Ethan Khoza breaks down how to beat a zone press with SMB: try the side first, then the middle, then pass it back. Three simple reads to get the ball up the court.
Acronym that you want to remember when it comes to handling the ball against the zone press is SMB. All that stands for side, middle, back. That means when you catch the ball against the zone press, you're going to look to your side. Can I go side with my pass? If not, can I go middle with my pass? If not, you're going to look to go back to where the ball came from. So I catch the ball, I look up the sideline. If I can make that pass, I'll make that pass. If I can't, now I'm going to look middle. If I can make that pass, I'm going to make that pass. If I can't do either of those things, I can look to where the ball came from. So maybe the inbounder, and I'm going to push the ball that way. And so now we actually have a purpose for what we're doing in this press. I'm not just sitting there frantically hoping somebody's open. I'm going through my checklist of, okay, is that guy open? No. Then that guy might be open. No. If neither of those are there, then the third option has got to be there. And if none of those are open, it means that you're probably not being guarded. So you've got to be the one who's going to go, Sam.
Stop Using One Dribble When You Drive To The Rim! (How To Become A Better Finisher)
