Zone Defense

1-3-1 Killer

How to run 1-3-1 Killer — a zone defense you can teach frame by frame and take to your next practice.

Online Basketball Playbook · Published May 30, 2026 · 2 min read
1-3-1 Killer — frame 1 diagram
1 passes to 4; 3 cuts to the left perimeter; 2 cuts to the right block; 4 passes to 3; 5 cuts to the left block; 4 cuts to the left low post
1-3-1 Killer — frame 2 diagram
3 passes to 2
1-3-1 Killer — frame 3 diagram
5 cuts to the left corner; 4 cuts to the basket; 2 passes to 4; 4 passes to 5; 3 passes to 1; 2 cuts to the right corner

Call this set when you face a 1-3-1 zone and need to move the ball to find the gaps. You skip the ball around the perimeter — wing to high post to short corner — to force the zone to shift and open a corner look. Your wing cutting baseline is the trigger that collapses the bottom of their zone.

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