Playing Zone D going forward

[AfgHusky15]

Jalen in an interview today said the team was practicing Zone defense a lot because coaches thought it was effective. I have actually liked KO's use of various zone defenses it seems to throw off the opposing teams' offenses and I think it helps the bigs (especially Brimah) rebound more effectively on the defensive end.

It seems the coaches are going to use zone more often going forward. I like the move, especially with a depleted team. Strange to see UConn using zone so often, but I am in favor of whatever works.

 

[Sky ball]

With a short bench less stress and fatigue than MM.

 

[Thirty Three]

Jalen in an interview today said the team was practicing Zone defense a lot because coaches thought it was effective. I have actually liked KO's use of various zone defenses it seems to throw off the opposing teams' offenses and I think it helps the bigs (especially Brimah) rebound more effectively on the defensive end.

It seems the coaches are going to use zone more often going forward. I like the move, especially with a depleted team. Strange to see UConn using zone so often, but I am in favor of whatever works.

As a group they really look like they understand zone d pretty well. They space well, move well, and rotate smoothly. I've been pretty impressed with their understanding and execution of zone defense. I like this idea based on what I've seen so far.

 

[Devland]

It helps with the short bench but teams tend to get better at attacking zones as the season goes on.

 

[August_West]

They have no choice. It conserves energy and supposedly reduces foul trouble although brimah and facey could pick up fouls in a locker room.

What I'm really worried about is Jalen. Peopke talked about how he disappeared in the second half against Ohio St. He didnt. Ohio state was running ball denial, often with 2 people for 3/4 of the court on him that half. The energy he needs to expend just to break that would gas anyone quick. So sometimes he simply can't try to or he is going to be blown up. Decent teams are going to do that the rest of the year. We need to find away to make teams pay for that.

 

[selles]

What I'm really worried about is Jalen. Peopke talked about how he disappeared in the second half against Ohio St. He didnt. Ohio state was running ball denial, often with 2 people for 3/4 of the court on him that half. The energy he needs to expend just to break that would gas anyone quick. So sometimes he simply can't try to or he is going to be blown up. Decent teams are going to do that the rest of the year. We need to find away to make teams pay for that.

1/2 the solution is for Vital and Purvis to bring the ball up court more, which I think they can do. But the more important 1/2 is for Jalen to go to the hole when he gets the ball, earlier and more often. The more he does that, the more of a rep for it he'll get, and the more foul calls he'll get. He's capable and will figure that out. It's the next step in the evolution of a UConn guard.

 

[Walker11]

Not a huge fan of running the zone as a primarily D, typically. With such a front-court heavy team with our injuries, I think zone will allow us to mitigate our lack of foot speed. For instance, a Jackson/Facey/Brimah front court would probably get shredded against a small, quick team running a man2man.

 

[HooperScooper]

They have no choice. It conserves energy and supposedly reduces foul trouble although brimah and facey could pick up fouls in a locker room.

What I'm really worried about is Jalen. Peopke talked about how he disappeared in the second half against Ohio St. He didnt. Ohio state was running ball denial, often with 2 people for 3/4 of the court on him that half. The energy he needs to expend just to break that would gas anyone quick. So sometimes he simply can't try to or he is going to be blown up. Decent teams are going to do that the rest of the year. We need to find away to make teams pay for that.

Yeah, I posted my concern about that after Gilbert went down. At the last time out of the Syracuse game Jalen bent over and went to the floor on his knees before going into the huddle because he was so tired. It's definitely a concern the rest of the season. But there's not much choice.

 

[Kemba'sYogurt]

 

[80shusky]

I like that he has been mixing defenses between zone, man and full court. I think showing different looks is the most important thing for changing tempo during the game and confusing the other team.

 

[mauconnfan]

They really have no choice at all. As stated above teams will run smaller 5's out there to get the bigs away form the basket and make them foul when driving. It's a must with 8 people and I fully expect at some time we will see the kid from Rocky Hill at points during the league campaign, it's the hand they are dealt. Using it at a high percentage during games and going back to man when it's to the wire is pretty much a must.

 

[champs99and04]

I hate it. I'll always hate it, and I hate it especially with a young team.

We still have eight players. That's enough to play real basketball.

 

[jibsey]

We are going to have to win ugly because in case it hasn't been noticed our offense is no juggernaught, so any combo KO uses to get the job done is fine. Jalen is basically going to blanketed all season by opposing defenses, I expect them to deny him the ball and that means that Vital and Rodney are going to have a lot of open shots. And that has me worried.

 

[JSM1970]

More to do with having a completely undisciplined front court who commits too many fouls/minute

Several teams don't go past 8 deep rotations

With a short bench less stress and fatigue than MM.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I hate it. I'll always hate it, and I hate it especially with a young team.

We still have eight players. That's enough to play real basketball.

Did you hate it when the '99 team played lots of zone? Calhoun played tons of 2-2-1 zone press defense. Any coach limiting himself to either man or zone isn't doing his job. Calhoun, at his best would switch the defense every time the other team started having success. Keep them off balance and unsure of the defense.

 

[August_West]

We are going to have to win ugly because in case it hasn't been noticed our offense is no juggernaught, so any combo KO uses to get the job done is fine. Jalen is basically going to blanketed all season by opposing defenses, I expect them to deny him the ball and that means that Vital and Rodney are going to have a lot of open shots. And that has me worried.

Our offense isn't, but am I crazy thinking that in the last couple games our offense has looked better than it has in a couple years?

Not in final results obviously but in execution .

What I'm looking at is that we are running stuff and getting the shots we want. We just aren't hitting them enough yet. What used to drive me crazy the last couple years ( and actually the first two games this year when we were at full strength) was pounding and passing at the perimeter until 7 on shot clock and then hoisting contested shots or driving clogged lanes . Terrible. Im not seeing that the last couple . We are getting good shots in the flow of the offense. If we can knock down the looks we will have an easier time if it.
The real killer is the turnovers. That is our biggest issue.

 

[August_West]

I hate it. I'll always hate it, and I hate it especially with a young team.

We still have eight players. That's enough to play real basketball.

If we could pick the 8 players on our roster to play " real basketball " with I'd probably agree with you . ( brimah facey Adams Gilbert purvis larrier Durham Jackson) . Zone is anti uconn. But we were dealt a hand where the benefits of it are needed for our current roster.

 

[Thirty Three]

Our offense isn't, but am I crazy thinking that in the last couple games our offense has looked better than it has in a couple years?

Not in final results obviously but in execution .

What I'm looking at is that we are running stuff and getting the shots we want. We just aren't hitting them enough yet. What used to drive me crazy the last couple years ( and actually the first two games this year when we were at full strength) was pounding and passing at the perimeter until 7 on shot clock and then hoisting contested shots or driving clogged lanes . Terrible. Im not seeing that the last couple . We are getting good shots in the flow of the offense. If we can knock down the looks we will have an easier time if it.
The real killer is the turnovers. That is our biggest issue.

I agree. I've noticed better execution as well. The exception was the second half of the last game. Once they shut Jalen down a few times he stopped driving to the hoop and our offense got a bit stagnant. It's a bit disheartening that they still aren't scoring the ball very well, but I have to believe Vance and CV will start hitting some shots. Generally though, they have looked better, particularly when guys are driving to the basket they've looked very good at finding, and kicking out to an open man.

 

[champs99and04]

If we could pick the 8 players on our roster to play " real basketball " with I'd probably agree with you . ( brimah facey Adams Gilbert purvis larrier Durham Jackson) . Zone is anti uconn. But we were dealt a hand where the benefits of it are needed for our current roster.

Right, and I agree that those players have limitations. But those limitations are mostly on the offensive end.

 

[gtcam]

I hate it. I'll always hate it, and I hate it especially with a young team.

We still have eight players. That's enough to play real basketball.

Throwing zones at teams during the season doesn't mean they aren't playing "real" basketball
JC threw zones at a lot of teams especially during 1st NC run - guess that wasn't "real" hoops

 

[HuskyHawk]

If we could pick the 8 players on our roster to play " real basketball " with I'd probably agree with you . ( brimah facey Adams Gilbert purvis larrier Durham Jackson) . Zone is anti uconn. But we were dealt a hand where the benefits of it are needed for our current roster.

Where does this "zone is anti-UConn" nonsense come from? Calhoun played zone presses a LOT, until the later years. My very favorite team on D, the Dream team of 89-90 played mostly zone. If UConn has an identity on D, it used to be for multiple switching defenses and high pressure. I'd love to see us getting back to that instead of playing man so predictably and getting carved up.

 

[August_West]

Where does this "zone is anti-UConn" nonsense come from? Calhoun played zone presses a LOT, until the later years. My very favorite team on D, the Dream team of 89-90 played mostly zone. If UConn has an identity on D, it used to be for multiple switching defenses and high pressure. I'd love to see us getting back to that instead of playing man so predictably and getting carved up.

Zone press is not a 1/4 court full possession defensive posture. It is absolute fact that Calhoun hated playing 1/4 court zone but he did use it from time to time if he felt it give us a better chance to win . A notable time was on the 2003 sweet 16 Calhoun switched to zone look late in the game for 8 minutes or so to contain tj Ford . And he often used it on inbounds, but Calhoun felt that men should beat men mano a mano

 

[Chief00]

Other than an occasional in game change up - I am absolutely against UConn playing a zone. It's not our identity or what made us great. All those shooting percentages that Coach Miller has charted miss the big picture - we get our juices going playing mano, mano tough defense - it makes our offense and confidence better when correctly done. This zone stuff is fools gold.

 

[Chief00]

Did you hate it when the '99 team played lots of zone? Calhoun played tons of 2-2-1 zone press defense. Any coach limiting himself to either man or zone isn't doing his job. Calhoun, at his best would switch the defense every time the other team started having success. Keep them off balance and unsure of the defense.

A full court zone press speeds up the game; a half court zone is very different. Calhoun on a regukar basis would only use a half court zone on inbounds plays.