Denial

Emporia State’s Point Zone

By Matt Corkery
Women’s Associate Head Basketball Coach,
Emporia State University

The Point Zone is an effective half-court defense that is relatively simple to teach while offering the
benefits of more complicated match-up zone defenses. I think it is important to mention right off the bat
that we are not a zone team at Emporia State. We like to press and play pressure man to man defense in
the half-court. We feel like the “Point Zone” is a good change of pace that fits our personnel. We have a
tall shot blocker at the center position who really makes this zone work for us. I believe you must be big
at that spot for this zone to be effective. Most of the information provided in this article is based on the
Point Zone run by former North Carolina coach Dean Smith.

The “Three P’s” of the Point Zone

In teaching this zone to our players we begin with the “Three P’s”:
Point, Partner, and Paint. You should begin teaching this zone by using
only four defensive players, 1-4. We will talk about the 5’s
responsibilities later. Guard the basketball using man to man principles.
At Emporia State this means influencing the ball to the sideline when it
is above free throw line extended or to the baseline if it is below free
throw line extended. We pick up the basketball or “Point” the ball on
the three point line and not beyond. We don’t want to extend the
defense too far and create gaps that the offense may be able to take
advantage of, but we still want to take away three point opportunities.
When a defensive player is guarding the ball, we make them call Diagram 1.
“Point” loud enough for all of their teammates to hear. When the X1 & X4 are partners
“point” is called, the defense adjusts X2 & X3 are partners
accordingly. The four defensive
players work together using the
“partner” system (Diagram 1). The
partner rule is this; when my partner
“points” the ball, I’m in the “paint,” or
protecting the basket. You must start
with the “Three P’s” in teaching the
Point Zone.

“T-Principle”
Diagram 2.
X3 & X2 are wingmen for X1
The “T-Principle” is the next step in (T-Principle)
teaching the zone. This principle
involves the proper spacing of the “Wingmen” in relationship to the basketball. When the “point” is
called by the player guarding the basketball, the player to her right and the player to her left are her
“wingmen” (2). X2 and X3 are wingmen for X1, X4 and X1 are wingmen for X3, and so on (3). Proper
spacing for a wingman is at a 45-degree angle off the ball and approximately 12 feet from your
teammate. Wingmen play in an open stance and see the ball at all times. Players must develop a feel for
the proper spacing in relationship to the basketball. The “Wingman Rule” is this; I have the next pass in
my direction, unless it is over my head (skip pass). Most of the mistakes our players make in this zone
come from being too concerned with where an offensive player is rather than putting themselves in the
proper spacing according to the

position of the ball. Be more concerned about your POSITION than PLAYERS! If you are in the proper
position defensively by following the “Partner Rule” and the “T-Principle,” you don’t have to be
concerned with the spacing of the offense. X1 through X4 follow the same rules and are
interchangeable.

The Center

Teaching the center position is very, very simple. They have one rule,
stay on the line between the ball and the basket. As simple as it sounds,
you would be surprised how many players mess this up! The center
often times becomes too concerned with offensive players posting up.
The center should face the ball with her hands up at all times. She is
never in a “deny” or “cover-out” position. She protects the lane with
her hands. We want her moving on an arc about 6 feet from the basket
(4). If there is an offensive player in front of her, we want her to move
them away from the basket with one point of contact (forearm). Your
center must have an “enforcer” mentality. The paint belongs to her and Diagram 3. X1 & X 4 are
she is going to protect it by playing physical and blocking shots. We wingmen for X3
want our center to step up and challenge every dribble penetration into the lane. We do not “seal” on
penetration and give up the pitch out three point shot, rather we force the penetrator to score over our
center. We believe the mid-range game of most players is a weakness and just about everybody we face
can hit the three consistently. We do not want to give up any “penetrate and pitch” or “inside out” threes
against our zone.

“Betty” Help

“Betty” baseline and “Sally” sideline are the two most reliable
defensive players you have on your squad. They will never let you
down! When the basketball is near the corner against the “Point Zone”
we call it a “low” point. In this situation X4 gets her help from “Betty”
baseline and not a teammate. “Betty” is our wingman so X2 can stay at
the basket (5). Another point to make in reference to this diagram is the
positioning of X3. When the ball is in the corner, X3 should be on a
direct line between the ball and the elbow and X1 is anticipating the
skip pass. When there is a “high” point on the wing, a “wingman” Diagram 4. X5 between ball &
should fill on the baseline (6). If there is enough spacing for an baseline
offensive player to be in the corner or the short corner, then X4 should fill the baseline “wingman” spot
and X2 covers the basket. Remember, X1 through X4 are interchangeable. Any of them could end up
“pointing” the basketball on any spot on the floor.
Diagram 5. "Low" Point - X2 stays at basket Diagram 6. “High” Point - X4 fills baseline

“Jump” the Dribble Entry

In coaching the Point Zone you need to develop a philosophy of how

you want to guard the dribble entry or dribble drag. This type of dribble
is a non-penetrating dribble used in place of a pass. You can do two
things in the Point versus this type of dribble. One is to stay on the
basketball and rotate your entire zone accordingly and the second is to
exchange the dribbler with a wingman, which is what we do at Emporia
State. We “jump” the dribble entry in a very aggressive fashion (7). As
X3 sees the dribble coming at her she attacks it in a “run and jump”
fashion. She closes out the dribbler with her hands up and forces the
ball handler to stop or at least bounce the dribble outside toward the Diagram 7. Exchange Point
sideline. If the ball is at the top, this exchange should occur about lane on “Jump” on dribble entry
line extended. X3 is now “pointing” the basketball and the zone adjusts
accordingly. X1 recovers to a wingman position for X3.

Trap Baseline Penetration

As mentioned earlier, you should guard the basketball using man to

man principles. We want to keep penetration out of the middle of the
floor and force it to the sideline or baseline. If the ball is on a “high”
point on the wing and the dribbler attacks the baseline, we trap the
dribbler with our wingman (8). If we have a “low” point then we use
“Betty” to help us trap on the baseline, not a teammate.
Diagram 8. Trap Baseline
Skip Passes Penetration

I believe the Point Zone does a great

job guarding the skip pass. The
“Wingman Rule” is to “take the next
pass in my direction unless it is over
my head.” So if that pass is over my
head, that’s a skip pass and it is not
my responsibility! Weakside
defenders take the skip pass and
should be anticipating them. We often
have players pick off skips and turn
them into layups. A good point to Diagram 9. Skip Pass
mention here (no pun intended) is that all of the teaching points you use to coach your zone defenses
apply to the Point Zone. Things like keeping your hands up at all times,
moving when the ball is in the air, communicating with your
teammates and playing through “scramble” situations are some
examples. As we all know, simply playing hard makes up for a
multitude of errors.

Post Entries

When the ball goes inside against our zone, we like that matchup. We Diagram 10. High Post Entry
play the low post and high post 1 on 1 with no double teams. X1 “Tighten” on Blocks
through X4 need to learn how to position themselves when the ball
goes inside. On a high post entry, X5 steps up to challenge, X4 and X3
“tighten up” on the blocks and X2 and X1 drop to ball level and
anticipate the pass out. The number one mistake players make on the
post entry is to turn their back on the pitch out man. When the ball is
entered to the low or high post, players should keep an open stance and
get “butt to baseline” and be ready for the pass back out (11). We do
not want to give up any “inside out” three’s!

2 Guard vs. 1 Guard Front

If you decide to run the Point Zone one decision you need to make is Diagram 11. X4 opens up
the initial set for the defense. You can run it from a 2-3 or a 1-3-1 “Butt to Baseline”
initial alignment. Dean Smith ran the point from a 2 guard front
because he wanted initial protection on the blocks when the ball was at
the top. At Emporia State we like the 1-3-1 set unless the ball is out of
bounds under the basket, then we go 2-3. No matter which you choose,
as soon as the first “point” is called the defense is the same. Another
important question is how to properly use your personnel. X1 is
typically your smallest guard and someone who can put pressure on the
basketball. X2 also needs to be able to put good pressure on the ball.
X3 needs to be a very good rebounder and a smart player. X4 needs to
be a smart player who can cover lots of real estate. X5 needs to be BIG
and have the ability to block shots and control the boards. Our initial
alignment is also dictated by our transition offense. We want to keep
Diagram 12. Corner Shot
players close to their lanes so we can get out quickly and run the break.

Rebounding

I wish I could tell you that the Point was different than any other zone
in America in that it was actually GOOD for rebounding. It’s not. It’s
just like any other zone defense in that rebounding can be a weakness.
One positive is that you keep your center close to the basket at all
times, but if teams flood the backside board there can be some
problems! In setting up your block out assignments, consider that
perimeter shots will come from three spots; corner (12), wing (13) and
top (14). These diagrams show the assignments we teach our players at
Emporia State. However in rebounding, there is nothing more Diagram 13. Wing Shot
important than aggressive players who pursue the basketball!

The Last “Point”

The Point Zone we run at Emporia State is entirely our own. We have taken the principles of Dean
Smith, Roy Williams and other great coaches and tweaked them to fit our philosophy and personnel.
One of the great things about this zone is its adaptability. You can make it more aggressive or less
aggressive, add trapping situations, add post doubles, even turn it into a “junk” defense i.e. the “Point
and One.” The possibilities are endless with a little imagination. There are other details that I don’t have
time to cover in this article that are important to running the Point effectively. Please feel free to contact
me if you have any questions about the defense. Good luck to you and your team this upcoming season.

About the author

Matt Corkey

Matt Corkery is in his third season as the Associate Head Women’s Basketball Coach at Emporia State
University. The Lady Hornet program has been ranked as high as #2 in the nation in Division II this
season. For more information on this subject, contact Coach Corkery at
[email protected]