Zone in College Hoops - The Athletic

[kcsu]

He can finally admit it now.

Jim likes to keep em guessing.

 

[SmilinBob]

Jim loves Italian food and goes to these fantastic restaurants with all kinds of wonderful choices and always ends up with Chicken Parm. It's his go to.

Red will learn and adapt and go zone when he can't stop a big man or all the shooters are on the bench.

 

[FireballPhil]

I think it’s because a few of the players he recruited and “had” to play heavy minutes wouldve stunk in man even more than they did in the zone.

This is mostly true I think but there is also a reason for that. It doesn't seem like many years ago but time sure flies- the zone worked fairly good and our players were more like what Red is getting. Three point shooting was not a high priority shot. Then came the sniper specialists-those who could drill the three pointer with good accuracy. The zone started getting exposed at that point and many were complaining that JB wasn't changing and getting enough shooters. JB finally did start to change and the result was less athletic guys who suffered in a man to man defense but we had options on how to out shoot a team. Outscoring the other team covered the zones defects enough to quiet most of the pundits. Now kids of all sizes are learning to shoot the three from an early age, and the zone is simply incapable of covering every shooter on the floor. JB never really adjusted to this, sure he tried tweaking the zone and parts of it worked, but the team has been largly shut down especially by those teams who play a really tight man to man defense. Red recognizes this I think and has gone back to the more athletic line-up. A pesky man to man defense will be key. Guards that can beat their man off the dribble and pull a help defender should be primary on offense. The Bells and Taylors will be there to shoot when their defender pulls to help. It is going to be an interesting and exciting brand of basketball I hope. I am curious to see what kind of offensive sets Red had drawn up.We may unfortunately start a little slow as the guys learn each others strengths but I think-or perhaps more accurately hope- by March we will be very dangerous.

 

[Newhouser]

JB's ego and stubborness wouldn't let him move on from the zone. The fact that we had to play it the last few years because of our limited athletic ability has been clubbed to death. No excuse for it, its just how he decided to go out.

 

[Janner]

JAB might be the greatest troll of all time

 

[Sbucketball]

JAB might be the greatest troll of all time

Imagine he says he was only playing it the last couple years because he thought the fans wanted it

 

[CardiacCuse]

Miami is shooting 39 pct from 3 this post season. They shot 34.4 pct all season. Their 3 pt shooting is why they are in the finals. Their defense has been the same as it has all season- the difference is their shooting. Also they only play it on 15 pct of their possessions. So a coach that plays it on 90 plus pct getting excited about it being used 15 pct of the time...

Nice job misrepresenting my point. I've posted probably 20 plus times the analytics around why the zone in college is not effective as a base defense anymore. As a change of pace yes. As a primary defense - no. You can find the many threads on this. It's not an attack on JB for the 1000th time either. Game has changed- as JB himself said it in the article. That's the point and he is correct. Sheesh.

i love the way JB used the 1-3-1 or whatever it was as a changeup with buddy and jimmy...that worked a bit to throw teams off


I hope Red was taking note...

imagine having 3 or 4 defenses that can be executed well and switching them up strategically throughout the game to flummox opponents...with the size all over the roster and especially in the backcourt...everything should be on the table for next season defensively...I really hope they do play some zone...as a chanegeup and when the matchup calls for it...just not as the 95% of the time defense.

 

[Orangezoo]

i love the way JB used the 1-3-1 or whatever it was as a changeup with buddy and jimmy...that worked a bit to throw teams off


I hope Red was taking note...

imagine having 3 or 4 defenses that can be executed well and switching them up strategically throughout the game to flummox opponents...with the size all over the roster and especially in the backcourt...everything should be on the table for next season defensively...I really hope they do play some zone...as a chanegeup and when the matchup calls for it...just not as the 95% of the time defense.

Big thing is you don't want to get over complicated with a young and team with many new pieces. Pressure into a zone or mtm to me makes the most sense with mostly mtm and back into a zone where it's advantageous from a matchup perspective. Dropping into mtm when you don't score is key to me as well to avoid a zone struggling to get set. Pitino was a master at this with guards picking up the ball handler quickly and the defense getting set off misses. Then get your pressure going off makes.

 

[orangecuse]

He can finally admit it now.

Interesting how one can see clearly...

 

[All4SU]

With Jim Boeheim retired, can zone defense still work in college basketball?

New Syracuse coach Adrian Autry will likely ditch Boeheim's famed 2-3 zone. Around the country, few teams are playing that defense anymore.

theathletic.com

ETA: sutomcat had it in the Orangeyes Daily articles, first.

The only thing that could have made that better is if he referred to the zone as “Tavern League.”

 

[FrancoPizza]

It was a great read… players have to anticipate where the ball is going and communicate instead of reacting and getting caught chasing.

Feels like all we were doing on defense was chasing the ball for the last 8+ years.

 

[tbonezone]

the trey ball was JB's la brea tarpit. crashed into his system like a meteor

 

[tbonezone]

“Tavern League.”

igor should have trademarked that phrase.