"we play no other defense"

[SWC75]

well logically... if playing exclusive zone (with an occasional splash of panic trunk monkey) was in fact the superior defensive strategy then wouldn't every coach in america do it? they don't. what's that tell you? draw your own conclusions. i'm done.

And how many of them have won as many games as we have since we went all zone? The fact that everybody else is doing somehting doesn';t mean you have to do it, too. It can be an advantage to be different.

Kipling:
"If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;"

 

[SWC75]

It's easier to follow a single guy around the court than figure out which area you need to be defending based on the ball movement and position of the offense.

But which takes more energy?

 

[44cuse]

Some of the fan base hasn't caught on the what we see before our faces.

Been this way for as long as I can remember. With football I have been convinced for years it is because we are basketball school (regardless of what the football folks want to say about history) and most folks don't watch much more than SU football. With basketball, I have no idea.

44cuse

 

[Townie72]

Been this way for as long as I can remember. With football I have been convinced for years it is because we are basketball school (regardless of what the football folks want to say about history) and most folks don't watch much more than SU football. With basketball, I have no idea.

44cuse

Duke is a basketball school. Their football has gotten much better and might even be called "pretty good".There are plenty of schools that age good at both.

Our football problem is not due to SU basketball being good. I think our problem is rooted more deeply starting with the fact that there are so many more schools now competing for the relatively shallow pool of DI players in New York State and adjacent areas. We have had to depend --- at least in part --- by bringing in players from the South that are the leftovers and over-looked from the SEC and even the ACC. In the near Midwest, there are now schools like Cincinnati and Louisville and even the MAC schools that are alternatives.

The long drought we have been in has tarnished SU's reputation as a place for top players. Rebuilding that is a huge project and it very well might not be possible in the short or even intermediate term.

 

[GardenOrange]

You don't think our offense struggles because Boeheim has been recruiting players specifically for the zone for the past 4-5 years? You don't think having a true point guard helps facilitate offense (instead of finding adequate big guards to run point)? And having a few wings who can actually shoot it and are more than just pogo sticks wouldnt be beneficial?

Everything revolves around the zone. This of course says nothing about how playing zone exclusively kills our once prominent fast break because teams always have a guard or two back, and defensive rebounding suffers do to positioning.

Every system loses effectiveness over time. Teams learn to play against it. It seems pretty clear to me that teams are fairly consistently attacking the zone better than they did a few years ago. Spreading the wings and and putting two big men on the blocks; flashing someone to the foul line; screening the top; etc. Even if they are in effective, they are shortening the game and reducing any advantage our better athletes/players provide.

To me, the zone screams complacency. Jump out of it for two or three sets a half and i think the team would benefit (more if something else is working).

Agreed. With more teams playing 2-3, there are also more teams adept at attacking it. Adapt, change or die.