How to Beat a 1-3-1 Full-Court Press

The 1-3-1 full-court press is a defensive tactic employed by teams who either want to capitalize on recently acquired momentum or are looking to establish some with a forced turnover. The essence of the defense is creating a trap to force the offensive player to either throw a bad pass, hold the ball in the backcourt too long, or waste a timeout. However, all full-court presses require the defense to take a risk, and if your team knows how to position players properly, you can make the defense pay.

Instructions

    • 1

      Recognize the coverage. Upon inbounding the ball, the defense will be in a certain formation that will tell you what their intentions are. Unlike football, where defenses can disguise their coverages, a team intending to use the 1-3-1 full-court press in basketball will be obvious. The 1-3-1 press will have one man guarding the player inbounding the ball, with three other defenders about 25 to 35 feet away, waiting to trap the player who catches the pass.

    • 2

      Get into the proper positions. To beat the press, there should be one offensive player the middle who will receive the pass, with two others flanking him near the sidelines. The last offensive player, aside from the player putting the ball inbounds, will be running down the court as an outlet pass option.

    • 3

      Pass the ball inbounds, and be sure to do so within the five-second time limit. Again, the teammate in the middle should be the one catching the ball, and he should bait the defenders in to trap him. If a player is double-teamed, that means that someone is open. The soon-to-be trapped player should throw the ball to one of the two flankers who at this point are running down the sidelines. It's important to get the pass off before the two defenders are able to converge completely, but also after they have already committed to the double-team.

    • 4

      Complete the fast break. At this point, the number of players between the ball and the basket is in your favor, as you have now created a 3-on-1 transition scoring opportunity. If you have the lead late in the game, you may also want to consider holding back a bit and take time to set up your half-court offense if you want to wind down the clock. Either way, you've now beaten the 1-3-1 full-court press and are in control.