23 Zone - The Guards

In this post, we are going to take a look at the Responsibilities and Steal Opportunities for the Guards in our 23 Zone.

The Guards are sort of like the engine of your 23 Zone. They are tasked with some of the most critical elements of the defense including; guarding the ball, responding to perimeter swings, and preventing the pass to the middle. With that in mind, we want to strategically place two good perimeter defenders in these positions. This is not a place to "hide" players as we need these defenders to anticipate well, guard the basketball effectively, and will be able to box out players crashing the offensive glass. If we can get these players to be aggressive there are four great steal opportunities in the 23 Zone for guards to take advantage of as well.

The three most common ways to break down a 23 Zone are through dribble penetration, perimeter swings, and touching the ball to the middle of the floor. The Guards will play a critical role in trying to prevent all three of those things from occurring. Because of this, it is critical that these two people are more connected than any other two players on the floor. Throughout the possession, they will constantly be readjusting themselves based on the movements of the other. Good guard tandems should not just be responding to the movement of the basketball but anticipating when it will go next.

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Responsibilities of the Guards -

Remaining connected and keeping the basketball out of the middle are the two core responsibilities of the Guards. They are constantly guarding the two most dangerous people on the floor; the man with the ball, and the man in the middle. As the basketball is being swung they should be shifting the responsibility for those people between the two of them. The movements of the Guards should be constant readjustments to the positioning of their partner.

Guard Responsibilities -

Ball is on Top:

When the basketball is at the top of the key both guards should be within arms reach of one another.

Perhaps the most important ingredient here is to have active hands to deflect passes being attempted to the middle man.

Ball is on Wing -

When the ball is on the Wing, the "Ball & Middle" Rotation begins. If one man is guarding the ball then the other guard should be defending the middle.

Swing to the Top -

When the ball is swung from wing to the top the Guards begin the process of alternating roles once again. The defender on the Middle Man now guards the ball, and the player guarding the ball now guards the middle. This potentially leaves us open to passes back to the same side wing, but Wing Players have a role in defending that as well.

"Guard Boxes" on Drives -

One of the responsibilities we will get to later in the post is the idea of getting to the "Guard Box" if the ball gets inside the defense. In order to maximize our Guards' ability to steal the inside-out pass and defend the three-point line, we have to ask our Center to be able to step up and guard the ball if it enters the paint.

"Guard Box" - this is an area that surrounds the elbow on each side of the free throw line. This is the area guards should defend if the ball gets inside the defense. From here they need to anticipate where the next pass is going.

On the Ball Defense -

One common misconception about zone defense is that we are sitting back and not pressuring the basketball. We see guarding the basketball as one of the core responsibilities for the Guards. If the ball is above the free throw line extended at least one of the guards is responsible for being on the ball. There are a few teaching points that we would use when guarding the ball:

On Ball Steals -

Middle Switch:

One good steal opportunity occurs when the Guards are passing off responsibility on the ball.

As a ball-handler crosses the midline of the floor with the dribble the "new defender" attacks the basketball looking for a deflection or steal.

Attacking Penetration:

Another great steal opportunity occurs when dribble penetration occurs between the two guards.

The goal is to shade the offensive player toward the sideline/baseline direction, but when dribble penetration to the middle does happen we want to attack it quickly. His partner (the opposite guard) immediately looks to strip or deflect the basketball. If this does not work then the Center will pick up the Perimeter Drive as it gets into the paint.

Perimeter Swing Passes -

One of the other primary responsibilities of the Guards is to defend the perimeter swing passes. Working as a tandem they are constantly swapping the roles of guarding the ball and guarding the middle man. The Wing Players also share in helping to defend those quick swings, but it also falls on the guards to make sure that those swings are more difficult. Jumping into the passing lane to steal to Wing-to-Point or Point-to-Wing passes is a great way to create scores out of the defense. Some teaching points for this would be:

Perimeter Swing Passes -

Point to Wing Pass:

When the ball is on top the Guards should position themselves at an angle to make the swing pace more difficult.

On occasion, the opportunity to "jump" a perimeter swing pass will present itself. This situation will present itself more often if teams have:

Wing to Point Pass:

Guards must make sure to have their inside hand on the offensive middle man, and their outside hand free. Their body weight should be leaning towards the point anticipating the chance to deflect that pass. Some teaching points we would use to put guys in a better position to get that steal:

Middle Entry Pass -

As we have stated a few times already the main responsibilities of the Guards is guarding the ball and taking away the Middle Man. Just as in guarding the ball, there are steal opportunities embedded into defending the middle as well. Guards that are able to get steals on the pass to the Middle Man are the ones who immediately anticipate that pass.

Middle Entry Steals -

Point to Wing Pass:

In diagram one you are going from guarding the ball at the point to immediately taking away the Middle Entry.

The passing combination of Point-Wing-Middle is quite common and guards should anticipate that on their rotation.

Wing to Point Pass:

When the pass to the point is made there is momentary opening for an immediate pass to be made to the Middle Man. As the person guarding the ball switches we must work to close that window quickly. If players fear a quick pass back to the Wing - we must remember that the Wing Players should be helping with their Wing Bump rotation.

Inside Out Passes -

In order to better guard the three point line we have established an area of the floor called the "Guard Boxes". The 23 Zone becomes particularly vulnerable to three point shots when the basketball is entered to the middle or to the baseline. If players collapse on the basketball a simply skip pass can lead to an open three-point shot. In order to prevent that we have established the "Guard Boxes" which are located at the elbows.

If the basketball gets inside the defense, by pass or the dribble, then the Guards should drop nolower than the Guard Box. By staying in this general area they will be better able to steal errant skip passes and defend the three point line on a successful pass attempt. If our Center and Wing Players can take away any immediate shots at the rim this will allow our Guard the chance for Inside-Out Steals.

Inside Out Pass Steals -

The Guard Box:

As you can see in both diagrams the Guard Box is a designated area that serves as a home base when the basketball is inside or behind the defense.

Common Scenarios:

The most common scenarios when Guards will have to drop into the Guard Boxes come when the ball is:

Advantages of the Guard Box:

Players should not view dropping down to the Guard Box as a chance to rest. In fact, they should be on high alert for prime steal opportunities. As the defenders on the baseline rally to stop the ball from getting to the rim, the Guards should be anticipating any kick out pass that might come to the perimeter.

Concluding Thoughts -

The Guards are absolutely the engine of your 23 Zone. They are trying to prevent the most damaging actions against the 23 Zone; penetration, middle touches, and perimeter swings. Because of this, your guards need to be high-energy players who are determined to not get beat off the dribble. If your guards can consistently keeping the basketball in front of them they will force the offense to make riskier plays as the shot clocks ticks away. On top of that, with good anticipation of that middle entry pass and intense ball pressure, they will open up all of the steal opportunities available for the Guards.

Take a Look at these 23 Zone Resources:

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