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[QUOTE="RF2044, post: 4546753, member: 40"]
That's what Pitino did so effectively at Louisville -- 1-3-1 press after made baskets, sometimes even just token on the ball pressure before falling back, just to make the lead guard expend a little extra energy bringing the ball up the court [to your point] -- otherwise, on a missed shot just hustle back and get into position in the 2-3.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with 2-3 zone being the base / primary defense.  I don't even care if we play it ~90% of the time.  But when you let teams get comfortable, they can tee off on it.

So mixing things up like Pitino did goes a long way toward keeping the opponent off-balance, and not letting them get into a comfortable groove.

Even if it is just changing things for a few possessions, force the opponent to adjust when they start to roll.  Then, switch back and force them to adjust again.  Keep them off-balance, don't just let them hit wide open shot after wide open shot with zero on ball pressure.

And it is important to note that no defense is impregnable.  That shouldn't be the barometer.  But defense is a weapon, and shouldn't be neglected because you have no [or limited] options to switch to when the wheels start to come off.
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