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[QUOTE="NineOneSeven, post: 1190543, member: 871"]
The defense at the top of our zone last year was a problem at times last year.

Rule 1- stop dribble penetration. It's no secret that to beat a zone, you need to get the ball into the paint by the FT line- every coach in America knows this, some more than others (Dixon is an example). When you let the ballhandler drive to the paint, the odds of the other team scoring are significantly increased--

- this leads to your center getting into foul trouble, which in our case with Rak, we've seen far too much
- obviously, when your center steps up, your forwards need to recover down by the block to avoid an easy dump down for a layup
- instinct kicks in for the guards on defense to react towards the ball to try to recover, thus turning their backs on open shooters at the 3 point line

All of this we saw last year. Obviously, plays like this will happen during a 40min game, because as General alluded to above, the other team is going to score. It's a matter of limiting good looks as much as possible. The issue for me was that some games it seemed our guard defense up top was very porous, and when it's porous, it cascades down.

Just my 2 cents.

All that being said, the last thing I'm worried about is our defense. The glaring issue is shooting, just like last year.
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