) After the opposition scores, they could execute one of many forms of a full-court press defense. The offense could in-bounds the ball & execute their designated Full-Court Press Offense, which would flow into the Secondary Break (that could then flow into the continuity offense.) Still other locations that can fluidly transition into a continuity offense that will sustain a continuous attack on the opposition’s defense are: F) When the ball is taken out-of-bounds from either the half-court sideline or underneath the offense’s basket. A specific play could be executed with that play being the initial phase of the attack. If the play does not produce a shot, that play could have been designed to then easily flow into the same continuity offense. G) The most likely scenario would be from the half-court setting where the offense sets up in a designated offensive set/alignment. A specific play/entry/quick-hitter could be the initial phase that attempts to score. If that phase does not produce a shot, it could seamlessly and fluidly flow into the second and final phase would the continuity offense that would then maintain the attack on the opposition’s defense.