If you watched March Madness the last few weeks, you definitely heard the word Zoom. This offensive action has taken basketball by storm.

In fact, both teams playing in the men's title game, UConn and Purdue, used zoom action as part of their offense.

It's not hard to see why!

In today's newsletter, I'll share what exactly the zoom action is, why it works so well for elite teams like UConn and Purdue, and how you can add it to your offense (even if you don't have National Championship-type talent!)

What Is Zoom Action

The zoom action involves the merging of two actions - a down screen and a dribble handoff. Three players are generally involved.

Generally, the player who is going to come off the zoom starts in or near the corner.

They receive a down screen from a player in the wing area. After flying off the down screen, they sprint into a dribble handoff with a player somewhere around the top of the key. The handoff also serves as a screen to create space for the player receiving the ball.

The player receiving the handoff looks to turn the corner and get to the rim. The player making the handoff rolls hard to the rim. The player who set the down screen lifts behind the action, making it harder for their defender to help on the roller.

Why It Works

The Zoom Offense is incredibly difficult to guard. Among its benefits:

• The player receiving the handoff has an advantage created by the down screen
• The player receiving the handoff receives the handoff on the run rather than starting from a neutral position
• It creates a huge driving gap for the player receiving the handoff
• The defender guarding the player giving the handoff is forced to choose between helping on the drive or sticking with the roller
• The lift behind the action makes 'tagging' the roller hard for X4.
• If the defense switches or denies, there are easy to learn counters
• When you have a good big like Purdue and UConn, it's really hard to switch
• It gets a good big man like Edey and Clingan on the move. This makes them harder to guard than if they are camping out on the block.
• The other 2 players not in the zoom action can be as active as you like or just hold spots to maintain good spacing

With those benefits in mind, let's look at how both UConn and Purdue use zoom action.

UConn Forwards Out Zoom

Uconn has used zoom for the past couple years, as you can see here and here. Let's take a look at a zoom action from the 3:30 mark of the second video.

The play begins in a 4 out alignment. Player 1 executes a dribble handoff with player 2 while 3 down screens for 4 on the weak side.

After receiving the handoff, player 2 dribbles to the slot and passes to 4, who is filling to the top of the key. 5 lifts up to the elbow area as this is happening.

After passing to 4, 2 sprints off a back screen. This is a scoring action! With the offense lifted off the baseline, 4 should look at 2 and might be able to hit them for a layup.

If 5 sets a good screen, their defender will have to help to prevent the layup. If that happens, 4 passes to 5.

2 continues to loop under the rim and receives a down screen from 3. 4 runs over the top of 5.

5 dribbles at 2 coming off the down screen and executes the hand off.

4 runs off a flare screen from 1 to the corner. This is a great action as X4 will often be tempted to help on 2's penetration. By putting a good shooter in the 4 spot and setting the flare screen, you can make X4 pay for that help.

2 has great options. They can shoot. They can pass to 5 on the roll. They can pass to 4 off the flare. Or they can pass to 3 lifting behind.

A super play with great scoring options!

Purdue Double Drag Double Zoom

Matt Painter has also used zoom over the years, as you can see here and here. Let's check out the action Purdue used to score at the :21 mark of the second clip.

The action starts with player 1 coming off a double drag screen. Purdue sets a lot of these and this is a scoring action! If 1 can come off those screens and score, they should.

If 1 can't score, they pass back to 5 at the top of the key.

Also note that you don't have to start the play off the double drag. If 1 brought the ball down the right side, they could pass to 5 trailing the play. Or 5 could start low and pop up. There are multiple ways to get to this alignment.

After passing to 5, 1 cuts to the basket and out the other side. 2 comes off the initial zoom action. They receive a down screen for 4 and then run off player 5. Player 5 can hand the ball off or keep it. If they keep it and X2 goes over the screen, they may be able to pass to 2 as that player circles back towards the rim.

Here, Edey (5) kept the ball and Lance Jones (2) looped around.

Player 1 is right on player 2's tail to execute the second zoom. Player 2 fills out to the right corner, bumping player 3 up.

In this clip, the zoom created a big gap for Braden Smith (1) to drive right.

Smith's defender went under the hand off, preventing Smith from driving right immediately. In that case, Edey immediately pivots and rescreens for Smith going left.

In this instance, Smith snaked the dribble back to his right coming off the ball screen while Edey rolled.

The other three players spaced around this action.

Edey was able to roll hard to the rim. Smith passed the ball inside to him for an easy score.

As you can see, this play was set up to score in multiple ways. It created double gaps to 1 & 2's strong hand, as well as a post touch for Edey.

Conclusion

The Zoom Offense is great because it's so flexible. There are countless ways to get into it and use it.

Undoubtedly, your team could benefit from incorporating zoom action.

It's not just something for pro and college teams. You don't need a Zach Edey caliber player on your team to make this work. That's because it's much easier to implement than a lot of other offensive actions (like ball screens) and doesn't require great ball-handlers either. Many of our high school and even youth coaches use this action with great success.

In fact, Nate Steege just reached his 4th state championship game in Iowa using the zoom as the basis of his entire offense. Coach Steege uses zoom action to create an advantage and then teaches his players how to keep and score off of this advantage. To learn more about this offense and how it can work at all levels, click here.

What do you think? Let us know by leaving your comments, suggestions, and questions...

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