Press Defenses play
Diamond Press: Two-Fist Trap on the First Dribble
- Court
- Full court
- Length
- 9 steps
About this play
The diamond's 'two fist' call: the alignment does not change, but the trap holds until the receiver puts the ball on the floor. Why: a live dribble is the one tool a trapped player can use to get out, so the diamond gives him the catch, waits for the bounce that spends it, and arrives the instant it is gone. X4 shades the inbounder to the middle, and the moment the ball is thrown he runs the lane line to get level with it so the receiver cannot dribble toward the middle, then arrives at the trap from the inside as the ball goes up the sideline; X1 turns the dribbler on the sideline. Two trappers, two interceptors, a goalie. What it forces: a sideline dribble into a trap with the ten-second line ahead and the retreat pass behind. What it gives up: the retreat pass and the weak sideline, which is why the press carries its 1-2-2 adjustment, the goalie coming up to stop the sideline while the middle man drops. Counter shown: the offense reverses to the weak sideline through the inbounder; the press answers with the 1-2-2 adjustment and traps there too. The companion call is 'side fist': wherever the handler dribbles along a sideline, in either half of the floor, the nearest two defenders trap him there. I learned the two-fist and side-fist calls and the 1-2-2 adjustment from Coach's Clipboard's 1-2-1-1 zone press page, and the trap technique from Keith Dambrot's 1-2-1-1 pressure clinic on Championship Productions and Breakthrough Basketball's guide to running the diamond; read them if you want the breakdown drills.
