An introduction to the matchup: The most perplexing halfcourt defense in the game. (Basketball).

WHEN I RETURNED TO high school basketball coaching after 11 years of coaching in the colleges and pros, I inherited a program that was wallowing in the depths of a 32 game losing streak.

I knew the kind of challenge I was going to face and the kind of massive learning experience that lay ahead. What I never suspected was that my best defense was going to emerge from a series of four losses to an opponent that beat my team by a composite score of 251-125!

And exactly what could one learn from such a devastating experience? It was the beauty of the opponent's sticky, stifling, halfcourt matchup defense. I freely admit that it took all of my 16 years of coaching experience to come to the conclusion that the best defensive position in basketball is the simplest: stay between your opponent and the basket.

I also discovered that the best way to defend a shot around the basket was with verticality: Staying on your feet with your arms fully extended over your head. It was definitely superior, in many situations, to jumping. No, you won't always get the call. But any time you move towards an offensive player driving to the basket and then go airborne for the block, you virtually guarantee defensive contact with the shooter and a two-shot foul or an opportunity for a three-point play. It is much better to remain grounded with the hands up and force a difficult shot. If you do not believe me, watch Phil Martelli's St. Joseph's Hawks (PA) force a lot of misses without fouling by consistently using this technique.

But who runs the matchup zone better than anybody? I vote for John Chaney and the Temple Owls. I personally believe that Chaney's mysterious defense is simply a 1-3-1 matchup zone, run to perfection. His Owls' control the tempo and limit the opponent's scoring with a defense that has been honed to perfection by meticulous preparation, patience and execution.

So few teams run the matchup zone that it can be considered the knuckleball of defenses. Does "slow but steady" really "win the race?" Ask yourself that question this March when Chaney's Owls will probably make another run deep into the NCAA tournament, knocking off higher seeded teams at every turn, frustrating opposing players and coaches alike, while keeping everyone's point total in the 50's.

Allow us to list the reasons for adding a matchup zone to you team's defensive repertoire:

1. THERE ARE NOHOLES IN A MATCHUP ZONE. Every zone defense has a gap to be exploited by perimeter shooting. But a matchup zone always has someone on the ball so that every catch, drive and shot is contested.

2. MORE AWARENESS OF THE BALL AND HELP DEFENSE. Many young players, particularly at the high school level, are somewhat reluctant to drop off the player they are guarding to contain penetration or get to an open shooter. By labeling the defense a matchup rather than man to man, we change both the concept of the defense and the mindset of the players running it.

With the matchup, the group objective is simply to stop the other team from scoring. It is everyone's goal. Nobody ever says "I've got mine" or "Get yours!" because this potentially changes on every pass.

3. CONSTANT BALL PRESSURE PAYS BENEFITS. Your team has the opportunity for a 5 count on every catch. If you want your players to call "ball" on every catch and continue to closeout hard beyond the first week of preseason practice, your matchup zone will require this kind of defensive intensity and volume.

Calling "ball" is critical to ensure you of having only one player pick up the ball on each catch, as in avoiding collisions on a pop fly to shallow right field. Quick closeouts are also a must. The one catch you don't get to at the three-point line may be the uncontested shot that beats you!

4. ZONE [not equal to] REST! In my experience, the defensive intensity level usually declines when you change from man to zone (the opposite also tends to be true). Although none of us coach this way, many players view the traditional zone as a time to rest on the court whereas a matchup zone dictates total concentration and intensity, even more so than man to man.

Any weak link becomes obvious within a few possessions or even a few passes, making it easier to identify any leaks and substitute accordingly.

5. "TIME IS ON MY SIDE." Even teams that have been well coached in attacking a matchup zone need a lengthy possession to do so. That's why college teams like Temple have so much success running a tough matchup zone with a 35-second shot clock.

But even without a time limit, many high school teams can be forced into having to maintain possession for more than 30 seconds to get a good shot. Impatient teams will flinch, resulting in quick, low-percentage shots or, even better, turnovers. It's just like trying to escape from quicksand -- the more you struggle the faster you sink!

6. YOU CAN'T CATCH WHAT YOU CAN'T SEE. After using the matchup zone over a full year, I am amazed at the number of teams and coaches who simply do not know what it is. The inability to recognize leads to confusion, while the difficulty in scoring results in frustration.

Furthermore, pattern offenses are useless against the matchup, forcing teams out of the known and into the unknown against a defense they have little or no experience and confidence attacking.

7. IF IT LOOKS LIKE A DUCK...Even better, the opposing team may think it's a zone and stop pounding the bail inside to the 6'7" monster who is destroying your team on the block. Your counterpart on the other bench may see the matchup, think it's a zone defense, set up a zone offense, and benevolently move this player to the high post to meekly pass and catch the ball at the foul line.

8. "DANNY AND THE MIRACLES." Remember Larry Brown's last college championship at Kansas? The Oklahoma Sooners were a lock to win it all. Billy Tubbs had Stacey King at the top of a killer 1-2-1-1 full court press and Mookie Blaylock leading a lockdown style half-court defense (the Sooners were so quick they could play this way and beat almost everybody).

Pressing a pressing team or running their scheme better than they do, can be both demoralizing to them and a huge boost to your squad. It worked for the Jayhawks. It propelled them to an upset of Oklahoma and the National Championship.

The only way you can prepare to attack and beat a matchup zone in a game is by learning how to run it well enough to beat the opponent's matchup zone in a game.

9. MATCH (AND MIX). The matchup zone offers great flexibility in the transition from offense to defense, particularly in the perplexing challenge of running a full-court zone press and dropping back into a halfcourt defense, zone or man.

With the matchup, you simply run back to a designated spot on the floor, regardless of who is where on the other team (tough to do if picking up man in halfcourt) and whether or not you pressed or trapped in the backcourt.

And if your spot is filled (the three perimeter spots are essentially interchangeable), you simply find the next available opening and insert yourself. If you play a matchup zone halfcourt, you can run a full court zone press into a halfcourt defense that includes man-to-man style ball pressure.

Having listed all of the positives of the matchup zone, we'd now like to enumerate the negatives:

1. IT DOESN'T PRESSURE THE PASSING LANES. It is a tough concept to practice and even tougher to consistently execute in a game situation, especially against great athletes with smart coaches.

Bottom line? The matchup requires you to give up a little to gain a lot in return. It will put your players in excellent defensive position from 20 feet and in -- the area in which almost all of the points are scored.

2. IT TAKES TOO MUCH TIME TO TEACH AND LEARN. The easier any defense is to learn, the easier it will be for the opposing team to scout, prepare for, and break down in the game. So any effective defensive approach requires a substantial time commitment.

Next month: The actual teaching of the defense (practice plan).