Four defenders play zone in a box around the lane, two at the elbows and two on the blocks. The fifth guards one player man-to-man and follows him everywhere, through every screen, whether he has the ball or not. It is a junk defense: something a team pulls out for one game, usually against one scorer.
Why coaches use it
Because one player is beating them and nothing else is. A box-and-1 takes that player out of the offense without asking the other four defenders to do anything complicated. It also does what every junk defense does best, which is make a team play a possession it has never practiced.
How to attack it
Four zone defenders now have to cover five attackers. That is the whole opening.
- Stand somebody in the middle. The box has nobody at the free-throw line and nobody in front of the rim at the same time. Put a player in one of those two spots and the box has to break shape.
- Screen the chaser. He is the only defender in the gym playing man-to-man, and the four behind him are not taught to call out screens or to switch. A stagger or a pin-down for the chased player regularly produces a wide-open shot for somebody else, because a zone defender steps out to help and leaves his area.
- Use the chased player as a screener. His defender cannot leave him, so he drags a man into every action you set.
- Do not force it to him. The point of the defense is that he takes bad shots. Let the other four play four-on-four with an extra body.
SlongeHoops’ simulated defense (Beta) includes box-and-1, and you choose which of your players gets chased.