JB's 2-3 / Tarks amoeba defense

[UnderHisOwnPower]

Without a doubt, most coaches would tell you that teaching man is much more complex and time consuming than teaching zone. JB's zone is so effective IMO because it is aggressive; because the players in the zone, especially the forwards, are typically long, very athletic and cover extraordinarily extended areas; and because the players become so accustomed to the rotations and covers due to it being the D they practice exclusively that they are able to react to ball movement much faster than most other teams can simulate in practice.

And see, the above underlined truth is the clincher for me as to why a good zone is harder than M2M. Learning to play an effective zone takes hours of practice and game time, it is a team defense. Whereas the basic principles of man are stick to your guy, keep yourself between he and the basket, call out switches if you can't fight through a pick. That can be taught as a player enters the gym and is why M2M is the default defense for most teams and what we first learn on the playground. You can teach good positioning in either M2M or zone of course, but the best M2M defenders have a natural ability and attitude that the flat footed or slower players can never compensate for. Put that same marginal M2M defender in a zone and teach him assignment responsibilities, and now he is a functional defender in a great team concept. In other words, no amount of practice will teach Trevor to be a good M2M defender, but he can thrive in a zone, and that is the alchemy I think JB appreciates, but it is not easy to do.

 

[Jack Hall]

At first i was going to disagree slightly w your post because JB tends to recruit some freaky athletic guys but then i remember that C Forth won a ring playing zone and he is the epitome of flat footed / slow player

 

[007]

And see, the above underlined truth is the clincher for me as to why a good zone is harder than M2M. Learning to play an effective zone takes hours of practice and game time, it is a team defense. Whereas the basic principles of man are stick to your guy, keep yourself between he and the basket, call out switches if you can't fight through a pick. That can be taught as a player enters the gym and is why M2M is the default defense for most teams and what we first learn on the playground. You can teach good positioning in either M2M or zone of course, but the best M2M defenders have a natural ability and attitude that the flat footed or slower players can never compensate for. Put that same marginal M2M defender in a zone and teach him assignment responsibilities, and now he is a functional defender in a great team concept. In other words, no amount of practice will teach Trevor to be a good M2M defender, but he can thrive in a zone, and that is the alchemy I think JB appreciates, but it is not easy to do.

Again, I am going to respectfully disagree from a coaching perspective. Teaching man to man defense is much more complex than teaching zone, and it's not even close. The "basics" you listed in your post might be ok for youth leagues, but man defense at the college level is taught as a system of team defense. And most teams run multiple systems. There are literally hundreds of positioning (both on ball and, even more complex, weakside positioning), rotations, and recovery principles. There are also entire systems of half court team defense designed to force and keep offenses to the sideline or baseline; systems to defend the paint; principles for ball pressure; denial of entry passes; fronting and 3/4 fronting of post players; principles to defend on ball screens with or without hedging; systems to defend cutters, dribble penetration, off ball screens, and pick and rolls; if a teams traps, there are principles for the rotations and recovery that are dependent on the positioning of the other offensive players - unlike in a zone where the rotations and recoveries are dependent on the area of the court you are responsible for. And on and on and on...

 

[kirbivore]

He's always been that way.
A friend of mine had a run in with him years ago after doing an article for the Northeastern student newspaper.
A grade A jerk.
But...I did have respect for a number of his players.
Unlike G-town...no respect for anyone ever associated with them.

I don't know. That 2006 storz team was pretty dispicaple with laptop, juwanna man, and powder