Let me guess, y’all still think zone a bad idea???

[husky429]

In Hurley's presser, I'm pretty sure he said they were in a 1-3-1 on the awful Sanogo foul possession. I didn't notice it but wasn't looking for it either. It would explain why NMST was out of sorts on that possession though.

It may have been a 1-3-1 but it was terribly run. You basically can't even tell because so many guys were out of position.

 

[Umami Zen]

Did Allen ever go left?

Didn't have to..Unfortunately--Goin' right was working for him

 

[Brandon86]

Was more of a 2-3 but was definitely a zone. Played great defense, Sanogo ended up being the closest guy to Allen and he just has to be smarter on the close out

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We played this perfectly too. Just like you said he just fouled him on the closeout. We had great reacting defenders. Not great man to man defenders. This is the exact reason I been saying we should’ve been mixing it up this year. This is also for ALL the guys who be screaming “Why play a zone if they hitting 3’s?” Look how extended this zone is! This ain’t a zone you play to let them shoot 3’s. We so athletic we cover a lot of ground. We basically use the zone and our athleticism to shrink the court.

 

[Brandon86]

I much prefer man to man, but I've always liked the idea of occasionally throwing a team off by tossing in a zone every once in a while for a trip or 2, especially if a team seems to be on a roll. When the zones appear out of nowhere, it really takes the other team by surprise.

I love man to man too, but we just not good at it. We are use to having guards like Napier and Boatright that are dogs on defense. We haven’t had guards that can get down and badger other guards like that in years. My main thing with Hurley is, if we can’t stay in front of anybody why not try something else?

 

[Doctor Hoop]

For those talking about zones like it is some 1980's style, pack it in 2-3, you should sit this thread out. NBA teams play zones to stop 3's. The Heat in particular do a great job defending 3's out of a stretch 2-3. But hey, maybe you know more about basketball than Erik Spoelstra.

Whatever Hurley does, UConn can not just sit in a base man-to-man with that dumb hard hedge. At least mix up the man. switch on screens then go over on screens. Anything to make the other team have to adjust.

Most coaches mix up their defenses quite a bit, and I think Hurley needs to do that.

You know, a 1-3-1 trap to get the ball out of Allen's hands might have been useful ...

 

[Doctor Hoop]

It may have been a 1-3-1 but it was terribly run. You basically can't even tell because so many guys were out of position.

I thought it was actually fairly well run, as they ended up with a fadeaway 30 footer with 2 on the clock. The error was the foul.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Didn't have to..Unfortunately--Goin' right was working for him

Yes, and at least once got fouled by Jackson. But he couldn't take it all the way left, he has to stop and shoot right.

 

[Skiblets]

In Hurley's presser, I'm pretty sure he said they were in a 1-3-1 on the awful Sanogo foul possession. I didn't notice it but wasn't looking for it either. It would explain why NMST was out of sorts on that possession though.

They were. Think that was the only possession they did.

 

[husky429]

I thought it was actually fairly well run, as they ended up with a fadeaway 30 footer with 2 on the clock. The error was the foul.

Oh I didn't mind the defensive possession. Going to zone was good. We had the length to play that zone very well. I was just saying our guys were out of position. We don't play enough zone for it to come naturally to them... if we played 5 mins a game of zone throughout the season, using it when we're desperate in games like this would make it that much more effective.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Once again, a guy that doesn't even understand the concept of defense, telling the world some high school zone is the way to go. Or maybe it's junior high.

I know there's at least one coach in the country that plays zone. I wonder why all the rest if them are so clueless?

Just about every coach but ours plays zone some of the time. It needs to be in the toolbox. Last night called for a box and 1 or similar. Our guys over helped all night and left their man open. NMSU also ran plays to get switches so Allen could ISO on Polley whenever he was in. You have to adjust to that.

 

[Giddyup5]

Oh I didn't mind the defensive possession. Going to zone was good. We had the length to play that zone very well. I was just saying our guys were out of position. We don't play enough zone for it to come naturally to them... if we played 5 mins a game of zone throughout the season, using it when we're desperate in games like this would make it that much more effective.

Which is part of the bigger problem of our defensive scheme.

We need to be less predictable. Mix up our pick and role defense. Hard hedge, go under, switch.

Add a 2-3 or 1-3-1 zone.

Hurley would rather have his guys play 1 scheme perfect and beat it to death in practice, then have 3 or 4 schemes that are played consistently at 80%. IMO against elite coaches you need the variability.

We aren’t playing in the nba where we are defending against professionals who have the talent, skill, and experience to adjust different defenses. We play against college kids who are going to get confused by switching defenses. They don’t have the experience to adjust on the fly.

We really missed an opportunity this year. We actually had an experienced team with players returning who KNEW the base defensive scheme. RJ, Martin, Whaley did not need a lot of practice on the principles of the hard hedge man to man defense. Sanogo, polley, Jackson, and gaffney needed more reps but were comfortable with the principles. It was the PERFECT year to add in new defensive schemes with a veteran team. We didn’t.

Next year, we will be losing 4 of our 7 rotation players. The new transfers and returning players will have to learn the base man to man defensive scheme. They will not be able, IMO, to add any complexity to their defensive identity.

Huge missed opportunity by the staff.