Bro you have been holding on to this for YEARS, why???? With all due respect, its no way you've ever played basketball competitively....this isn't Friday night at the Rucker, it's a TEAM game brodie. If you don't have a connected defense, you don't have one at all.
And even in the illegal defense era that I'm going to assume you're referencing, nikkas weren't just getting off 1v1 on their man, the greater the player, the more eyes fixed in his direction, the more bodies sent his way ....at no point in the history of the sport has that not been the case.
You should watch Ice Cubes 3v3 shyt if they're still doing it, that might be closer to what you're looking for