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Happy Sunday and welcome to all the new subscribers from around the world!

ICYMI: Our 2024 Year-In-Review newsletter highlighting the most-viewed Film Rooms, Defensive Breakdowns, and Offensive Breakdowns of the year. Revisit the ideas and moments that resonated most with our coaching community over the past 12 months View the full newsletter HERE.

This Week at a Glance:

🔒 SG Plus Content: Joe Gallo - Extended Zone Press​

🎙Slappin' Glass Podcast - ICYMI: Top Episodes of 2024

🥇Best of the Week: Isolated Pin Downs & Princeton Point​

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Extended Zone Press

One of our favorite pieces of content in recent years has been our collaborations with Merrimack College Head Coach Joe Gallo, showcasing his renowned 2-3 Zone Defense, widely praised for limiting 3-point attempts and creating turnovers. Through our podcast conversation, video breakdown, and Film Room session {🔒}, Coach Gallo has generously shared insights into the slides, rotations, and rules that make the 2-3 Zone so effective.

We’re excited to expand our growing collection on Coach Gallo’s Zone by building on a conversation from our Film Room Session about extending the zone into a Delay Press. Today, we’ll explore the press’s alignment, objectives, and the unique slides and rotations that transition seamlessly from half-court defense to the extended zone press.

Alignment and Objective

In our Film Room session with Coach Gallo, he mentions that, at times, they'll extend their zone into the frontcourt to force the offense to operate against the zone with a shortened shot clock. Since that conversation, we’ve received several follow-up questions about which formation or alignment works best for pressing in the frontcourt before transitioning back into the 2-3 zone in the backcourt.

Coach Gallo opts to extend his zone into a 1-2-1-1 Zone Press with the primary objective of forcing the opponent into two ball reversals in the frontcourt before dropping back into the zone. In this alignment, the guard out front funnels the ball toward one side, flanked by both forwards along the sideline, while the remaining guard plays "centerfield" around halfcourt.

Forward Bumps

What’s effective about this press alignment is that Coach Gallo can carry over much, if not most, of their half-court slides and rotations into the press. While not every movement transfers perfectly, for the most part, the players don’t have to execute two separate zones—one in the frontcourt and one in the backcourt. This continuity simplifies execution and helps maintain defensive cohesion.

One of the key features of Coach Gallo's Zone are the forward bumps. On a ball reversal, the forward will stunt on the catch to prevent a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer, then quickly push back to recover through the passing lane to the corner. This buys time for the guard to make their "down and out" movement from the top over to the ball (shown below).

This guard-forward interaction also extends to their zone press. The forward uses the same foot and hand technique to stunt at the ball, effectively cutting off the sideline and steering the ball back toward the defensive guard or prompting a ball reversal.

Zooming In: As shown in the second clip, the forward arrives on the catch with their outside foot and hand up to discourage any pass or penetration up the sideline. The objective is to delay the offense, so the forward only stunts at the ball before dropping back to keep everything in front and encourage non-threatening ball reversals. However, to keep the opponent off balance, Coach Gallo can, and will, turn these stunts into a full-blown trap when the situation calls for it.

While the goal is to run time off the possession, this doesn't mean the press is completely passive. Just as the forward’s stunts can create turnovers in the half court by making opponents think the forward is committing to the ball—thereby opening up an extra pass (see below)—the forwards can again create turnovers with their stunts in the press.

Zooming In: On any ball reversal, with the catch-and-shoot 3 out of play, the primary objective of the stunt is to prevent penetrating passes or dribbles up the sideline and force the ball back to the middle. Therefore, forwards can use the stunt to bait the offense into making lazy passes over the top, creating opportunities for turnovers.

Punctures

Another key feature of Coach Gallo's Zone that translates well into the press is the rules for guards on punctures, whether through an over-the-top pass or penetration. To recap, in the half court, whenever the ball is driven or passed below the free-throw line, the guards are tasked with "fanning out." They never break the paint but position themselves at the elbows, looking to shoot passing lanes.

When the ball gets behind the forwards, the guard at halfcourt acts as the safety valve, picking up the ball to slow the attack. Meanwhile, the forwards flank the ball from behind, working their way back to their positions. The remaining guard sprints to the weak side, looking to jump the passing lane on any potential skip pass.

Coach Joe Gallo’s approach to the 2-3 Zone Defense and its seamless extension into a Delay Press highlights the effectiveness of the bumps and rotations in keeping the offense off balance and generating turnovers, both in the frontcourt and the backcourt. This continuity between half-court and full-court defense offers a dynamic and adaptable strategy that can disrupt opposing offenses at multiple levels. To learn more on Coach Gallo's 2-3 Zone & Extended Press become an SG Plus Member to gain access to the full breakdowns on SGTV!

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Together with Dr Dish

Slappin' Glass Podcast

ICYMI, last week we highlighted the top episodes of 2024. We look forward to an amazing 2025 on the show:

🎧 Stan Van Gundy on Philosophy vs Style, Efficient Shots, and Segmenting a Season.

🎧 Sean Miller on Handling the "Gray Areas" of Pressure, Tough Transition Actions, and Guards Hedging Ballscreens {Xavier}

🎧 Lennie Acuff on Fixing Offensive Spacing, the Benefits of "Toss" Actions, and "Out-Culturing" Opponents {Lipscomb}

🎧 Cody Toppert on Expected Possession Value, Skill Application, and Defending ISO Mismatches {Capital City Go-Go}

🎧 Noah LaRoche on Chasing Space, the "Zero Step," and Principles of Play {Memphis Grizzlies}

Together with Hudl

We're proud to partner with one of the best tech companies in the world of sports, Hudl! Every play, every stat, every breakdown. On their own, they’re essential. But all together, they’re undeniable. Hudl recently introduced their newest product, Hudl Instat – a new advanced data platform that integrates with Sportscode and every Hudl product you rely on to create an all-in-one data powerhouse. Hudl Instat’s advanced tagging and next-level stat reports help you develop your team – and its global film library helps you find the missing piece to get the most out of every second of film. Visit ​hudl.com/slappinglass​ to learn more.

Tactical

📺 Olympiacos - Brush Screen • Pin Down​

"Olympiacos using a Brush Screen to isolate an Empty Side Pin Down for a shooter."

✚ Pair With: Tenerife using false screening action to isolate a Pin Down on the empty side of the floor.

🔒 SG Plus Content: Our breakdowns on Coach Bartzokas' Flex Ballscreen Motion and Ballscreen Automatics agains the Under.

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📺 Princeton Point - Reject • Inverted PNR​

"Rejecting the split screen to clear a side for the inverted PNR at the elbow."

✚ Pair With: Attacking the low help behind the elbow splits with the Skip Pass.

🔒 SG Plus Content: Our "Film Room" session with Coach John Alesi on teaching Princeton Point.

Interesting Reads

📚 Favorite Leadership Tips of 2024​

"Empathy. Developing your emotional intelligence gives you a deeper appreciation of the complex challenges others are working through — and helps you foster a more supportive and nurturing environment."
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📚 Kevin O'Connell Mic'd Up Clips Show Impact of His Positive Coaching Style​

"Alright Sam, hey, step away for a sec. Hey, so you're playing your absolute ass off. Work smart right here. Get these guys, walk into this huddle and tell them it's about execution and let's put these guys away right now, alright? Physicality, ball security, finish. Keep making great decisions, man, you're f***ing balling. I'm so freaking proud of you, man."​
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📚 Kenny Dillingham Has Turned Arizona State Into a Winning Program Overnight​

"I love to compete. If you don't like to compete, you're not going to like it here," Dillingam said in a recent interview with ESPN. "That's really what started the turnaround was just getting guys who are competitive."

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Quote of the Week

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Thank you for reading and have a great week coaching,

Dan and Pat

info@slappinglass.com

We're proud to partner with the leading Sports Travel company in the basketball world, Beyond Sports! Follow the link above to learn more about why more than 600 universities have trusted Beyond Sports for their team's foreign trips. Let them know Slappin' Glass sent you!

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