DEFENDING THE PRINCETON OFFENSE

In 1996, UCLA, who was the defending national champion, was a heavy favorite in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against an upstart Princeton team that ran an offense incorporating many difficult-to-defend offensive principles.  What followed was a shocker as Princeton defeated UCLA with an offense for which UCLA had no answers.

In the aftermath of that game, coaches all across the United States wanted to know more about the system that had defeated a seemingly top-notch team.  Because of the spread of the Princeton Offense and its success at many different levels of basketball, many coaches are looking for ways to defend this offense.

This article will cover how to defend the Princeton Offense using man-to-man defense.  Most teams will play man-to-man defense against the Princeton Offense because that is the base defense and it allows for better coverage of backdoors and the three-point shot.  This article will not cover how to defend the Princeton Offense using a zone defense.

Adjustments to Man-to-Man Defensive Principles

Most teams like to play overplay denial one pass away while other teams like to play on-the-line/up-the-line.  However, both of these approaches can lead to the defense being beaten on backdoors.  To remedy this, the first adjustment to make is to have the defensive players one pass away play between their man and the basket (Diagram 1).  Defense more than one pass away does not change.

Diagram 1

The second adjustment we want to make is how we play the post.  There are times when the Princeton Offense plays with a high post.  In Diagram 2, the defense is shown when the offense is in a 2-3 high alignment.  What we want is for the center's defender to play this one from behind when the ball is above the top of the three point line extended.  This will force the center to catch outside of the lane.

Diagram 2

When the ball is passed from the guards to the forwards at the wing, we then get into a denial position.  The center can either stay in the high post area or move to the ball-side low post.  In Diagram 3, the center stays in the high post and X5 moves into a three-quarters denial taking the low side.

Diagram 4 shows the center going to the low post.  When this happens, we have the same move as in Diagram 3, but we want X5 to stay in front of the center and play a high three-quarters denial.

Diagram 3

Diagram 4

On the guard-to-forward pass, we never want the ball to be caught at the wing.  The reason is that the post entry becomes easier if the center is able to post up between the ball and the basket.  To prevent this, we work to get their forwards to catch the ball above the free throw line-extended to prevent this (Diagram 5).

Diagram 5

What Else to Cover

When getting ready to play a team that runs the Princeton Offense, you should do most of your work from shell defense.  The type of shell drill to work on is the front-to-cutter so that your players can prepare for basket cuts as well as perimeter fill and replace.

In your breakdown drills, you should also cover post splits, UCLA cuts, Hawk cuts, and v-cuts so that your players are ready for these maneuvers.  Also, in having watched Louisville run their version of the Princeton Offense, you will also need to work on side and middle ball screens so that your players can be ready to face them.

RETURN TO MEMBERSHIP AREA

© 2010-2017 Alan Peel Enterprises