131 Defense

The 131 Defense is a great way to create confusion, increase live-ball turnovers, and make your team a special scout for opponents.

The 131 Defense is a great option for those coaches who are looking for something unique to attack their opponents with. Being good at a defense that teams will only see once or twice a season is a strategy that might steal you a few extra wins each season. Teams will routinely practice versus man to man defense and even the traditional 23 zone, but the 131 forces opposing coaches to come up with a game-specific plan they must execute. When you combine this "special scout" status with the right personnel you have the recipe to be an extremely disruptive defense.

In this post, we are going to dive into the basic design of the defense and my thought process when determining which personnel we assign to each position. Admittedly, there are many different approaches on how to best deploy this style of defense, but I will focus on how we have traditionally used it and what types of players we would like to get into each position. My final thought before we get into the details is that this is a style of defense that presents you with a higher degree of risk/reward - and coaches must be at peace with the idea that with the greater degree of aggression comes the potential for tradeoffs. My advice would be to determine which level of risk we are comfortable with beforehand.

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Basic Design & Personnel -

What are the Pros & Cons?

Like any defensive scheme, there are going to be a list of pros and cons that accompany the selection. We shouldn't view this list of pros and cons as a reason to eliminate a specific style of defense, but merely just a way of assessing what we are getting and comfortable with giving up. In my opinion here are the 131 Pros/Cons:

Pros:

Cons:

131 Personnel Thoughts:

Let's get into what my thought process is on selecting the players that will fill these positions.

The Top Player -

We need a disciplined disrupter in this position. He does not have to be an incredibly athletic player, but simply someone who can anticipate well and get deflections.

The Wings -

We would like to put our two most athletic players into these positions if possible. In an ideal world, we would get two players with good length who could disrupt passes and rebound the basketball. We need these players to slow down the basketball so being able to take away that slot to corner pass is a must here.

The Center -

This is perhaps the easiest position to fill in the defense. In most cases, we are simply putting our 5 Man here and not thinking twice about it. We need someone here who will step into the path of all perimeter drives and protect the rim.

The Baseline -

The baseline player is generally one of our hardest-working defenders. We can not afford to have this player be someone who gets beat off the dribble - so I try to get a solid defender who won't be afraid to mix it up on the defensive glass in this position. This is also the player most likely to have to step in and get charges so we should keep that in mind as well. We can not afford to have players who are afraid of contact here.

The Top Player -

This is the player most likely to disrupt the offense so we must get a person here who will create opportunities for us to take advantage of. Their job requires them to constantly be preventing ball reversal and forcing the offense to second guess their passes. We are defining their main area of operation as "The Channel" - an area that stretches from lane line to lane line and extends out towards half-court. Our more athletic top players can extend outside of this area, but ideally, they would position themselves here to create slow lob-style passes that allow the defense to rotate and recover.

Coverage Responsibilities:

Ball in the Slot -

The objective of the Top Player is to position himself between the player with the basketball (1) and the opposing player in the slot (2).

Ideally, we want the top player to stay within "The Channel" and not get too extended onto the outer third of the court. when the top player gets too extended we give up good shooting opportunities for players in the slot.

Ball in the Corner -

When the ball is in the corner the job of the top player is to protect the elbow. In the 131 we are not trying to run around and get overextended. We are simply trying to make ball reversal difficult and limit the number of options for the player with the basketball. When the ball is in the corner we are simply taking away middle entry options from the offense and getting steals when the ball is sloppily passed to the slot.

Wing Players -

In a really good 131 Defense, the Wing Players are the influential players. Of all the positions they have the biggest potential to disrupt the offense. A good wing player takes away the pass to the corner, prevents the slot drive, and intercepts the skip pass. Of all positions - not having good wing players might be the one factor that deters me from employing this defense. These athletes are the necessary component in order to impose your will on opposing offenses.

Coverage Responsibilities:

Ball in the Slot -

When the ball is in the slot on your side you need to act aggressively. Your primary responsibility is to take away the slot to corner pass.

Ball in Opposite Slot -

When the ball is opposite of you your responsibility is to cover the block. In these scenarios, you need to make sure that you do not give up the diagonal pass to the rim.

Once the ball is swung from backside to ball side you must fly up and defend the basketball.

When the Ball is Driven -

When the ball is driven from the slot it is up to the wing player to collapse on it. These drives are actually great opportunities to get deflections and steals that will lead to transition opportunities for the defense. Since you are generally out of position to prevent the middle drive it is up to you to get those deflections that will prevent clean diagonal passes.

When the Ball is in the Corner -

When the ball is in the corner the Wing Players are playing a guessing game. Your priority responsibility is to squeeze over and take away any easy drop pass towards the rim. However, the Corner to opposite slot pass is a great steal opportunity that Wing Players should anticipate getting. When the ball is in the slot the Wing Players should be trying to read the eyes of the offensice player and make the appopriate read.

The Center -

It is usually obvious which players should fit this role. In a general sense, we need a player who will be willing to step in the way of drives, deter that diagonal pass, and protect the rim. I do think having a Center under 6'1'' can open you up to clean diagonal passes, but that is something that we should consider when we weigh our pros and cons list. At the very least we need a willing defender who will be active and attack the glass.

Coverage Responsibilities:

Ball in the Slot -

When the ball is in the slot our center should position himself directly in the path between the ball and the rim. Many times this will simply be in the middle of the paint.

Ball in the Corner -

When the ball is in the corner the same rule applies. He needs to position himself in the direct path between the basketball and the rim. We usually ask the center to 3/4 front as opposed to full fronting. In general, teams do not possess the type of post-scoring to expose that type of positioning.

When the Ball is Driven -

Whenever the ball is driven it is up to the Center to step in and stop the basketball. Ideally, we are forcing the offense to be stationary and are not allowing drives, but given the risk/reward of our perimeter positioning it is impossible to avoid them completely.

When the Ball is Touched Middle -

Certain teams will make it a priority to touch the ball to the player in the middle. When that occurs it is solely the responsibility of the Center to guard this player. Each of the other perimeter players (The Top & Wings specifically) to make sure that three-point shooters are not getting open as a result of these touches.

The Baseline Player -

To me, the baseline player is the heart of the 131 Defense. If the baseline player does not give up drives from the corner, and he takes away the wing to corner three then the offense will have a difficult time creating shots. However, if we can't get the right player in this position there is the possibility to get quick swing threes and lethal baseline drives. In the scenario where the slot player drives the basketball hard, we also need our baseline player to be willing to step in take charges to get the ball back.

Coverage Responsibilities:

Ball in the Slot -

When the ball is in the slot we are asking the baseline player to position themselves on the ball side block. We want to use the block as a starting point to their final rotation (corner touch). If the ball is not passed to the corner they should go no further than the block.

On most possessions, they are positioning themselves from block to block - until the ball is moved to the corner.

Ball in the Corner -

When the ball is moved to the corner the wings have dual roles.

Ball is Driven -

Whether from the slot or the corner the baseline player is required to step in the path of the driver. We want to create an uncertain environment for drivers in which they question whether or not they should even put the ball on the floor. Although we want our Center to prevent north-south passes we also want his presence to be a deterrent to any drive from the perimeter.

Concluding Thoughts -

The 131 Defense is probably something that most coaches will shy away from. it is a higher risk/reward defense that will have clear pros and cons attached to it. With a team of athletic, high-energy players this can be a defense that will create turnovers and a higher-possession game environment. For those coaches that do not believe their man to man defense can be disruptive en,ough for their game model this might be worth investigating.

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