Basketball has tradeoffs. Extended defense trades turnovers and playing faster for surrendering layups. Play more physically and have more fouls called.
What are the pros and cons of multiple defenses?
Cons: Sometimes more is less.
1) Lack of focus on one defense can yield mediocrity. "Be good at what you do a lot." Don't be 'jack of all trades and master of none'.
2) Players may not know their assignments in multiple defenses.
3) Personnel suited to one style may not fit well with another.
4) Players may become confused as to what defense they're actually playing.
5) Player effectiveness varies between defenses. I never felt great playing the weakside wing in the 1-3-1, feeling overmatched as a rebounder.
6) Rebounding may suffer without individual assignments.
7) Requires more practice time to implement.
Pros: Different alignments may cause offensive confusion.
1) Opponents must prepare for multiple defenses.
2) Disguise defenses by aligning in one and shifting to another. For example, align in a 2-3 and switch to man-to-man on the first pass. The most extreme shifts occurred in Dale Brown's "Freak."
3) Shifting defenses may make offenses feel time pressure against shot clocks.
4) Zones can protect players in foul trouble, limit PnR effectiveness, and impact star players.
5) Designed plays for one defense may not work well against other defenses.
Find balance:
- Excel at base defense and one or two alternatives.
- Confirm with analytics your impression of defensive effectiveness.
- Scrimmage with your planned defenses to check being on the same page.
- When implementing new plans, be prepared to fail fast instead of failing permanently.
