What is the 1-1-3 press defense in basketball?
The 1-1-3 press defense is a basketball strategy that uses on-ball pressure and sideline traps to disrupt offensive flow, which in turn, limits scoring opportunities and generates turnovers.
How to comprehend the player roles and diagrams on this page
In reference to any diagrams below, each of the offensive and defensive players are typically represented by the standard basketball positions, unless otherwise noted.
Moreover, offensive players are signified by numbers such as 1-5 while defensive players are indicated by the letter X, which is then followed by numbers such as X1-X5.
In essence, 1 and X1 indicate the respective offensive and defensive point guards. 2 and X2 signify the respective offensive and defensive shooting guards.
3 and X3 denote the respective offensive and defensive small forwards. 4 and X4 designate the respective offensive and defensive power forwards.
5 and X5 represent the respective offensive and defensive centers.
Moreover, in terms of a brief legend for the diagrams:
- Black Dot or Small Circle: The black dot or small circle represents the basketball.
- Solid Arrow: The solid arrow indicates movement or a cut on the basketball court.
- Dotted Arrow: The dotted arrow denotes a basketball pass.
- Wavy Arrow: The wavy arrow indicates dribbling.
- T-Shaped Symbol: The T-shaped symbol signifies a screen, also known as a pick.
- Double pipe symbol: The double pipe symbol represents handoff action.
What is an example of the initial formation for the 1-1-3 press defense?
X1 begins in the offensive team’s backcourt slightly below the free throw line inside of the lane or key area.
Additionally, X2 occupies space in the offensive team’s backcourt at the top above the three-point arc.
In terms of the offensive team’s frontcourt, X3 begins near the center of the court while X4 and X5 cover the corner areas near the half court line.
What is the general meaning of the numbering style for the 1-1-3 press?
Essentially, it is called 1-1-3 because each digit represents the general alignment for the defensive players on the court.
To give more clarity of this concept, the digits between dashes represent the number of defensive players that will be located in a certain region of the court, typically based on the front, the middle, or the back.
Also, more dashes in a numbering format generally means more regions for the players to occupy on the court.
Basically, one dash would generally represent two regions of the court that players would fill. Furthermore, two dashes would typically signify three regions for players to occupy on the court.
An example of that would be this particular press defense, which contains one player in the front region, one player in the middle region, and three additional players in the back region.
In a similar fashion, three dashes would usually be indicative of four regions that players would fill on the court.
The diagram below showcases a demonstration of this concept for the 1-1-3 press featuring one or more defensive players within different regions on the court during the initial formation, represented by the light gray-shaded boxes.
The first region contains one player, who is X1 for this example. The second region contains another player, who is X2 for this example.
The third region contains three players, who are X3, X4, and X5 for this example.
What is an example of the 1-1-3 press defense when the ball is initially in the backcourt?
When an offensive player receives the basketball in their backcourt, one defender can attempt to influence that player towards a sideline while other defenders cover certain areas of the court.
The diagram below illustrates this concept in more detail.
Essentially, 4 passes the ball inbound with 1 as the recipient. After that, X1 influences 1 to dribble the ball towards the sideline.
As that occurs, X4 is in preparation to set a potential trap while X2 covers the middle to possibly hinder or prevent any passes within that area.
Additionally, X3 slides to the ball side wing area while X5 slides towards the top in the middle above the three-point line.
Furthermore, if an offensive player such as 5 begins to cut below the free throw line extended area towards the basket, then X5 can also drop back to protect the basket, as indicated by the gray arrow on the diagram.
What is an example of the 1-1-3 press defense that shows the first potential trap?
When the offensive team moves the ball into their frontcourt, especially near the adjacent corner, two defenders can trap the ball while other defenders cover certain areas of the court.
The diagram below demonstrates this point in more detail.
Basically, X1 and X4 set the trap near the sideline and half court line immediately after 1 dribbles the basketball into the offensive team’s frontcourt.
In addition to that, X2 protects the middle area after sliding down from the offensive team’s backcourt.
Moreover, X3 continues to cover the ball side wing area, looking to intercept any potential passes near that area. Finally, X5 continues to protect the basket.
What is an example of the 1-1-3 press defense that shows the second potential trap?
If the offensive team passes out of the first trap or the ball is on the wing in general, then two defenders can attempt to set a trap while other defenders cover certain areas off the ball.
The diagram below illustrates this concept.
In essence, X3 and X4 set a trap near the wing area while X1 slides down slightly from the previous diagram to occupy space near the extended slot area.
X1 could also possibly intercept a pass that is thrown back to 1 if that were to occur. Additionally, X2 slides down from the previous diagram to occupy the high post area.
X2 could also potentially intercept a pass thrown to 4 or perhaps even deflect a skip pass thrown cross court with 2 as the recipient.
What is an example of the 1-1-3 press defense when a backwards pass occurs in the backcourt?
What should happen if the offensive team throws a backwards pass while still in their backcourt before the first potential trap, particularly to the safety who threw the initial inbound pass?
When that occurs, a middle defender should immediately closeout to implement pressure while all other defenders sprint to specific locations to prevent the offense from swiftly breaking the press.
The diagram below showcases this point with more details.
For this scenario, let’s say that 1 sees the trap coming in advance. So, when that happens, 1 doesn’t dribble into the frontcourt. Instead, 1 passes the ball backwards with 4 as the safety receiver.
As a result, X2 should immediately sprint up to put pressure on the ball and try to force 4 down the sideline. For this case, 4 begins to dribble towards the sideline.
At the same time, X1 should slide across to protect the middle, initially in the backcourt and then within the frontcourt if necessary.
Also, X3 has to sprint across to cover the opposite wing area, which would be the left side wing from the offensive team’s perspective.
While that occurs, X4 should slide towards the top above the three-point line to initially protect that area. However, X4 could slide down into the lane to protect the basket if an offensive player is below the free throw line extended as in the case of 5.
Additionally, as the backwards pass and sideline push happens, X5 has to sprint as fast as possible to occupy the corner space near the half court line.
It is very important that X5 sprints really hard because X5 should be in position to set a potential trap on this new side with X2.