University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC Defensive System a Numbers Game
December 5, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 5, 2005
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The following story originally ran in the January 2005 issue of the magazine.
By Adam Lucas
As the ball ripples through the net after another North Carolina basket, most eyes in the arena are fixed on the player who just made the shot.
Not on the court. For the five Tar Heels on the floor at that moment, the next defensive possession is just beginning, and they immediately turn their eyes to midcourt, where they expect to see point guard Raymond Felton signaling the defense.
That's the start of Carolina's halfcourt defense, an area of the game that has received significant attention since the start of the 2004-05 season. It's been well-documented that Roy Williams largely prefers man-to-man defense instead of zone, a trait he inherited from Dean Smith. But what kind of man-to-man defense are the Tar Heels playing? It's not always the same.
Carolina's defensive calls are built on a numbering system popularized by--no surprise here--Smith. The second digit is the easiest to understand, as it simply represents the point on the court where the defense begins applying pressure. Anything ending in the number 4, for example, is a full-court defense. Anything ending in the number 2 is the focus of this piece--a half-court defense. Between those two would be any defense ending in 3, which means three-quarter court pressure. You'll rarely, if ever, see the Heels playing a defense that ends in 1, as that's just token quarter-court pressure and not the type of defense Roy Williams prefers.
But what does the first digit mean? Take a look at the three primary half-court defenses employed by the Tar Heels:
22 Defense--The Bread-and-Butter
If you're ever unsure what defense Carolina is playing, a safe bet is 22. Anything that begins with the number 2 is straight man-to-man pressure. So, 22 defense means the Heels pick up the opponent at midcourt in their base man-to-man (24 would be full-court man-to-man pressure, 23 would be three-quarter man-to-man pressure, etc.). There is no planned trapping in this defense.
"22 is our bread-and-butter," Sean May says. "If we have a choice, that's what we want to play. It's hard man-to-man pressure and everyone has to get into their man with some intensity."
In this defense, it's a luxury to have a shot-blocker in the back of the defense to thwart dribble penetration. But it's an absolute necessity to have a point guard capable of applying pressure to the offensive point guard. That's where all of Carolina's half-court defenses begin, and it's an area where Raymond Felton has improved significantly over last season. He was the Heels' best on-the-ball defender for much of his sophomore campaign, but the energy he's brought to the court during the first month of this season has translated into much stickier defense.
Too often last year, opponents zipped by the UNC guards and were able to create scoring opportunities in the lane. This year, with Felton hawking them as soon as they cross the midcourt stripe, the dribble penetration has been dramatically reduced.
"It boils down to the fact that you have to be able to stop the basketball," Williams says. "Raymond is doing a much better job than he was last year. When that happens, we can pressure and help and do a lot of things. You can pressure more if you control the ball."
That type of pressure isn't always an easy adjustment for college freshmen, who have spent most of their high school careers conserving energy on defense so they won't wilt on offense.
Carolina's rookie point guard, Quentin Thomas, has the perfect build to be a solid defensive point guard, as his long arms and wiry frame reminiscent of Derrick Phelps give him an advantage. But even if a player has every physical gift possible, he still has to understand the effort involved in playing the type of defense Williams requires.
"Learning the plays isn't that tough," Thomas says. "But the energy level is tough. In high school you could take plays off. Here, you have to play every play like it's the last play. In high school you were playing mediocre players. But every team we play now has good players and everybody on the court at all times is good."
32 Defense--Trap the Dribble
If you're paying attention, you know the "2" in 32 means it's a halfcourt defense. But what does the 3 mean?
It's a close relative to the old Dean Smith "Scramble." To an offensive point guard coming up the court, 32 looks like a simple straight man-to-man. But Carolina's defenders are keying on his dribble, and as soon as he takes his first dribble across the midcourt line, a trap comes from the nearest defender. That puts the opposing point guard in the middle of a double-team between the point guard (usually Felton) and the closest defender near center court. The perils are obvious--he can't go backward, because it would be a backcourt violation. He can't go forward, because ideally the trap has him pinned in.
For reasons scientists will probably never understand, the first reaction of almost every point guard in the world when they see an impending trap is to pick up their dribble. That's a bad move, because it immediately decreases their options. Since the trap remains until he throws out of the double-team, the idea is to create a five-second call or a deflection.
While two defensive players are forming the trap, the remaining three defenders gain new responsibilities. Two players become "interceptors"--they're in line to intercept the desperation pass made by the offensive player being trapped--while the third is either a "flyer" or a "goaltender." If the ball is being trapped below the foul line in the corner, the final defender is a flyer, because he's trying to remain alert in case he has to fly across the court and defend a cross-court pass. If the ball is being trapped above the free throw line, however, the final player is a goaltender. He acts exactly like the term sounds. If an offensive player takes advantage of the numbers advantage and zips to the basket, the goaltender's responsibility is to tend the goal and not allow any layups.
The benefit to the 32 defense over the 42 defense is simple: it's always going to happen. The opposing point guard is always going to dribble, which will always key the double-team. As we'll see in the next section, the key for the trap in 42 can be a little more complicated.
42 Defense--Trap the Pass
The basic principles of the 32 and 42 defenses are very similar, but they're initiated differently. 42, of course, ends with a 2, which means it's a half-court defense. The "4" means Carolina wants to trap the first pass after the dribbler crosses midcourt. It all hinges on the opposing dribbler. If he dribbles aimlessly for several seconds, the trap will take longer to begin. But if he fires a pass as soon as he crosses midcourt, the trap will be immediate.
Once the trap comes, the defense looks identical to 32, with two interceptors and a goaltender or flyer (again, depending on the position of the ball when it's trapped).
Roy Williams teaches an overplaying style of defense intended to make it difficult for the offense to complete passes. For that reason, it can sometimes be hard for the Heels to initiate their 42 defense--the trap never comes if a pass isn't completed.
"In 42, you're already denying the wings and it's tough for the offense to make a pass," May says. "But in 32, you're able to come from the back side and you can see it developing more. You know the trap is going to be there in 32."
A good double-team is tight, with little daylight between the two defenders, and is made up of spidery players with waving arms. That's why, in Jackie Manuel and Jawad Williams, the Tar Heels have two players built for wreaking havoc with traps.
"With my long arms, it's kind of hard for the offense to throw out of a trap," Manuel says.
Despite the personnel advantages, the Heels didn't utilize many traps last year. The reasoning was simple: they simply weren't very proficient at the 32 and 42 defenses. A weak trap is an invitation for opposing guards to create dribble penetration, and if a trap is split, the offense has the equivalent of a hockey power play, as they've got more players in scoring position than the defense. If the point guard has a steady hand and stays level-headed, he can create easy baskets after breaking a trap.
This year, however, those chances have dropped dramatically.
"We've been trying hard not to let people split us," David Noel says. "We've been working on our traps a lot and everybody has been creating turnovers. We've used it a whole lot more this year because it's working. When we get a steal off it, we want to come right back to it."
Therein lies the simple truth of the 32 and 42 defenses: they're designed to rattle the opposition, to force the tempo and create Tar Heel transition opportunities. Before the opponent has time to compose themselves, the Heels have run off a snappy 8-0 run and seized control of the momentum. That's what happened early in the season, as the Heels scored 90-plus points in three straight games (94 against Tennessee, 106 against Iowa, and 97 against Southern Cal) for the first time in three years. That same stretch was part of a streak of four consecutive 85-plus point games, the first time that's happened since the 1996-97 campaign.
Many fans assume a high-scoring team is automatically very proficient offensively. But in Carolina's case, the lofty scoring outputs were at least equally a measure of their defensive improvement, as turnovers were creating simple scoring chances and leading to more points.
That early season surprise, however, is likely to dissipate as conference opponents get the opportunity to break down game film and have a chance to practice against the traps.
"We didn't do a lot of it last year because we didn't do it very well," Roy Williams says. "When you do it less frequently, that makes it more of a surprise and than in itself makes it more valuable and more effective."
The Point Zone
Since the Heels were trapping less last season, they played more point zone than Williams might have liked. That defense has the opposite effect from 32 and 42--it tends to slow a game down rather than speed it up.
"Defensively, you can't be as aggressive in the point zone," May says. "It makes the offense use more time."
The point zone can initially appear to be a simple 2-3 or 1-3-1. But the similarities end when the dribbler approaches the defense. In the point zone, the dribbler is always covered man-to-man. It's easy to tell who is guarding the ball--you'll see a defender point at the ball-handler and yell, "Point! Point!"
He's not just making noise. The audible and visual cues are essential to the defense. Picture a defense aligned in a 2-3 zone setup. For the sake of example, let's say Raymond Felton is the "1," situated on the top right of the defense. Melvin Scott is the "2" and is next to Felton on the top left. Jackie Manuel is the "3" on the bottom right, Jawad Williams is the "4" in the middle, and Rashad McCants is the "5" on the bottom left.
The center, in this case Williams, has the simplest role: he has to stay between the ball and the basket. In the above scenario, Felton and McCants would be partners, and Scott and Manuel would be partners. Each partner must be aware at all times of what the other is doing. If one of them is "pointing" the ball (guarding it man-to-man and shouting "point") the other has the responsibility to move into the lane and guard the basket. So if Felton is pointing the ball, McCants moves into the lane. That's why the audible and visual cues are essential--the player guarding the dribbler has to let his partner know what's happening.
If Felton is guarding the ball, that means Scott and Manuel--the other pair of partners--should each locate a player one pass away from the ball and deny him. The dribbler's life has now gotten very difficult, as he's being guarded man-to-man and the two closest teammates to him are being denied the ball by the defense.
For the defense, communication is essential. Every player on the court has to understand what the other four are doing. If they don't, breakdowns happen quickly.
On paper, it sounds extraordinarily complicated. For a freshman like Marvin Williams, who played only a simple 2-3 zone in high school, it can be daunting.
"It's taken me a little while to understand the point zone," he says. "You have to watch it in practice, and you always have to know who your partner is."
Felton the Key
It doesn't matter what defense the Tar Heels are in, whether they're causing pandemonium with 32 or 42 or slowing down the tempo and daring a team to shoot jumpers against the point zone. In every defense in the playbook, the key is the point guard.
He's not just the quarterback of the offense, he's also the quarterback of the defense. His teammate's eyes watch him call the defense, and then they watch him position himself out front of the defense. If he's intense, they're intense. If he's relaxed, they're relaxed.
"The point guard is the biggest factor in any of our defenses," May says. "In 22 he initiates how aggressive it's going to be. If you're in the back and see Ray is playing soft, the rest of the defense is going to be soft. If he's up in his man, that makes us more aggressive. It's the same in 32 and 42. If he's attacking his man as he is coming at him, that makes our traps that much more aggressive."
And that much more effective. No matter what number they are.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. He is the coauthor of the official book of the 2005 championship season, Led By Their Dreams, and his book on Roy Williams's first season at Carolina, Going Home Again, is now available in bookstores. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly or learn more about Going Home Again, click here.
