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Message: [QUOTE="007, post: 3621658, member: 393"] Thank you for that level of detail and explanation. Always impressive, General. I fully agree that the primary difference between the 2-2-1 Pitino type press (and its multiple variations) and JB's singular 1-2-1-1 is the hyper aggression at the front of the press. They are selling out to make that entry pass as difficult as possible in JB's press (I'll call it the JB press but he did not invent it). The first "1" in the 1-2-1-1 is always a forward with quickness and length (for JB anyway) and the back 1 is always the center. The front 1 (chaser) is going to play on the ball and then turn and chase the inbounds pass and trap hard - if he can get there in time. Goal one is to deny or tip or steal that entry pass. Goal 2 is to hard trap the entry pass once it is made. The "2s" in that alignment are always the guards, one will trap with the chasing forward while the other guard will rotate to the center of the floor. The remaining forward will try to take away the sideline (leaving the center as the lone defender a the back). The rotations are more complicated than that, but that is the gist. If teams handle that initial onslaught, just like you said, they will almost always have 3 on 2 or, more likely, a 2 on 1 at the other end. The other more subtle difficulty with playing a 1-2-1-1 is that it is much harder to rotate back to a 2-3, compared to teams who use the 2-2-1 which more naturally morphs into the 2-3. I could drone on and on a long, boring time about the many benefits of playing the 2-2-1 press in front of a 2-3 zone. I doubt many have read this far, and you have explained much more succinctly. Well done, brother. Needless to say, I would love to see JB use the 2-2-1. He pulled it out once last year early in the season - I have NEVER seen him use it before... or since. [/QUOTE]

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