I've seen people here say things like "if you leave that bad defender in your starting lineup, a good coach will exploit/attack that weak defender."

How exactly do you go after a weak defender?

My best guess is you figure out who he would be guarding and then up that player's distribution. But maybe there's a better way?

Second, semi-related question, say, for example, you have a great offensive SF and you're playing a team with a PF that's a disaster on defense, can you flip your PF and SF on your depth chart to attack that PF? Or will that screw up your offense if you SF and PF are flipped.

(Note, this is just an example, I don't have a great offensive SF)

1. You are on the right track. It depends what kind of defense he's in, regarding how you go about that. If your opponent plays man defense, and has a weak defender in the starting lineup, it's pretty straight forward. Up distribution at the spot you expect that guy to play, or put your best (appropriate for position) offensive player there, or some combination. Don't go overboard, upping distribution too much for a player limits his efficiency. I always stay under 20%, fwiw. Your opponent can always move that guy around if his team is flexible enough, so it becomes a bit of a chess match. When I'm gameplanning for real, I usually look back at the last 5-7 starting lineups he's thrown out there. If they are the same, I'm reasonably confident I know where he'll be.

Attacking zone and press weak spots are a little less straight-forward. In zone, pay attention to what he normally plays, 2-3 or 3-2. If 2-3, he'll be more open to jump shots and perimeter scoring, especially if the weak defender is a guard. In a 3-2, you can exploit the paint, and the boards.

Against the press, he's always double teaming, and there's no way (that I can tell) to determine who the "help" defender is. I like to attack the weak defender by position as with man, but for a different reason. If I go that route, I'm trying to get him in foul trouble, and start the "fatigue cascade" that can ripple through his team.

2. You can play any guy anywhere on the floor, but each position is weighted a little differently regarding what attributes are important, and how effective and efficient he'll be. In your hypothetical, if you have a good scoring SF, and playing a team playing man defense with a weak PF, you can absolutely move him over to exploit that match-up. But realize that you're changing your own defensive assignments doing that. Some PF are too slow, and can get burned if you move them to the wing, even if they have good defensive ratings. Likewise, if your SF is not a strong rebounder, be aware that you are also giving up ground on rebounds.

Being able to exploit a bad defender might only be really applicable if they are playing a M2M defense. I tend to not even consider it against other defenses.

But I've done just what you've suggested when playing against a M2M team that has a particularly weak defender. I'll put a good offensive player up against him and up his distribution.

And while I haven't moved players between SF and PF on my depth chart for a particular game to get a favorable matchup (because it didn't make sense with my mix of players), I have moved between SF and SG, and between SG and PG.

Posted by tecwrg on 3/7/2017 1:41:00 PM (view original):
Being able to exploit a bad defender might only be really applicable if they are playing a M2M defense. I tend to not even consider it against other defenses.

But I've done just what you've suggested when playing against a M2M team that has a particularly weak defender. I'll put a good offensive player up against him and up his distribution.

And while I haven't moved players between SF and PF on my depth chart for a particular game to get a favorable matchup (because it didn't make sense with my mix of players), I have moved between SF and SG, and between SG and PG.

Taking note of a weak defender in a zone is important because if you can figure out which part of the zone his numbers will be averaged into, you can up distribution to not just his positional counterpart, but to all players likely to be scoring from that region during the game (i.e. -- all perimeter shooters or all post players).

In a press it largely doesn't matter since 1. you can never be sure who will be in the double teams and 2. you should be upping your distribution to your top scoring threats anyhow since one key weakness in the press is the inability give extra attention to the "top" players in the opposition.

Thanks, rednu. That's a great point.

In a recent thread, somebody pointed out to us n00bs that in a 2-3 zone, the C is actually alone, i.e. is not averaged in with the SF and PF. Does that mean that you can take advantage of a weak defensive C playing in a 2-3 zone, as if he were playing M2M while the PG/SG are playing together and the SF/PF are playing together?

Posted by tecwrg on 3/7/2017 3:21:00 PM (view original):
Thanks, rednu. That's a great point.

In a recent thread, somebody pointed out to us n00bs that in a 2-3 zone, the C is actually alone, i.e. is not averaged in with the SF and PF. Does that mean that you can take advantage of a weak defensive C playing in a 2-3 zone, as if he were playing M2M while the PG/SG are playing together and the SF/PF are playing together?

Not really, IMO. Its best to attack a zone thinking of it like one unit. In a 2-3, the guards are on the perimeter, the forwards defend the interior, and the C is there down low to disrupt penetration and get rebounds (insert college roommate joke here). A C in the 2-3 utilizes the block rating more than any other position in any other set. Many argue it's more important than the defense rating for a C in a 2-3 zone.

Posted by rednu on 3/7/2017 2:50:00 PM (view original):

Posted by tecwrg on 3/7/2017 1:41:00 PM (view original):
Being able to exploit a bad defender might only be really applicable if they are playing a M2M defense. I tend to not even consider it against other defenses.

But I've done just what you've suggested when playing against a M2M team that has a particularly weak defender. I'll put a good offensive player up against him and up his distribution.

And while I haven't moved players between SF and PF on my depth chart for a particular game to get a favorable matchup (because it didn't make sense with my mix of players), I have moved between SF and SG, and between SG and PG.

Taking note of a weak defender in a zone is important because if you can figure out which part of the zone his numbers will be averaged into, you can up distribution to not just his positional counterpart, but to all players likely to be scoring from that region during the game (i.e. -- all perimeter shooters or all post players).

In a press it largely doesn't matter since 1. you can never be sure who will be in the double teams and 2. you should be upping your distribution to your top scoring threats anyhow since one key weakness in the press is the inability give extra attention to the "top" players in the opposition.

In the press, you can still attack a weak defender much the same as in zone. The weak defender and one helper constitute the double-team, and though you don't know who the helper is, you still know the weak defender is there.

Posted by CoachSpud on 3/7/2017 4:56:00 PM (view original):

Posted by rednu on 3/7/2017 2:50:00 PM (view original):

Posted by tecwrg on 3/7/2017 1:41:00 PM (view original):
Being able to exploit a bad defender might only be really applicable if they are playing a M2M defense. I tend to not even consider it against other defenses.

But I've done just what you've suggested when playing against a M2M team that has a particularly weak defender. I'll put a good offensive player up against him and up his distribution.

And while I haven't moved players between SF and PF on my depth chart for a particular game to get a favorable matchup (because it didn't make sense with my mix of players), I have moved between SF and SG, and between SG and PG.

Taking note of a weak defender in a zone is important because if you can figure out which part of the zone his numbers will be averaged into, you can up distribution to not just his positional counterpart, but to all players likely to be scoring from that region during the game (i.e. -- all perimeter shooters or all post players).

In a press it largely doesn't matter since 1. you can never be sure who will be in the double teams and 2. you should be upping your distribution to your top scoring threats anyhow since one key weakness in the press is the inability give extra attention to the "top" players in the opposition.

In the press, you can still attack a weak defender much the same as in zone. The weak defender and one helper constitute the double-team, and though you don't know who the helper is, you still know the weak defender is there.

No, all you know is that the weak defender is somewhere on the court. It isn't a man-to-man with a random player pulled in for the double team. Just because your SF has the ball, there's no guarantee that my SF is either of the two players engaged in the double team. That's why you just raise distro to your best players, because you never know where anyone is on defense.

No, all you know is that the weak defender is somewhere on the court... no longer playing his position???

Fullcourt Press

Summary The press is designed to force your opponent into turning the ball over and to create easy scoring opportunities by putting pressure on the ballhandler and attempting to cut off passing lanes. If the offense breaks the initial press, the defense continues to trap even in a half-court set. Pros With the right players, can be very disruptive to an offense creating steals. Wears down the opposing team and can lead to fatigue issues by the end of the game. Cons Requires a deep bench of good athletes with good speed. A poor press will give up lots of easy baskets. On average, pressing teams will be called for more fouls than any other defense.

Posted by shoe3 on 3/7/2017 3:53:00 PM (view original):

Posted by tecwrg on 3/7/2017 3:21:00 PM (view original):
Thanks, rednu. That's a great point.

In a recent thread, somebody pointed out to us n00bs that in a 2-3 zone, the C is actually alone, i.e. is not averaged in with the SF and PF. Does that mean that you can take advantage of a weak defensive C playing in a 2-3 zone, as if he were playing M2M while the PG/SG are playing together and the SF/PF are playing together?

Not really, IMO. Its best to attack a zone thinking of it like one unit. In a 2-3, the guards are on the perimeter, the forwards defend the interior, and the C is there down low to disrupt penetration and get rebounds (insert college roommate joke here). A C in the 2-3 utilizes the block rating more than any other position in any other set. Many argue it's more important than the defense rating for a C in a 2-3 zone.

Do you have a source for this? I have been playing zone for 40+ seasons and for every source I have ever come across the C is an island in the 2-3, essentially making him a sole M2M player. I think BLK is important in the zone, but DEF more important. Perhaps a theoretical argument could be made that in the 2-3 zone the C will be playing weakside support to the PF/SF average, coming in for blocks (think Emeka Okafor back at UConn) after the PF/SF have contained the post, therefor making his BLK value more important that DEF. But I have never seen any data supporting this, or any statements from WIS.

Spud, do you know how a fullcourt press works? It never said anything about being a man to man fullcourt press. You don't know where the ball is on the court and even if it is a man to man press, who is coming up to double team? So once again you're wrong.

Snafu,

I was just as surprised as you when I saw it. The center acts alone in a 2-3, almost like a 2-2-1. I believe billy_g asked seble and he confirmed it.

Posted by l80r20 on 3/7/2017 7:53:00 PM (view original):

Posted by thewizard17 on 3/7/2017 7:36:00 PM (view original):
Spud, do you know how a fullcourt press works? It never said anything about being a man to man fullcourt press. You don't know where the ball is on the court and even if it is a man to man press, who is coming up to double team? So once again you're wrong.

Real life is not what I'm talking about. HD is.

I found one of Coach Spud's ID's

Posted by CoachSpud on 3/7/2017 7:56:00 PM (view original):

Posted by thewizard17 on 3/7/2017 7:36:00 PM (view original):
Spud, do you know how a fullcourt press works? It never said anything about being a man to man fullcourt press. You don't know where the ball is on the court and even if it is a man to man press, who is coming up to double team? So once again you're wrong.

Real life is not what I'm talking about. HD is.

owned.

An imposter. What can't I find him?