What's up everyone? Occasional poster here... '08 alum, so I had to sit through a rough couple years as an upperclassmen. I tend to lurk the forum from time to time. I work part-time in basketball, so I don't get to watch as many games as I'd like or get into as much discussion as I'd enjoy.
I'm a believer that the zone is a huge edge for us in many tournament games, and a huge detriment in some others. Jim Boeheim is 6-11 in the Sweet 16, which is something I know we'd all love to ignore this week.
I'm a believer that when we go up against teams that haven't seen a 2-3 zone like ours all year, which is pretty often in the tournament, we give them fits. Most kids expect to be able to shoot over a zone, and expect it to be a lot lazier than it is. When they see how aggressive we play, they get into trouble and they can't figure it out. We get turnovers, we get transition points, and life is good. This advantage is magnified when they only have one off day to prepare for it. It's also an extra reason to hate running into conference opponents in the tournament, as they're already familiar with it.
When opponents get the whole week to get ready for the zone, as they do going into the Sweet 16, a good coach can teach his team how to break it down. We're 4-3 in the Elite 8, when we're going up against tougher competition than we should be in the Sweet 16, so it stands to reason that part of that is teams not having as much time to get ready for the zone.
I'd love it if someone could give me a reason to believe that won't matter this week... What do you have guys? I do like that this year's zone is up there with some of our better ones when the guys are working hard - we have good length/wingspan and our guards are experienced and know what they're doing up top...
I'm a believer that the zone is a huge edge for us in many tournament games, and a huge detriment in some others. Jim Boeheim is 6-11 in the Sweet 16, which is something I know we'd all love to ignore this week.
I'm a believer that when we go up against teams that haven't seen a 2-3 zone like ours all year, which is pretty often in the tournament, we give them fits. Most kids expect to be able to shoot over a zone, and expect it to be a lot lazier than it is. When they see how aggressive we play, they get into trouble and they can't figure it out. We get turnovers, we get transition points, and life is good. This advantage is magnified when they only have one off day to prepare for it. It's also an extra reason to hate running into conference opponents in the tournament, as they're already familiar with it.
When opponents get the whole week to get ready for the zone, as they do going into the Sweet 16, a good coach can teach his team how to break it down. We're 4-3 in the Elite 8, when we're going up against tougher competition than we should be in the Sweet 16, so it stands to reason that part of that is teams not having as much time to get ready for the zone.
I'd love it if someone could give me a reason to believe that won't matter this week... What do you have guys? I do like that this year's zone is up there with some of our better ones when the guys are working hard - we have good length/wingspan and our guards are experienced and know what they're doing up top...