Beating a very good 1-3-1 half court trap

[Bleedred]

7th grade boys travel basketball.  Highest division, so the quality of basketball is very good.  Almost all kids on all teams play some version of AAU (whether that's a good thing or not I leave for another discussion).   It so happens only a handful of kids on our team play AAU (most are good 3 sport athletes). Next weekend we play a team that employs an excellent 1-3-1 half court trap.  This team has played together for 2 years (AAU year round; Travel for the hoop season).  They force the point guard to make a decision, and trap him on the wing.  They have very good athletes running the middle and baseline, from side to side, as needed. If the ball goes to the baseline, the trap is shifted there.  They are long and athletic in the middle, so can defend the post well. I watched them dismantle a pretty good team this weekend and I'm now preparing for them.
 
My plan of attack is to flank the point in the 1-3-1 with 2 guards.  Because they don't trap immediately when we cross half court, it's a little tricky, but my plan is to try to get the ball to the middle at first, reverse to the other guard or low baseline player and stick jumpers or drive.  If I cannot (my big men are not good passers), then it's up the sideline to the baseline, and before that trap is sprung, a quick pass to a cutter down the lane, with a 2nd cutter following.   If the point guard can ball fake and reverse the ball to the other guard before he crosses half court, getting the defense to move, I can have that guard penetrate, have the big man drop low to a block and either drop down a pass or kick to either corner.   I also have a scheme to screen the low man in the 1-3-1 to get an open jumper for the other low man, who cuts across the baseline to the strong side corner. 
 
Other thoughts/ideas welcome.

 

[Heinie Wagner]

I think your strategies are all sound - even front, move the ball quickly, ball fakes, player movements/cutters. I hope you have plenty of time to prepare.
 
Suggestions for preparing are to play against a 1-3-1 and do not allow your players to dribble, it will be very ugly at first, but they'll get the idea that they need to make quick decisions and move immediately after passing. I love doing stuff with no dribble.
 
My other suggestion is to put 6 guys on defense and play 5v6. That will likely simulate something closer to the defensive pressure you'll see in the game
 
We played a 5th grade (5th grade!) team that played 1-3-1 the whole game, one of the top 3 teams in our league. They played it 3/4 court, trapped at half out of it and pulled back and played it at the top of the key. We are a Read and React team and go 4 out 1 in against zones and we have very active high post players. We did ok against the 1-3-1 in the first half, got good shots, but couldn't make them, went down 10 at the half. Our players figured it out in the second half and we won by 11 (won the second half by 21). I'm not even really that into the wins and losses, it was just great to see them fight through being down and figure something out as a team.

 

[wade boggs chicken dinner]

You'll have a harder time with big men who don't pass well, but you'll need to run a 2-1-2 offense and emphasize ball reversal by passing (not dribbling) to get the zone to get "out of shape".  Also getting the ball into the high post allows your wings to attack the basket with mismatches.  Quick ball reversal with dribble penetration can often have the same effect.
 
Teach your kids to be calm when they are trapped.  That will help more than anything.
 
Here's a good website with some principals and a play you can teach to counter it:  http://www.kcsbasketball.com/blog/2013/01/simple-offense-for-use-against-a-1-3-1-half-court-trap-or-quarter-court-zone/

 

[Bleedred]

Thanks to you both.  I looked at that KCsbasket website earlier and it is helpful.   I agree it's about quick, crisp ball movement, forcing the zone to move several times. Added by ball fakes and pass fakes, and an aggressive offensive mindset, we should be able to handle it.  My only problem is that while I have very solid guard play, I have virtually non-existent big men (only 2 kids out of 11 who are "big", and neither one of them are players).   Could be a long day!

 

[Heinie Wagner]

Do you have to play bigs? There are some smaller players who can be excellent in the high post. Especially since with against a 1-3-1 the high post area can extend out past the three point line.
 
Related to Wade's remark about being calm, I always tell players the first thing we're going to do when playing against a press or trapping defense is smile because we're going to get some easy buckets. Then, in a game, when you make a couple turnovers against a press or half court, you call timeout, they all come over to you and you ask the group very seriously, what is the first thing we're supposed to do against a press? 

 

[Bleedred]

Do you have to play bigs? There are some smaller players who can be excellent in the high post. Especially since with against a 1-3-1 the high post area can extend out past the three point line.
 

 
We're a small team, and our best players are guards, small forwards, so the approach against them may be to play small players who can be good high post players.  The Bob Huggins Dive and Fill offense looks pretty nicely set up to exploit the 1-3-1 and fairly easy to teach.   It's all about motion, quick and calm.
 
http://www.hoopsplaybook.ca/zone_offences/huggins_dive_and_fill.html
 
 
Edit to add link

 

[Bleedred]

Coach Huggins "Dive and Fill" approach worked beautifully.  We were probably a 12-13 point underdog against the best team in the league, and we lost by one point (we missed a shot at the buzzer for the win).  With only 2 practices to prepare, our boys did a great job of exposing the trap.  They got some turnovers, but it was really well neutralized.  We lost 42-41.   A great effort.  

 

[Heinie Wagner]

Congrats, a moral victory to be sure, good game.  That must have been very rewarding. Do you play them again next year?

 

[Bleedred]

It was really rewarding.  To our kids credit, they expected to win and were seriously bummed when they didn't.  There's a chance we play them in the playoffs.  They'll be a #1 seed and have a bye, so we'd have to get by a first round game, but I'd love to play them again.