Zone

[phil sampieri]

I really had little trust in the Uconn zone until this year. It seems better than ever. Am I seeing things?

 

[WiseOne]

Of course you're seeing things! UCONN basketball being executed by young, talented HUSKIES!!!!!!!!

 

[bags27]

Agree! Clearly, they feared they'd be virtually challenged, so practiced the zone more and it's been effective, especially when Gabby and/or Pheesa run into foul trouble.

But with Natalie emerging, wondering whether they begin to play less of it against more teams (though certainly a lot of zone against the twin peaks of USC).

 

[rugbymate]

Agree with bags27 that a short bench with limited rebounding horsepower needs some protection against foul trouble. IMO, we'll see more zone this year(also last year Mo was a terrific defender against dribble penetration) . It will be interesting to see what Geno does with the press...i've always felt that if the press gets beat that the 3,4 and 5 positions are vulnerable to open court drives to the basket(2 on 1 and 3 on 2) that leave the bigs prone to fouling.

 

[HopJim]

Agree! Clearly, they feared they'd be virtually challenged, so practiced the zone more and it's been effective, especially when Gabby and/or Pheesa run into foul trouble.

But with Natalie emerging, wondering whether they begin to play less of it against more teams (though certainly a lot of zone against the twin peaks of USC).

Seems like the zone lends itself to double teaming bigs as they get ball under basket. At least it did with Baylor. Have seen Geno run so little zone through the years that don't know if Baylor was a one off or start of a trend.

 

[Teacherdeb]

I really had little trust in the Uconn zone until this year. It seems better than ever. Am I seeing things?

I thought the same, but read something this morning where Geno was talking about the dangers of a zone with a small team. Hmmm

 

[Kibitzer]

Geno likes the 1-2-2 zone.

Also he used to mix up the "D." M2M after a bucket and Z after a miss or TO.

 

[huskeynut]

If using a zone confuses our opponents, I'm all for it.

UConn is known for its "in your face" man to man. If teams now have to think and recognize when we switch to zone, good for us. And how many teams can recognize the switch without their coach telling them from the sidelines? Not many I bet.

 

[Vowelguy]

I thought the same, but read something this morning where Geno was talking about the dangers of a zone with a small team. Hmmm

Zone teams dont rebound as well since harder to box out. Zone combined with small lineup could mean lots of RBing probs. At least that's my guess on what he was referring to.

 

[Gus Mahler]

I thought they would play zone almost exclusively when Nat was in the game. If she can function well in man then that would be gravy.

 

[UcMiami]

I've always liked Uconn's zone and have often thought they should play a bit more of it. You can always run into teams that can shoot you out of a zone on any given night, but the mixture of zone and man can be really effective in messing with the opponents rhythm and their strengths. And it usually is a good way to protect players from fouls.