Benefits Of A Zone Defense

[Bevo-Stevo]

I am no basketball guru and plenty of folks here and elsewhere know much more about the game.

That said, regarding this Texas team, wouldn't a zone defense do a couple of things?

1) Keep the team fresher during the course of a game. Much discussion here about the team being tired and wearing out. Not that you don't move and expend energy playing zone, but it seems to me that it would be useful in helping them preserve some energy.

2) Rebounding and keeping the opponent off the offensive glass, might benefit from a zone.

3) Just to mix it up...a change of pace. Giving the opponent a different look at times might help the team. Coach Gail did that last night against Tech and it paid off big.

Anyway, just my useless $.02 on the matter.

 

[applewhite52]

1. I think you spend the same ammount of energy in a zone. Your not just standing around, you are working just as hard.

2. And I always hated rebounding out of a zone. You have to be more dicsplined because you have to find a guy to box out and its not the same person everytime. In man you can just box out your guy. Teaqms generally rebound worse in a zone

 

[LonghornCatholic]

A zone can keep the defense a little fresher because you don't have to chase a shooter from the far wing/corner to the opposite wing/corner.But a zone defense, a good one anyway, is still playing "man-to-man". They are not simply defending a spot on the floor, per se, but defending a man in their zone.

So yes, you don't run as much in a zone defense but you are still playing tight hustling defense.
In my opinion, if you're running a zone mainly to stay fresh then you have bigger issues; a weak bench, no bigs, foul trouble, etc.

A disciplined zone defense is also good to use when the other team is obviously more athletic than you.
You can clog the middle or stop penetration with a good zone.

But then again, a good offense has ways to manipulate a zone, too. So it all just depends on matchups and situations.
Basically, yes a zone defense can be used as a strategy to keep your team fresh, but it’s also possible to hinder your offense with a zone; if your team is the run-n-gun type, for example.

 

[Horns11]

No one even teaches zone any longer at the high school level. Kids pick it up way too early from rec leagues in order to win games, and then they don't know how to cover m2m when the real pressure begins.

I thought our man defense had been great up until NU obviously. And that loss was more on rebounding and the lack thereof. Plus, playing a whole bunch of man defense prepares you pretty well in case you do need to switch to a zone on the fly.

 

[Bob in Houston]

Defensive rebounding is much harder in a zone.

 

[cochamps]

As mentioned rebounding out of a zone is less effective, but I think it would help a team with a short bench. I like the "change up" aspect...

 

[2222Horn]

Remember that there's limited practice time. Do you want a new offense or an added wrinkle of a zone? Duke doesn't use a zone (and yes Coach K gets criticized for it) and MSU rarely uses the zone. With a lot of underclassmen, you can afford to take the losses during the season to make sure they learn the base man defense (this isn't football, you're playing for the tourney). That's why Coach Izzo is willing to take on a hard schedule (and the losses)--though it seemed to have backfired this year.

 

[GemStateJim]

The zone defense that Baylor ran today was a great example of how such defenses can be double-edged swords. The Bears limited us to 35.6 percent field-goal accuracy and blocked a few shots, but they also gave up a whopping 21 offensive rebounds and got out-boarded 42-26 overall.

 

[LakeErieHorn]

The zone is not why bu got out rebounded. They sucked at blocking out. You have to find a man and put a body on him regardless of the defense you run. All defenses can be a double edged sword if you can't rebound.

 

[GemStateJim]

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[Bob in Houston]

It's some of both. The back-liners of the Baylor zone stand and watch quite a bit. It's an example of how poorly they've been coached.