I've always been an advocate of using more (but not exclusively) zone defense, especially aggressive zone defenses. It was the one knock I had on Monty's game coaching, although even he started mixing it in while at Cal.
I've had the same criticism of Martin, even though his man defense was excellent. Bottom line is zone defenses stop cold some teams, is a good change up for other teams, can be used to stop a run, and of course protects players, as well as helps vs athletic slashing/driving teams.
Recently, looking at the makeup of our team next year, I've been an even bigger advocate of the zone, and think we should practice multiple types of zones. It will help mask the lack of mobility of our two 7 foot centers, and help a lot to slow teams from just driving into the lane (because our perimeter defenders won't be strong)... one of the biggest keys to disrupting a defense.
But the analysis in this WSJ article is eye opening to me, and makes me even a bigger advocate of zone defenses (if that's possible):
Some excerpts:
[SIZE=5]Why Zone Defenses Are Taking Over[/SIZE]
Between rule changes and stylistic shifts in the game, coaches are increasingly trying what may have once been unthinkable: playing zone
Bill Self looked onto the court in one of Kansas' games this year and could only think of one word to describe what he was seeing: ugly.
The Jayhawks had fallen behind by as much as 12 to Kentucky... and the game looked lost. Self was desperate. So he gritted his teeth and did something that went against one of his foundational coaching principles: He played a zone defense.
Self admitted it wasn't anything special.... But he couldn't ignore the reality of what happened after they went to zone.
"We would not have won the game," he said, "unless we switched up." ...
Coaches who made their names with man-to-man defenses are now switching to zones in the biggest games of their seasons... That's because people across the sport have been increasingly coming around to an idea that was heretical not long ago: It would be crazy not to go zone sometimes.
Critics used to assail the zone as a lazy gimmick. They insisted that a well-executed man-to-man would always make it harder to score. Bob Knight went most of his career refusing to try a zone. There was a time when fans would expect Mike Krzyzewski to wear North Carolina blue before he played one.
For decades, the zone has been most closely associated with one coach, Syracuse's Jim Boeheim. The Orange reached five Final Fours and won the 2003 title in large part because they executed the zone...
But opposing coaches used to know when they would have to prepare to play against one. And those instances were rare. Not long ago, Miami coach Jim Larranaga said, the Hurricanes faced zone in about 5% of their games. Now, he says, it's "almost every single game."
That rapid growth, not coincidentally, comes at a time when the NCAA has revamped some of basketball's rules to create a more free-flowing game. One of the biggest changes involves more strictly enforcing hand-check fouls by defenders on the perimeter. Coaches see zones as a way to reduce the pressure on their defenders to aggressively harass opponents, thereby reducing foul trouble.
... Before missing this year's tournament, Syracuse made two out of the previous four Final Fours with a defense that consistently ranked among the stingiest in the country, while Rick Pitino's zone press carried Louisville to the 2013 title.
But what makes this shift in thinking so bewildering is that it seems to flout decades of basketball orthodoxy. The commonly held belief has always been that good outside shooting can beat zone defenses. And players are shooting more threes than ever now.
It should make no sense that so many coaches are adopting zones. But that also may be their exact reasoning.
When post players are capable of shooting threes, they draw the biggest defenders to the outside. That means these defenders aren't there to help protect the interior when guards drive. "There's more spacing on the floor, which spreads out the defense," says former NBA and college star Grant Hill...In a zone, though, the best shot blockers camp out near the rim and do what they do best...
The first week of the NCAA tournament owed some of its biggest upsets to this sudden willingness to mix it up. Andy Enfield, the coach of No. 11 seed Southern California, usually prefers man-to-man, but noticed early in their first-round win against No. 6 SMU that the zone was more effective. That surprising switch is how he stunned UCLA earlier this season.
Before Xavier's second-round game against No. 3 Florida State, Musketeers coach Chris Mack decided he needed to do it, too...Mack was right. No. 11 Xavier pummeled the Seminoles, 91-66, and became the lowest seed in this weekend's Sweet 16.
I've had the same criticism of Martin, even though his man defense was excellent. Bottom line is zone defenses stop cold some teams, is a good change up for other teams, can be used to stop a run, and of course protects players, as well as helps vs athletic slashing/driving teams.
Recently, looking at the makeup of our team next year, I've been an even bigger advocate of the zone, and think we should practice multiple types of zones. It will help mask the lack of mobility of our two 7 foot centers, and help a lot to slow teams from just driving into the lane (because our perimeter defenders won't be strong)... one of the biggest keys to disrupting a defense.
But the analysis in this WSJ article is eye opening to me, and makes me even a bigger advocate of zone defenses (if that's possible):
Some excerpts:
[SIZE=5]Why Zone Defenses Are Taking Over[/SIZE]
Between rule changes and stylistic shifts in the game, coaches are increasingly trying what may have once been unthinkable: playing zone
Bill Self looked onto the court in one of Kansas' games this year and could only think of one word to describe what he was seeing: ugly.
The Jayhawks had fallen behind by as much as 12 to Kentucky... and the game looked lost. Self was desperate. So he gritted his teeth and did something that went against one of his foundational coaching principles: He played a zone defense.
Self admitted it wasn't anything special.... But he couldn't ignore the reality of what happened after they went to zone.
"We would not have won the game," he said, "unless we switched up." ...
Coaches who made their names with man-to-man defenses are now switching to zones in the biggest games of their seasons... That's because people across the sport have been increasingly coming around to an idea that was heretical not long ago: It would be crazy not to go zone sometimes.
Critics used to assail the zone as a lazy gimmick. They insisted that a well-executed man-to-man would always make it harder to score. Bob Knight went most of his career refusing to try a zone. There was a time when fans would expect Mike Krzyzewski to wear North Carolina blue before he played one.
For decades, the zone has been most closely associated with one coach, Syracuse's Jim Boeheim. The Orange reached five Final Fours and won the 2003 title in large part because they executed the zone...
But opposing coaches used to know when they would have to prepare to play against one. And those instances were rare. Not long ago, Miami coach Jim Larranaga said, the Hurricanes faced zone in about 5% of their games. Now, he says, it's "almost every single game."
That rapid growth, not coincidentally, comes at a time when the NCAA has revamped some of basketball's rules to create a more free-flowing game. One of the biggest changes involves more strictly enforcing hand-check fouls by defenders on the perimeter. Coaches see zones as a way to reduce the pressure on their defenders to aggressively harass opponents, thereby reducing foul trouble.
... Before missing this year's tournament, Syracuse made two out of the previous four Final Fours with a defense that consistently ranked among the stingiest in the country, while Rick Pitino's zone press carried Louisville to the 2013 title.
But what makes this shift in thinking so bewildering is that it seems to flout decades of basketball orthodoxy. The commonly held belief has always been that good outside shooting can beat zone defenses. And players are shooting more threes than ever now.
It should make no sense that so many coaches are adopting zones. But that also may be their exact reasoning.
When post players are capable of shooting threes, they draw the biggest defenders to the outside. That means these defenders aren't there to help protect the interior when guards drive. "There's more spacing on the floor, which spreads out the defense," says former NBA and college star Grant Hill...In a zone, though, the best shot blockers camp out near the rim and do what they do best...
The first week of the NCAA tournament owed some of its biggest upsets to this sudden willingness to mix it up. Andy Enfield, the coach of No. 11 seed Southern California, usually prefers man-to-man, but noticed early in their first-round win against No. 6 SMU that the zone was more effective. That surprising switch is how he stunned UCLA earlier this season.
Before Xavier's second-round game against No. 3 Florida State, Musketeers coach Chris Mack decided he needed to do it, too...Mack was right. No. 11 Xavier pummeled the Seminoles, 91-66, and became the lowest seed in this weekend's Sweet 16.