Structures and Strategies

Mr Fuchs

Part (a)

From an activity of your choice describe, in detail, a structure, strategy or composition you have used. (4)

How to answer Part (a)

What is the structure: 2-1-2 Zone Defence Describe the formation – where the players

stand in the key. Describe each player/position’s role and

responsibility Describe the stages of the zone Describe the strengths and weaknesses of

the zone

2-1-2 Zone Defence Formation

RF

RG LG

LF

PG

Roles and Responsibilities

Guards put pressure on the forwards of the opposing team when they are passing

Point Guard and Forwards form a rebound triangle around basket. All three players have to be aggressive and good at jumping and blocking out attacking players from collecting the rebounds from shots to the basket.

Stages of 2-1-2 Zone Defence

1. When your team loses possession shout zone and sprint back up court and take positions

2. The defenders nearest the attacker in possession of the ball pressures the ball when attacker is in shooting range.

3. Weak side players sag across to maintain the structure of the zone and covering vulnerable areas.

4. Block out. When a shot is attempted, the defenders must block out and rebound.

2-1-2 Zone Strengths

Prevents penetration of the key by always having someone in the space preventing a clear drive to the basket.

More effective against cutting and screening as players mark areas not men.

Cuts down the space inside the key and forces long range shooting

2-1-2 Zone Strengths

Less tiring (than man-to-man) Players commit fewer fouls

2-1-2 Zone Weaknesses

Vulnerable to good outside shooting Fast break can beat zone down court leading

to disorganisation and confusion Opponents have relatively free build up as

pressure not applies until ball close to zone Individual defensive skills are not developed

when a team rely on the zone

Sample Answer (a)

The activity I have chosen is basketball. The structure I used was the 2-1-2 zone defence. This is a defensive structure. The 2-1-2 zone has two players called forwards who defend close to the baseline and basket. There is a player in the middle of the key called the point guard who forms a rebound triangle with the forwards. The front two players called guards play at the top of the key. See the following diagram:

Sample Answer (a)

RF

RG LG

LF

PG

Sample Answer (a)

The forwards and point guard form a rebound triangle around the basket. All three players have to be aggressive and good at jumping and blocking out attacking players from collecting rebounds. The guards put pressure on the opposing team when they are passing.

Sample Answer (a)

When using the 2-1-2 zone defence you must firstly shout “zone” when you lose possession of the ball. All players must then sprint back up the court and take their positions. The closest player to the ball presses the ball handler by making it difficult for them to pass or shoot, meanwhile the other players ‘sag’ across to support but maintaining the structure at all times. It is important that the defenders mark their area of the zone and not man-mark a player.

Sample Answer (a) The advantages of the 2-1-2 zone defence are that it

prevents penetration of the key by always having someone in the space preventing a clear drive the basket. It also cuts down space inside the key and forces the opposition to shoot from outside the zone. If the team has poor shooters you are cutting down their scoring opportunities. Because of the rebound triangle, you also have a good chance of regaining essential possession, which can be used to initiate a fast break. Finally a 2-1-2 zone defence is less tiring for individuals to play and often leads to teams also committing fewer fouls and can protect those players who are in foul trouble.

Part (b)

How did you gather information on the effectiveness of your structure, strategy or composition? (4)

How to answer Part (b)

Introduce the method(s) Draw the observation schedule Why is the method appropriate? What does

the it look at? What did it help you find out? Why is it valid and reliable?

Sample Answer (b)

The method I used to analyse my performance was to video record a 5 v 5 game for 15 minutes and then complete an observation schedule to see how effectively my team carried out our 2-1-2 Zone Defence. The team schedule was as follows:

Sample Answer (b)

Back on time X V X V X

Moves as a unit X X V X X

Keep its shape X X V X X

Gets rebounds V V V X V

Pressures attacking team

V V V V V

Sample Answer (b)

The method was appropriate because it allowed me to collect information about how effectively my team carried out our 2-1-2 Zone Defence. Using the schedule allowed me to break the structure down into different stages that are necessary for the 2-1-2 Zone Defence to work. From the results, statistics can be produced to show factual information on our strengths and weaknesses and focusses our future practice. It is also a permanent record of our performance. This meant that the method was valid.

Sample Answer (b)

The method was also reliable as it can be repeated using the same conditions so that accurate comparisons can be made.

Part (c)

From the structure, strategy or composition in Part (a) discuss the parts of your performance which you felt were in need of improvement. (4)

How to answer Part (c)

What does the observation schedule tell you? Use statistics What were the weaknesses Why are these important

Sample Answer (c)

The observation schedule showed us that our main two weaknesses were not getting back quickly enough and not keeping our shape. From five attempts we only got back into our positions twice. This is only a 40% success rate. It is very important to get back quickly and be organised as if we are not it is giving our opponents the opportunity to fast break and easy chances to score.

Sample Answer (c)

We also only kept our shape once in five attempts. This is only a 20% success rate. It is very important for us to keep our shape as if we do not large spaces will be left open for our opponents to attack into and score easily.

Part (d)

Describe the steps you took to improve the weaknesses you identified in Part (c). (4)

How to answer Part (d)

Describe the two practices that we did in class:

Shadow practice to get back in positions Why did this help? Using cones so that we maintained our

positions Why did this help?

Sample Answer (d)

To improve our areas of weakness we performed a number of practices. Firstly, to improve our weakness of not getting back quickly enough we performed a shadow practice. We were all standing on the half-way line and when our teacher shouted “zone” we sprinted back to our positions. We performed this against the three other teams in the class and so it was a race to see who was first. This made it fun and also really challenged us to do it as quickly as possible.

Sample Answer (d)

To improve our weakness of not maintaining our shape we placed cones in our defensive positions. We were not allowed to move more than two steps from our cone. This maintained the structure of the zone and so there were no large spaces for the attacking team to play into. Once we had played this for a number of times we were able to remove the cones and we still kept our positions.

Part (e)

Having developed your performance within your chosen structure strategy or composition, explain how you went on to evaluate your improvement. (3)

How to answer Part (e)

Retested using same methods (video 15 min game, observation schedule)

Were able to compare and contrast results (valid and reliable) to see difference

Discuss results: Got back on time 5/5 (100%)

Kept shape 4/5 (80%) This improved from what?

Sample Answer Part (e)

Having developed the performance of our 2-1-2 zone defence we evaluated our improvement by re-testing the effectiveness of our zone defence by video recording a 5v5 game and repeating the ‘zone defence’ observation schedule. As the methods were valid and reliable we were able to compare and contrast the results of the two sets of observation schedules to see if our performance had improved or deteriorated.

Sample Answer Part (e)

The results showed us that we improved getting back on time. We managed to do this five times in five attempts. This is a 100% success rate, which was improved from 40%. We also improved keeping our shape to 4 times in 5 attempts. This had improved from 20% to 80% success rate.

Fast Break

Strategy

Phases of the Fast Break

The fast break can be broken down into three phases: Beginning, Execution and Finish.

Beginning

Good defence is the best means for starting the fast break. A team must first gain possession through aggressive defence: rebounding, blocking shots, steals, interceptions, violations by opponents.

Execution

Success is determined by the speed of the break away. The fastest players should therefore be positioned closest to the opponent’s basket when defending (the top of the key). These players should use their judgement to anticipate when possession when possession will be gained and move early to ‘fill the lanes’.

Execution continued

A key word such as “ball” can be used to signal a fast break when possession has been gained. A quick ‘outlet pass’ should be made to a player (normally the point guard) who has taken up a position in either one of the wide lanes. The outlet pass should avoid the traffic in the key (don’t pass across the key). Outlet pass to the side on which the ball has been rebounded.

Finish

The finish will depend on the overload situation created by the fast break. 2v1 and 3v2 situations are most common and often result in a high percentage shot e.g. lay up. Support players should stay wide and available and look to cut to the basket from around the 3-point line. Care should be taken not to congest the area, as this will make the defenders job easier.

Roles and Responsibilities

Forwards: Collecting rebound from opponents shot and playing outlet pass.

Point Guard: Responsible for collecting the ball and driving down centre of court to basket before shooting or passing guards.

Guards: Fill the lanes and be ready to receive pass

Strengths

Creating an overload e.g. 2v1 and 3v2 Not giving opponents a chance to set their

defence (zone). Creating a mismatch e.g. tall v small, fast v

slow Discourage opposition from rebounding.