Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
However, things have changed. Individual ability still matters, of course, but off-ball and help defense have become more critical components of a strong team defense. Offenses are elite at manufacturing the perimeter matchups they want, so teamwide awareness has never been more important. In response, defensive positioning has become far more proactive, ready to help on the inevitable perimeter mismatch.
Full-on zone defense, as a rule, is still remarkably rare. This year has seen more zone defense than ever before, and still, only three teams run it more than 8% of the time (per Synergy). It’s consigned chiefly to after-time-out situations or if teams are desperate for a curveball for a few possessions.
But zone principles are now involved in every single action that takes place on the floor.
Nail help (and its kissing cousin, nexting), something largely forbidden before the league eliminated illegal defense rules, is a good example. In today’s game, most defenses will attempt to crowd the dribble-drive by placing an off-ball wing near the free-throw line, ready to harass drivers and sprint out to the nearest three-point shooter. That used to be disallowed!
Switching has grown in prevalence, too, for a few reasons. First, switching helps flatten out the pick-and-roll attack by crowding ballhandlers at the level of the pick, limiting their room for a pull-up triple. In the old days, a switch would invariably result in a pass to the big man rolling down the paint with a helpless little trying their best to stymie him. Now, however, smaller players can A) get away with more physicality, allowing them to fight harder for positioning, and B) front a big with the confidence that teammates are ready to help behind them. It used to be hard for defenders to be in a proper help position if fronting failed; now, it’s a basic expectation.
(Anecdotally, switching doesn’t seem quite as popular now as it was five or so years ago; offenses learned to take advantage of switch pockets by slipping screens to create a 4-on-3 situation as the roller accepted a pass while moving toward the hoop. But it’s still a common tactic that gains even more importance in the playoffs.)
Other help principles evolved, too. The idea of the “low man help,” which usually means shrinking the weakside corner defender into the paint as a deterrent at the rim, became more common. Think of it as a one-man zone. Entire chess matches in playoff series develop around offenses and defenses trying to manipulate weak or strong defenders into low man help positions. Watch Derrick White (the league’s best non-big low man helper) ignore a depressed Jonathan Mogbo in the corner to lurk in the under the basket, ready to swat Gradey Dick’s layup away:
Now watch when it’s Trae Young in low man help (although Jalen Johnson deserves plenty of blame, too):
See the difference?
