What is junk defense in basketball
Junk defense, also referred to as a hybrid defense or a combination defense, is a unique type of basketball defensive system that integrates certain elements of man to man defense alongside certain elements of zone defense to limit or prevent scoring opportunities of the offensive team.
What is an advantage of junk defense
One notable advantage of junk defense is that it could be implemented as a method to hinder offensive productivity and efficiency from one or two of the opposing team’s best players, especially if most of the offensive team’s scoring load comes from perimeter players.
For example, if the opposing team’s leading scorer is their point guard and/or shooting guard and at the same time, the other players are non-shooters, then the defensive team could implement a junk defense.
Essentially, at least one or two defenders, typically referred to as chasers would play man to man defense, particularly with denial defense principles, against the point guard and/or shooting guard in an effort to prevent those same offensive players from touching the basketball.
Or at the very least, the defender (or defenders) executing the man to man defense would prefer to influence the point guard or shooting guard to expend much energy before receiving the ball.
This, in turn, could result in those same offensive players becoming tired, which could lead to inefficient field goal attempts and/or turnovers, particularly during the crucial points in the game.
Also, while that occurs, the other defenders could execute zone defense concepts against the offensive team’s non-shooters.
What is a disadvantage of junk defense
One particular disadvantage of junk defense is that it may not be as useful against teams that create most of their scoring opportunities via low post players near the basket and/or against teams with more than two or three scorers, especially from three-point range.
For example, if the offensive team’s leading scorer is their highly skilled power forward or center that prefers to score near the basket, then the junk defense would almost be unnecessary as a method of defending that type of player.
The reason being is because in junk defenses, the defenders around the low post areas and near the basket will typically execute zone defense while providing help defense for the perimeter defenders which execute man to man.
In other words, the general purpose of the junk defense is to limit or completely stop offensive flow of the perimeter players while giving extra defensive support near the basket.
However, the junk defenses are not typically designed to limit or totally prevent low post touches and/or low post scoring around the basket.
As an example, within junk defense, it is feasible to front the low post as a tactic of discouraging the post entry pass but this is not the same as the junk defense’s perimeter denial techniques.
That is to say, the junk defense really prefers that the perimeter player does not even touch the basketball whenever possible.
Conversely though, if a post player touches the ball, especially near the perimeter as a non-shooter, then that would be a desirable result for the junk defense.
Furthermore, even if the post player touches the ball around the low post area or near the basket, the zone defenders will aggressively contest the potential field goal attempt if necessary to influence a missed shot.
With all of that being said, if a low post player is the leading scorer for the offensive team, then the defensive team may be better suited executing the standard man to man defense or one of the zone defensive strategies such as the 2-3 zone as opposed to a junk defense.
What are the common types of junk defense
The common types of junk defense, which could also be considered categories of combination defense, are the box and 1 defense, the diamond and 1 defense, as well as the triangle and 2 defense.
Box and 1 defense
The box and 1 defense is a basketball defensive strategy and a type of junk defense which seeks to limit scoring opportunities, especially for the opposing team’s best player, by implementing a combination of man to man and zone defense principles.
The primary objective of the box and 1 defense is for the defensive team to utilize their best defender to disrupt or neutralize the scoring and/or playmaking abilities of the offensive team’s best player with man to man defense.
Also, at the same time, the additional four defenders play a zone defense in the form of a box, hence the name of box and 1.
In addition to that, the box and 1 defense could be advantageous against teams with one above average perimeter scorer and at least three or four non-shooters, especially from three-point range.
It should be noted however, that a general weakness of the box and 1 defense is that there is a large gap in the middle of the zone, particularly near the high post area.
This essentially means that if the offensive team is able to get the ball into the high post, then the box and 1 defense would become vulnerable to offensive tactics such as corner skip passes or high low action near the basket.
Diamond and 1 defense
The diamond and 1 defense is a basketball defensive strategy and a type of junk defense which seeks to limit scoring opportunities, particularly for the opposing team’s best perimeter player, by implementing a combination of man to man and zone defense principles.
Additionally, the diamond and 1 defense is a variation of the box and 1 defense and similarly, its main focus is to let the best defender use man to man defense against the offensive team’s best perimeter player to limit or prevent the scoring and/or playmaking abilities of the same offensive player.
Also, as that occurs, the other four defenders will implement zone defense in the formation of a diamond, hence the name of diamond and 1 defense.
One noteworthy difference between the diamond and 1 defense and its box and 1 counterpart is that it could be advantageous against teams with more than one player that has the ability to shoot from the perimeter, particularly from three-point range.
That is to say, the box and 1 defense is generally more useful if the offensive team primarily relies on one player, specifically a perimeter player such as a guard or wing, to score most of the team’s points.
However, the diamond and 1 defense could be more beneficial if the offensive team still needs one player to carry most of the scoring load but at the same time, there is at least one or two other perimeter players that could also score, especially from three-point range.
At the same time though, similar to the box and 1 defense, a general weakness of the diamond and 1 defense is the large gap in the middle of the zone, particularly near the high post and lane areas.
Another notable disadvantage of the diamond and 1 defense to consider is that it is not very effective against an offensive team with more than one above average low post players.
The reason this could be an issue is because, in the diamond and 1 defense, the bottom zone defender has the main priority of protecting the basket at all times.
Therefore, if an offensive team has more than one above average low post player, then this could potentially place a tremendous amount of pressure on that same bottom zone defender.
Triangle and 2 defense
The triangle and 2 defense is a basketball defensive strategy and a type of junk defense which seeks to limit scoring opportunities, primarily for the opposing team’s two best perimeter players, by implementing a combination of man to man and zone defense concepts.
The primary emphasis of the triangle and 2 defense is for the defensive team to use their best two perimeter defenders to disrupt or neutralize the scoring and/or playmaking abilities of the offensive team’s best two perimeter players, particularly with man to man defense.
Furthermore, at the same time, the additional three defenders play a zone defense in the form of a triangle, hence the name of triangle and 2.
The main strength of the triangle and 2 defense is that it could be very functional against offensive teams that rely on getting their scoring options from perimeter players but at the same time, those opposing teams have low post players with below average scoring abilities.
On the other hand, a disadvantage of the triangle and 2 defense is that it is not as beneficial against offensive teams that prefer to get most of their scoring output from one or more low post players.
What are simple diagram examples of junk defense
Box and 1 Defense Example
This is a simple example of the the box and 1 defense. For this situation, X2 executes man to man defense while X1 and X3 are the zone defenders at the top of the box near the high post elbows.
In addition to that, X4 and X5 are the zone defenders at the bottom of the box and they start near the low post blocks.
Diamond and 1 Defense Example
This is a basic example of the diamond and 1 defense. In this instance, X2 plays man to man defense against 2 while the other four defenders set up in a diamond formation.
X1 is at the top of the diamond above the three-point arc while X5 is at the bottom of the diamond in the lane protecting the basket.
Furthermore, X3 and X4 are near the free throw line extended areas inside of the three-point arc.
Triangle and 2 Defense Example
This is an example of the triangle and 2 defense in which X1 and X2 play man to man defense against offensive players 1 and 2.
Also, X3 is at the top of the triangle while X4 and X5 are near the left side and right side low post areas, respectively.