Has anybody EVER played 1-3-1 in the NBA?

[nova91]

There are several articles online mentioning Hubie Brown's use of the 1-3-1 zone when he was the coach of the Knicks in the '80s. There are also several videos with Hubie Brown instructing on how to beat any zone, including the 1-3-1. If you want evidence of the use of the 1-3-1 in recent history you're probably not going to find it since most people outside of coaches don't have tape of teams defensive sets and if they do it's not as thorough.

[2K Labs]

Quote: Originally Posted by nova91

There are several articles online mentioning Hubie Brown's use of the 1-3-1 zone when he was the coach of the Knicks in the '80s. There are also several videos with Hubie Brown instructing on how to beat any zone, including the 1-3-1. If you want evidence of the use of the 1-3-1 in recent history you're probably not going to find it since most people outside of coaches don't have tape of teams defensive sets and if they do it's not as thorough.

Link?

You do know that zone was illegal in the NBA until 2001, right? The only thing I can find is a set of instructional DVD's marketed toward high school coaches...nothing at all relating to the NBA game.

[CUTigers2324]

Quote: Originally Posted by 2K Labs

Link? You do know that zone was illegal in the NBA until 2001, right? The only thing I can find is a set of instructional DVD's marketed toward high school coaches...nothing at all relating to the NBA game.

Lmao I tried to tell everyone that on like page 2, but, no apparently the Riley Lakers regularly ran the 1-3-1 (they ran man, but with a LOT of bump and run).

[nova91]

While it was technically illegal there were teams that regularly used "legal" versions of zone defense as this article states http://www.apbr.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2998, it makes one mention of Browns use of a 1-3-1 trap style zone, it doesn't go in depth about it though. There were a few more articles about Browns defensive concepts, but I can't find the links in my browser history. There are a lot of articles about how teams would use a zone style defense while not using a zone defense.

[2K Labs]

Quote: Originally Posted by CUTigers2324

Lmao I tried to tell everyone that on like page 2, but, no apparently the Riley Lakers regularly ran the 1-3-1 (they ran man, but with a LOT of bump and run).

There is some understandable confusion there though: sometimes in the 80's the half-court trap was referred to as the 1-3-1 zone trap (because it was based off the HS/College 1-3-1 Press)...but it was just the standard half-court trap.

[nova91]

Quote: Originally Posted by CUTigers2324

Lmao I tried to tell everyone that on like page 2, but, no apparently the Riley Lakers regularly ran the 1-3-1 (they ran man, but with a LOT of bump and run).

Article from 1989 alleging Rileys use of the 1-3-1
http://news.google.com/newspapers?ni...g=7076,1186572

Another article alleging rileys use of the 1-3-1 in 1982
http://www.csmonitor.com/1982/1013/101335.html

[2K Labs]

Quote: Originally Posted by nova91

While it was technically illegal there were teams that regularly used "legal" versions of zone defense as this article states http://www.apbr.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2998, it makes one mention of Browns use of a 1-3-1 trap style zone, it doesn't go in depth about it though. There were a few more articles about Browns defensive concepts, but I can't find the links in my browser history. There are a lot of articles about how teams would use a zone style defense while not using a zone defense.

Really good read. This was a time when the rules were quite a bit different, and pretty vague. The 1-3-1, as we see it in 2K, is not the same as they're talking about here. This is essentially the half-court trap...without the aggressive double team, it's immediately an illegal defense call. The zone portion just refers to the rotation of the offball defenders.

Now here's an interesting question: if we can find an article from 30 years ago...why can't we find anything from the last decade (when it's both legal and more highly reported)?

[2K Labs]

Quote: Originally Posted by nova91

Article from 1989 alleging Rileys use of the 1-3-1 http://news.google.com/newspapers?ni...g=7076,1186572 Another article alleging rileys use of the 1-3-1 in 1982 http://www.csmonitor.com/1982/1013/101335.html

More good articles...but again, they're all referring to a half-court trap, not a 1-3-1 zone as we see in 2K.

And again, if we can find a vague reference to a team being accused of using 1-3-1 thirty years ago...why in the world can't we find a single mention of it in the current game, especially considering the hugely increased media coverage?