The 1-1-3 Amoeba

Diagram 9: Here is the home position for the Amoeba Defense. X1 will pick up
the ball as it reaches mid-court and attempt to force the dribbler to one
side. The object is to keep the ball on that side and not let it be reversed. It
forces the offense to contract into a small area of the floor, where they can be
exploited.
X2 begins at the high post and refuses to allow an entry pass there. X3 and
X4 cover the wing spots on their side, while X5 protects the basket like a
goaltender.

Diagram 10: The point has chosen his entry side (about 80% of the time, it will
be the offenses right side). X2 and X3 jump the ball and double-team the
wing player. X5 moves over to prevent a pass to the low post. X4 replaces X5,
while X1 drops down to prevent a pass to the high post. Again, the differences
in these defenses are subtle.

Diagram 11: X2 and X3 are shown double-teaming the ball. X5 is fronting the
low post, with X4 defending from behind. X1 has the high post covered. In
order for the ball to get to either post, the wing player has to pass over a
double-team and into tight coverage. If he tries this, chances are good the
defense can get a steal and have an immediate numbers advantage (frequently
3 on 1). The only logical pass for the wing player is away from the basket and
back to the point. The only pass that can be made across the court to the
opposite wing is a lob pass (having to go over three defenders). If the pass is
successful, the defense will have ample time to adjust.

Diagram 12: The ball has been passed from the wing to the corner. The
defense has very little adjusting to do here. X5 moves out on the ball playing
man-to-man. X3 replaces X5 at the low post. X4 cheats a little to the ball
side. X1 drops down a little, while still being able to prevent a pass to the high
post. X2 now plays the passing lane against a return pass to the wing. Most of
the time X5 will be several inches taller than the corner man, so no double
team is needed. However, some teams will choose to trap in the corner with X3
and X5. In that case, X4 must slide over to guard the low post in a
position. X1 must continue to prevent the pass to the high post, but he can
slide down farther to also provide a bit of support inside. X2 cuts off the
passing lane at the wing.

Diagram 13: The corner has attempted to lob the ball to the other side. There
is a good chance this pass will sail off target and produce a turnover. The
defense responds to this cross-court lob thusly: X4 slides out to the ball; X3
fronts the low post; X5 slides behind the low post; X1 moves out to the
passing lane at the wing; and X2 slides over to cover the high post.

Diagram 14: No matter how hard this defense tries to prevent a pass to the
high post, it will eventually occur. Here, the wing player has lobbed the ball to
the high post at the free throw line. X1 must get up on the player and be as
tall as he can. X2 must hurry over to help his teammate double up on the
taller player. X5 must whip around the low post and front him. X3 and X4 will
slide in the direction of the pass trying to get to the passing lanes. It is
important to prevent the high post from locating an open low post player or
from quickly reversing the ball to the opposite side.

Diagram 15: Now, the defense is back into emergency mode. The high-low
pass has been made by the offense and placed the defense in check for this
possession. The defense must without delay form a triple team on the
ball. X5 and X3 quickly drop to the block with X2 coming as quickly as he
can. X1 and X4 move into the lane as well; hopefully, the low post player will
be shut off and be forced to pass the ball back outside. If the all-out scramble
doesnt produce the triple team quickly enough, its check-mate.

Diagram 16: The offense is now in a two-guard front. The defense responds by
changing to a 2-1-2 look to match the offense. Most of the two-guard
offensive alignments will try to pepper the post with a pass and have the two
guards make some form of cut. For the Amoeba defense, the goal is to harass
the high post when the ball is entered from the top. X1, X2, and X5 all
converge on the high post forming a triple team. X3 and X4 cover the corners
from an inside-out strategy. If one of the offensive players cuts to the basket,
X3 and X4 should have enough leverage to prevent the pass.
Some Pointers
Have the defensive signal caller yell out a term that gives the offense the
impression that they are facing a straight zone. For instance, 2-3 can be
called with the players moving into the 2-3 home position. Each player should
raise his arms, giving the offense the impression that you are playing a
straight 2-3 zone. If for some reason, the offense calls your bluff and initiates
their man-to-man offense, the defense can actually stay in the home position
and play 2-3 zone until the offense finally realizes their stupidity. Then after
the offense changes to their zone attack, the defense can move to the matchup. It leaves the offense with very little time on the shot clock.
Basically, every time the ball is moved, the players must move toward the ball
(This is called jumping to the ball).
When the offense attempts to screen the match-up zone, it should be of no
consequence, since the defense will simply switch without worrying about
getting beat on the pick and roll (there are zone defenders down low).

The handling of cutters is the most frequent problem. The defender must stay
with a cutter until he can bump (hand off responsibility) the cutter to a
teammate.
Note: A group of coaches took the match-up one step further in the late
1960s. They decided to apply this defense full-court, using a man-to-man
approach prior to the ball being in-bounded; a 2-2-1 zone while the ball stayed
on the side, and a 1-2-1-1 or 1-3-1 zone if the ball made its way to the middle
of the floor. Rick Pitino has used this defense at Boston U, Providence,
the New York Knicks, Kentucky, the Boston Celtics, and now at Louisville. In
his college years, on average his teams have forced 20-25 turnovers a game
with double-digit steals. A separate tutorial will be given on that defense at a
later date.
How To Defeat The Match-up Zone
1.Screen a player who has to follow a cutter and then get the ball to the cutter.
2.Have an outside shooter cut to the basket, then set a back screen on his
assigned defender and have the player cut back outside for an open jumper.
3.Penetrate the seams in the zone and then skip pass to the away-side
wing. This usually results in wide open three-point shots.
4.Have a player set a baseline screen and cut back to the ball (what is called a
kick flash).
5.Continually move players into the areas where defensive players have to
decide when to bump the player to defensive teammates. Even the best
match-up zone defenses will be late with some of their bumps.
6.Get the ball into the scoring zone before the defense has time to set up. If
an opponent only plays competent defensive basketball out of any type of
zone, dont give them the opportunity to set that defense into action. Beat
them down the floor by continually running the fast break and early offense.
Vanderbilt Vs. South Carolina
Annually, fans at Memorial Gymnasium witness a rough, physical game when
these two teams meet. The talent level has been quite even as of late, and
that makes for exciting games.
The Gamecocks are still trying to find their way this season; who does that
remind us of?
What can the statistics tell us about our up-and-down Commodores so far?
Field Goal Percentage: The Commodores are hitting shots at a 45% clip so far
not great but not bad either. Counting just two-point attempts, the team is
connecting on 48%, which needs a little improvement. Several open crip shots
have been missed, as players have been a little hesitant about attacking the
goal and taking the best percentage shot of allthe dunk.

Field Goal Percentage Defense: Opponents are hitting 43.4% from the field and
just 47.5% from two-point land. These numbers are nothing to set the woods
on fire, but they are more than adequate. There is a small advantage here.
19-09: The Black and Gold are taking an average of 20 three-point shots per
game and hitting eight for 40%. That is quite good. Opponents are taking 18
of these shots each game and hitting at 36%, which is average. There is a
small advantage here.
Charity Stripe: There is need for improvement here. Vandy only attempts 18
free throws a game and makes just under 70%. Besides getting a chance to
score unguarded, drawing fouls also forces the opponents to go deeper into
their bench. At 70% accuracy, that means a two-shot foul averages 1.4 points
per possession and a one-and-one opportunity averages about 1.2 points per
possession. This makes foul shooting a much better option than field goal
shooting.
Commodore opponents are getting to the line just 16 times a game, which is
excellent. There is a small advantage here.
Rebounding: For the season, the Commodores have picked up just three more
boards than their opponents after 14 games. However, if you look at
rebounding the way most coaches do, Vandy is faring a tad better than the
statistical dead heat. The Commodores have missed 25 more shots than their
opponents, meaning the opponents have had 25 more defensive rebounding
opportunities. Looking at it this way, The Gold Men are +2 per game (+28 in
14 games). While there is room for much improvement here with Skuchas,
Terrell, Carroll, Foster, and Byars all having the muscle and leaping ability to
dominate on the boards, there is a small advantage here.
Turnovers: Vanderbilts conservative offense and wealth of above-average
ball-handlers has definitely led to fewer turnovers than average. The
Commodores only commit 12 infractions per game. Better still, only six and a
half of these are opponent steals. Defensively, Vanderbilt forces 15 turnovers
per game with seven plus steals. These arent great numbers, but overall it
makes for another small advantage.
Putting it all together, Vanderbilt enjoys small advantages in each statistical
category. This leads to the appearance of winning ugly. Its hard to pinpoint
some aspect where the team is superior; they are just consistently above
average. Its why the Commodores are 2-1 in the SEC and 11-3 overall. The
team may not be flashy or exciting, but they plod through and win more than
they lose by enjoying a small advantage in all aspects of the game. Of course,
after playingFlorida, LSU, Tennessee, and surprising Ole Miss, the statistics
may tell a different story. Lets monitor these stats for the rest of the year.
Computer Predictions For Tuesday/Wednesday
Tuesday

Georgia 67 Kentucky 64
Wednesday
Florida 118 Savannah State 62
Memphis 85 Tennessee 75
L S U 74 Mississippi State 69
Alabama 71 Arkansas 68
Vanderbilt 65 South Carolina 60