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Message: [QUOTE="BludOrange, post: 4598930, member: 4268"] Zone was broken when the arc moved back. That change opened up many passing lanes that were not there before when all five of our defenders were packed inside a tiny arc. So many more angles available to drive to the hole, more backdoor cuts opening up. Also more teams are employing more shooters on the floor. We use to only have to stretch the zone to stop the one gunner a team may have had, now they need to worry about 3-4 different shooters who can drain a three. The guards use to be touching hands when arms extended at the top of the zone. There was no entry pass to the FT line back then. Now our guards have ten feet between them most of the time. Out forwards played no higher than the FT line, now due to the line being moved back and more shooters deployed by our opponent, they play most of the time at the FT line or higher and leave the corners open for our Center to try and cover. The same center that is trying to defend the high post/Ft line area and the low post. Now he has three locations he needs to defend instead of only having to worry about two spots on the floor. The center use to only cover the corner after the zone was forced to rotate numerous times in a possession, now it's almost solely his responsibility. The percentage of 3's made against us may not have changed much, but every other aspect with regards to the zone has. How much higher would that percentage of made 3's against the zone be if we did not extend the zone further out and let them shoot wide open 3's all game long because shooters are supposedly no better now than back in the day? How long would a coach last at a program if they just let people shoot wide open from anywhere beyond the arc? Steph and the Warriors did have a part in breaking the zone. Kids simply did not practice thirty five foot shots for hours at a time as they now do. Coaches didn't allow it, or the player got an instant hook for shooting such a shot back in the day, minus the one hired gun a team may have had. Now we see 4-5 players on every team that will jack it from Steph range, and coaches don't even blink, mean the less yank them from the game. Again, three point percentages have nothing to do with the breaking of the zone, other than opposing teams being just as efficient from 35 feet as they once were from only 22 feet from the hoop back in the day. [/QUOTE]

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