I will say up front that I am not enough of an Xs and Os man to know the answer. But I see an awful lot of 3s made when the player on the backside of the defense sags in to help, and then a quick pass or a kickout on penetration finds the man who was left wide open. I don't know what the answer is, but I know I don't like it. The secret to good offense is to force defenses to have to adjust so that someone is left open: I understand that. But in my uneducated basketball-loving soul I just have an abhorrence to handing a team a wide open shot that is rewarded half-again as much as shots closer in (stupidly, but that is how it is). If you are going to leave a shot open, leave open the one that is worth less. Don't take the bait; don't cheat in. Stay on your man (if he is a shooter at all) and take away that option.
Basketball is skewed horrendously toward the 3-point shot these days. We have almost turned into a game of H-0-R-S-E. But that is the way it is, and if were a coach, I would force the other team to beat me two points at a time instead of three points at a time. Help defense can end up not being very much help.
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