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Yes it means exactly as the name suggests. From the game manual:

Inside Box-and-One: The fifth defender focuses on the opponent's best inside scorer. Normal pace.

Outside Box-and-One: The fifth defender focuses on the opponent's best outside scorer. Normal pace.


Your second questions answer depends on the level of competition you are in. What kind of offense does you opponent play?
Most managers don't use this defense. I would run it if my opponent plays patient and my team still can't stop him using man to man or switching defenders by position.

Nice, they have added something new to game manual. Its been couple a years since i last time read the manual but that wasnt there before.

And thanks for the note, i was somehow mixing up inside/outside wise which box d is which :'D

Anyway my question remains the same: what kind of skill distribution for defence is good for players defending in the box?
Of course the actual skill level depends on level of competion.
That is the exact situation i will be facing and thats why im thinking about trying box n one. But could find anywhere about what skills are most important in each position defence wise... like inside or outside def? in which positions do i realy need blocking and in which position it doesnt matter so much. Same thing with rebounding..
So i d like to know little deeper, if somebody knows or has done research on this :)

I wouln't agree with the game manual. I mean, seems extremely weird, but still this is not what happen on the court.

If you've ever tried to play a Box, you'll have noticed that works exactly at the opposite.
Inside Box --> the Box defend the inside and the "+1" take care of the best outside scorer
Outside Box --> The Box defend the outside and the +1 take care of the best inside scorer

It is clearly a mistake on the game manual but, unfortunately, even BB-Marin decided not to go deeper to solve that question.

I've read the same description on the forums before. And the way you describe it corresponds with the name of the tactic:

Inside box (4 players inside) +1 (outside player)
Outside box (4 players outside) +1 (inside player)

Thank you! So the manual and Ob1's message are saying it wrong. Havent tested box realy yet but remember reading this same thing from forums. But didnt believe in myself anymore as manual said it otherwise.

Luckily i still have few minutes to change my tactics for todays game back to inside box, as i first set it, but changed it to outside box based on the first replies :)

Its been well known for some time that the game manual is incorrect. Everyone who has said so here is absolutely right in that. I think its years since Nachtmahr pointed this out and its never been corrected.

Yeah, kind a misleading explanation on the manual. But, as said up here, Nachtmahr was likely the first to really study the Box with multiple games.

Since then, I tested by my own and I also took a deep look into the play-by-play in all the games in which I faced a Box and I totally agree with him.

One of the problem might be the selection of the "+1". Usually I'd say is the player with the highest OD+ID+SB which frequently belongs to a big men if you don't have a really good SF with both defenses really strong. It's likely easier to play the Outside Box for that reason in my opinion. Even though, to be effective, also the other elements of the Box have to be skilled. Not easy, but I've always been intrigued by this defensive setup

How are you positive who is selected as the fifth player in a box? Does it show in the play by play? My understanding is that if you play an inside box you will give up a lot of perimeter shots correct me if I am mistaken. Thanks.

Through play by play usually you can see a player defending most of the shots of a specific opponent, meanwhile all the others will defend different players.

It could not be that easy understand the pattern because of 2 things (in my opinion):
1) With substitution you may see something different according to different lineups
2) If the best scorer on the other team has a lot of PA, he won't necessarily shoot the ball too much. If the +1 is working properly, the best scorer may definitely consider passing the ball a better option that shooting over the +1 defender and the Box. In some games I saw the best scorer taking somewhere around 6-7 shots, and to me the explanation is the one above.


Honestly, it's hard to reply regarding perimeter shots. Unfortunately my experience about Boxes isn't enormous and, most of everything, it's hard to shuffle lineups in order to test everything in a good way.
If you're going to play a Box with a "standard" lineup, likely a big men or a SF will be the +1 (because of the sum of ID+SB+OD, which seems to be, without being 100% sure in all cases, the criteria) leaving 2 guards and 2 out of the 2 wings+C forming the Box. With a lineup like that, if you're facing a good offensive flow, you may see a lot of perimeter shots because of mismatches you may have on the perimeter.
Is that due to the Box himself or due to the lack of OD in maybe 2 of your elements of the Box (ex. 2 big men)?
Hard to tell. I'd really like to play a Box with 5 SF with a pretty good balance between OD and ID. I do believe it could work in a pretty good way in terms of limiting "easy" shots. But I'm speculating, cause unfortunately I hadn't the chance to run tests like that

Last edited by GM-samusaran (ITA-Staff) at 10/3/2018 10:57:48 AM

I had a stud of a two way defensive sf in my former team so I never really noticed the fifth player. If i wanted to stop a perimeter threat i would still play an outside box and not the other way around. To be honest and fair this defense is not really a go to defense. Its rarely used by top managers. I would still go for a defensive switch assignment or run a 3-2 even a 1-3-1 if i was really desperate to stop a perimeter threat. They Mods should really clarify it a bit more for all of our benefit. Or maybe highlight it in the play play as a double team that would make it easier i think.