WARNING - Do Not Switch to the 1-3-1 Midseason

[SalukiFin]

One of only a handful of seniors (and one of only a handful of guys who saw the court a year ago) broke his elbow and is out for the year. My base defense of 2-3 only had a couple guys with proficiency, and with an extremely young roster, I punted on this year deciding to build for next year. Wanting to develop the 1-3-1, and since my players can't play the 2-3 any better, we went for the switch. Gave up 60 points in the paint hahaha. Hoping to see the boys improve as the year turns over if I can avoid getting fired!

[Wayne23]

It's VERY difficult to be successful if they haven't practiced a D starting on 10/2. Oh well, maybe it was a one game anomaly, or maybe you're screwed until next season. Good luck!

[CJacksonCowart]

The 1-3-1 in particular is a super high-risk, high-reward defense even if your guys DO know it. I got fired from a job because I tried to force-feed the 1-3-1 and we gave up easy buckets all day long. It's worth it in the long run if your players learn it ... but tread carefully!

[SalukiFin]

Oh I'm screwed until next season! And I may be following in your steps CJ! Only have two upperclassmen who have proficiencies in anything. Kind of experimenting with the group I have. We will see! Fingers crossed we can win enough to make the conference tourney then make a run to save my behind. I've got a tall, young forward with 9/10 athleticism who can play that baseline position well once he learns it!

[SalukiFin]

To part 2 this thread, what have some of y'all had success with as a defense to better defend 3 point shooting teams? I was running a 2-3 zone with a small ball lineup and playing okay D and rebounding well enough. The teams that really beat me though just shot lights out over it. The 1-3-1 experiment is only proving that it has to be your base defense installed over a year plus. At my next stop (after getting fired probably), what changeup could I use to defend shooters as a complement to the 2-3?

I don't like the 1-2-2 personally, because my C who is usually my best interior defender gets drawn out to the corner to often, and my guards typically aren't physical enough to defend the backside block after shifting. We thinking man to man? 3-2? Curious what y'all do on defense! Thanks!

[PointGuard]

I pray.

[Billdozer]

On defense I usually play a soft man-man defense most of the time and play a little zone. I prefer the 1-2-2 and sometimes 3-2, or 2-3 if the team already knows it. Zone defense appears to be somewhat high risk/high reward in terms of giving up three pointers.

[SalukiFin]

Hahaha I feel that PG. Not the biggest man to man fan Bill, but it may be the answer. It helps that every recruit comes in with a small bit of proficiency in it too though.

I wish you could assign which players played in which zones on this game. When in man, you can use the drop down to say who you want guarding their best player for instance. Trying it in zone, it feels like it'd be a good way/mechanic to move players to different positions defensively, but it doesn't have an effect for me. This could even be good for traps, if say your point guard (on offense) wouldn't make as good of a chaser at the top on D.