You are one pass from the ball, and instead of pressing into the passing lane you take a step off your man and a step toward the ball. You are standing in the lane the dribbler wants to drive into. Your man can catch it, but he catches it with you already between him and the rim, and the man with the ball cannot go that way.
Why coaches use it
It is the middle setting, and for most teams it is the right one. Deny takes away the catch but leaves the paint empty. Sag protects the paint but hands out open shots. Gap keeps a body in the driving lane without giving up a rotation you then have to cover for.
It also suits the way teams actually score now. Most half-court offense is one player getting downhill and four players reacting. If the first gap is filled, the drive has to be a step wider or a beat later, and that is usually enough for the defense to be set.
Gapping asks for discipline rather than athleticism, which is why it travels well down to youth levels. The rule a twelve-year-old can follow is: see the ball, see your man, one foot in the driving lane.
How to attack it
- Make the gap defender guard somebody. A cut through or a lift from the corner drags him with it. A player who stands still is a player the defense can borrow.
- Drive at his top foot. The gap defender is shaded to the ball. Attack the shoulder he is not shaded to and he has to turn and run.
- Move the ball one more time. A gap is a step of recovery, and one extra pass is longer than one step.
- Space wider. Every extra meter, a little over three feet, between your players is a longer closeout for him.
Drive and Kick in the library is the habit this coverage is built to stop.