Zone Offense play
Zone Offense: Screen the Top Guard vs 2-3
- Court
- Half court
- Length
- 14 steps
About this play
Two ways to screen the top of a 2-3, from Coach's Clipboard. First "91": both posts move up to the top, the point passes to one of them, the other back-screens the top guard who turned to the ball, and the point flares off the screen to the wing for the pass over the top and the open three. Why it works: a 2-3 guards areas, so when a post walks up to the top nobody follows him there, which means the guard who gets screened has no teammate behind him to trade assignments with, and he was the only one who could have closed out. The read is the ball-side wing clearing inside so the forward stays low. The counter is for the zone whose top guards learn to slide and switch the flare: Mike White's "X-Screen Lob", where the two wings x-screen the two top guards, the ball comes back to the point, who dribbles down the open middle, the middle defender steps up to stop the ball, and the post who back-screened the forward cuts under for the lob. Common mistakes: the screener leaving early, the point flaring before the screen is set, and the post at the top catching and holding the ball so the guard recovers. 91 came from Coach's Clipboard and the X-Screen Lob from Mike White's Championship Productions zone sets; look them up if you want more ways to screen the top.
