Getting Defensive: Would Zone Be Best?

Chris sounds like mass confusion which prevents continuity on not only the defensive end but the offensive end.

I like zones out of timeouts to blow up a designed play of the opposing teams, but I gotta say I’m more partial to a man defense with good rotations, forcing the ball in whichever direction depending on the scheme or even a press/trapping full court defense.

I don’t know why they would start all those forwards, maybe in special/end game situations or to end quarters. I’d rather have 2 dependable ball handlers on the court.

Also, I’d rather have Randolph closer to the basket to take advantage of his rebounding capability. I’m not a big fan of gimmicky defenses in large doses like the one we saw with Jeffries, good teams find a way to beat it every time and it was only effective against point guards who couldn’t shoot last year like Rose, Rondo, Felton, Parker etc.

im all for this but i am not all for that lineup. Its ok if thats what your starting with, but I want to see a lineup of
Felt
Will
Gallo
AR
STAT
With that lineup, you run a two three with will and felton on the perimeter, Gallo and Randolph on the flanks and STAT in the middle. Lots of blocked shots along with plenty of easy post up baskets. Because that squad would wreak havoc offensively im willing to sacrifice the extra buckets because i think wed make it up on the other end. Honestly, I dont think that D can be bad, as long as you get good rotations. An AR STAT double team on a guy like dwight would do sufficiently. That would also be better for D Rebounding which would probably take a hit in the 1-3-1 zone.

yeah if your gonna have 2 of your three big time bigs (AR STAT Gallo) you need a couple playmakers to get them the ball and make moves. It would be the most stagnant offense if it ever fell into a half court if Gallo was running the 2.

zone is good sometimes mayb 5 minutes a game an see how it goes.

as for buke he’ll be playing good at the end of the season,if he stays healthy

First of all, zone is for bums. I don’t mind seeing zone defense in short spurts but to plan zone defense from the start is an automatic fail. Teams will prepare and look for weaknesses in the zone defense. Also the zone leaves you open to second chance shots. It is very hard to rebound while in zone defense.

I don’t mind Gallo playing at the 2 in short spurts either but I rather he switch and let Randolph guard the 2 on defense. I still believe this team will not be taken serious until the coach is replaced.

Having Randolph guard the two doesn’t sound like a good idea, again it goes back to the point that we are gonna have a weakness at more than one spot on the floor depending on what team we play. I hate the zone defense because to me that’s a cop out to cover weak one on one defensive players. Leave it to the NCAA and high school sports but when you reach the big boy league players should be able to hold their own water and if this team is just so athletic and talented let them play one on one for major stretches, do traps at half court and full court use them to your advantage.

u know syracuse runs a zone and jim boeheim is one of the best teams in the country ad always have a crazy good defense

look above..zone defenses, when ran properly and played well is a great defense

I’ve been thinking about the same thing. I don’t know that it would work for long stretches, but in certain situations playing a line-up of Felton/Gallo/AR/Stat/Turiaf or Mozgov could really freak people out. Even including Felton the average height of that line-up is 6’9″, even taller with Mosgov at C.

Offensively, if opposing SGs do not stay in Gallo’s face constantly he’ll be shooting over them with ease, or hopefully wrecking them in the post. AR gives up nothing in terms of foot speed and athleticism against your average SF, he can handle the rock pretty well and he’s the height of a center with crazy ups. Amar’e is the best scoring PF in the NBA. And Turiaf and Mozgov will at least not get in your way too bad. And they can all more or less run the break. Half of our offense may be Felton just lobbing it at the rim and trusting that somebody on our team is gonna get up and flush it.

Defensively, that is one tall, quick, athletic, shot-blocking zone right there. I could get with a sort of box-and-one where Felton is hounding the other team’s ball-handler and the rest of the NY Basketball Giants out there are just cold swatting shots.

It shouldn’t be plan A, but against certain match ups or in certain situations… it could be really awesome.

U know the NBA and NCAA are two completely different games right?

The NCAA has a shorter 3 pt line allowing for zones to cover more ground and excel.

Also NBA players are just better shooters and will exploit a 2-3 in the pros.

Chris A,

Your article is BS! This is the NBA! Don’t put this year team in the same category as last year team. Unfair to assume this group isn’t going man up by holding each other accountable! Teams play zone to hide their weaknesses! Zone defenses are known to allow players to play soft by expecting help!

Zone has worked very well for the Orangemen for years and years.

Just ask Rautins or Hakim Warrick or Siekaly or DC or J Flynn or even Melo…

Those teams always had some long players.

Mixing in zone would most likely help these Knickerbockers.

Different leagues, different paces of games. Success with one system at an NCAA level doesn’t equal that on the NBA.

I’d play zone only at specifics periods of time to mix up the tempo of the game and throw the other team’s defense off balance. After that, a well organized man on man defense mixed up with a full court press seems useful to achieve the other teams offensive sets.
Like HaS also mentioned, it’s also useful to use them immediately out of time outs to wreck the other team’s specific play.
Other than that, having a zone defense all game long can be easy to crack once you understand the weak links of the opposing team, so I’m pretty much against it.

Oh yeah, and Gallo at the 2? Come on. I know many have tremendous expectations on him, but to guard and create his own shot against any speedy SG of this league… No way.

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I’ve never seen a zone that didn’t have a solution.

Sure, as the others have said, run the 1-3-1 in effective spurts along with other zones and man to man as the situation dictates (insert plug for a defense coach here)until the offense figures it out. Then, switch. Change it up.

It has to a mixed defense. To stick to only one zone for an extended period, against a team with shooters is handing a victory to a good opposing offense coach.

Same complaint here as I have with the offense. Running the same zone ad nauseum is the same as running the same offense ad nauseum. It becomes a one tool toolbox.

Would you hire a carpenter, plumber, or electrician who has only one tool in his toolbox?

get your point but i dont like that lineup for me it would be felt, will/mason, ar/gallo, amare, turiaf

It’s very fashionable for everybody to dismiss the zone as ineffective over longer periods of time. But fact is, it works pretty well very often against a lot of teams.

Gentry used it against the Lakers for several quarters at a time very effectively and they are the world champ!

I think the knicks should use it extensively and (I’m guessing) probably will. Just don’t use it against the “really” good outside shooting team like the Magic for instance.

I obviously understand that but i think that if its a properly ran zone defense it could work…i dont understand the stigma that the zone is “immature” or w.e it can be a very useful defense to work to your teams strengths and to force the offense to paly your way bc they arent very used to it

Agreed. Zone for the entire duration of an NBA game would be broken down by all the good shooters.

For mixing it up to wreck plays is a brilliant way to use it.

But was it the same zone the whole time, or did they change it up with different zones?

It’s hard to say just how extensively that it can be used since all the great shooters will break it down.

However, the zone is definitely nice in spots, so why not use it since it’s not disallowed?

Throw everything AND the kitchen sink (if legal) at the opposition.

Well then are you saying it is fair to assume that this year’s cast will be able to “man up” without any real explanation other than the idea that the players will hold each other accountable?

Who was the last good defender to come out of Syracuse?

I find this post silly. IMO there is zero chance that Gallo is the starting SG, and anyone who entertains such a notion is being silly.

Chandler will be the starting SG unless Mason beats him out.

Gallo might play some SG on offense, switching roles with Chandler. But Gallo cannot guard SGs, at all, the idea is just ridic. I will bet you anything that the lineup proposed will never start for us.

@ Has–> “Who was the last good defender to come out of Syracuse?”

Hakim Warrick and Johnny Flynn. Both played well in the zone, but both are tough customers playing man-to-man.

This is something that should be in any teams repetoire…. as well as man to man. It depends who is on the court and who the opposition is. I hate to see us numbering players, 1 thru 5 that is. Defensive matchups shouldn’t be who’s our 2 and who is there 2. For example, I wouldn’t want Gallo guarding Dwayne Wade. But I have no problem having him guard Mike Miller. Accentuate the positives, hide the negatives. Gallo shouldn’t guard quick guards, small forwards. But, with his length, should guard perimeter spot up shooters (Ray Allen, Mike Miller, Korver, etc.) or slow PGs who can’t penetrate (Duhon, lol).
What I think is really important is stopping the opposing PG, that’s why I like Felton and TD. Having Stat, AR, Turiaf, and Da Governor Mozgov just to provide length as size down-low is a big upgrade (yes Lee was suspect on D, but most of the time he was our only big guarding the biggest guy on the court, so he was put in a tough position every night).
But, above all, defensive is mostly effort, so we’ll see.

Gallo held his own on D last year. He proved a lot of naysayers wrong. But to some people he will always be some Euro scrub, what can you do…

I think he’ll be fine on D as long as you don’t give him unrealistic matchups, i.e quicker smaller guards…

Zone D gets a bad rap like it’s the wishbone offense of pro hoops but it is a standard situational defensive option that many pro teams use as necessary. It was used to great effect last year in the NBA playoffs.

D’Antoni and staff are going to have to try numerous combinations for various game scenarios w different personnel. The zone will most likely be in the tool box.

I could see Douglas being very effective in a zone, even possibly Timofey M. as a long, athletic, reactive 5 for brief stretches.

We finally have a decent bench and we are going to go zone? No, thanks. And why is Gallo starting at the 2? I like his D, but I’d prefer that we keep our best wing a little fresher so that he has legs to shoot with. He’s going to have to get up to the 18 ppg range this year. Randolph should be in the second unit with Walker, Douglas and Chandler/Azu/Mason.

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