Coaches’ Corner: 1-2-1-1 Press vs Four Across Alignment

Some teams will try to beat pressure with their alignment. Here are two classic things teams will do:

Vs 2 Up offensive set… X4 is playing straight up on the inbounder. X2 and X3 play on the inside hip of the two receivers. X2 and X3 want the offense to catch the ball going toward the baseline and toward the corner so it can be trapped. 

Vs 4 Across offensive set… X5 is not going to come up, so there will be a “safety” back. X4 will play on the basket side of the inbounder. X4 and the basket should make it tough to throw the ball over to the weakside. 

X3 is guarding the inside of the first receiver, and X1 is guarding the inside of the defender at the elbow. X2 is left to guard both the receiver at the elbow and the wide receiver. So X2 is playing between the two receivers but X4’s position should make the pass to this side tough.