The 2-2-1 Zone Press and the 1-1-3 Match Up

Coach McKinnis' concept of defense is to force turnovers and create offense on the other end. The "22" is a 2-1-2 full court zone press and is a defensive cornerstone in his program. While doing this the opponent will become fatigued, leading to more success. Defensive principles are important and include: Ball pressure, containing the dribble, force the ball into trap areas and up the sidelines. McKinnis' 2-2-1 is based  scramble/recovery mode is based on closet man/closest ball. The first press illustrated by McKinnis is the 2-2-1 zone press. The first line of defense contains two guards and they apply pressure first. The two half court players have middle and deep coverage based on ball position. They are also used as interceptors when longer passes are thrown. The last player has the back line and protects the basket. McKinnis shares another zone match up attack, 13, that starts in a 1-1-3 alignment. Both defenses are tools to dictate tempo and speed up a game to the disadvantage of the opponents in many ways.

Not Avaliable in the Slam Manual