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How Tad learned to stop worrying and love the zone?

Should Tad start playing some zone defense?

  • Yes

    Votes: 42 87.5%

  • No

    Votes: 6 12.5%
  • Total voters
    48
Buffnik

Buffnik

Real name isn't Nik
Club Member
Junta Member
On the heels of accepting the advice of his assistants and throwing KU off its game by going to a zone defense while Ben Mills was in, there is now some thought about what that means in the next month & the rest of the season:

As Eamonn Brennan points out in the ESPN national blog:

Give Tad Boyle credit for smart scheduling: Between now and Dec. 21 -- when his Buffaloes play Oklahoma State at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas -- Colorado has just one game, a home tuneup against Elon. (And there's just one more fixture, Dec. 28's home visit by Georgia, between now and January.) That presents Colorado with a healthy amount of space in which it can dig down and make real improvements. Boyle already has a few in mind.

That link at the end is to a Henderson article in the Post today.

From that article:

Boyle may even practice more zone defense, which came in handy against the spotty Jayhawks. Boyle loathes zones but the new stricter hand-checking rules makes it more difficult to guard man-to-man.


“You’re seeing more teams playing more zones,” Boyle said. “We may run into more zones in conference play than we have in the past.”
 
Dammit. I clicked on a Henderson article. Nik warned us, but the warning was the sentence after the link, and I didn't get that far yet.
 
I voted yes, but with major caveats. I'm with Tad in my abhorrence of zones in general, but it is a great weapon to use in maybe 2-3 possessions per half.

If we see situations where Mills has to play long stretches, just like against Kansas, I'm for using it during those stretches too. Love Ben, but extended man pressure is not exactly a strength of his.
 
UF is playing zone against KU ... Squawks haven't scored in 8 minutes, and UF has scored 18 in that time.
 
I'm in favor of running some zone. I'm not sure that there are enough shooters in CBB today to make you really pay for it. Obviously there are good shooting teams that will make you pay, but the average NCAA team shoots 36% from mid-range and 34% from 3. To me, that's a compelling enough reason alone to run it.
 
Throw in zone. I love mixing it up and we have some guys it suits well. Then again, as a disclaimer I am a much bigger advocate of zone in the college game than many.i
 
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How about the 1-3-1? It's riskier, but it's more aggressive, and tends to mess with teams more over a short period of time.
 
I always kind of equated the zone with teams that didn't have the athletes to run a decent man defense. I can see the benefit f throwing it in to games to switch things up on teams.
 
sackman said:
I always kind of equated the zone with teams that didn't have the athletes to run a decent man defense. I can see the benefit f throwing it in to games to switch things up on teams.
Click to expand...

Often true.

The big exception to that is Syracuse. Their 2-3 is sick with how much space their athletes can cover and the way they get into passing lanes.
 
If the players can handle it, then definitely use it at times. Changing defensive schemes can affect the flow and rhythm of the opponents offense, particularly young pg's.
 
The illogical disdain for zone runs deep in basketball culture. I grew up watching John Chaney's Match-Up zone at Temple aka "Twilight Zone." It would actually fit this squad well because of the switching and man principles inherent to it. Though, I'm not sure if it's something you can execute for only a couple of possessions. Chaney spent the majority of his practice time on it. Can't imagine Boyle doing that and he is an excellent defensive coach without it. However, if there was a zone defense to be embraced by man-to-man zealots, it has to be Chaney's match-up. Boeheim's 2-3 is no doubt superb but has always been boosted by elite talent, as BuffNik noted, and does not replicate the type of suffocating defense that Boyle prefers.

Shoot back in '98 the zone vs man debate raged http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1012245/1/index.htm
 
There is only 1 zone that I really like and that is Tarkanian's Amoeba Match-up Zone....it incorporates so many more man principles than a 2-3 zone. It is a perfect compliment to a man defense in my opinion.
 
Our half court offense isn't so great. I'd prefer man-to-man so we get some transition opportunities. Of course, when Gordon was out zone was the right move.
 
If I remember right Boyle went to a zone when Mills first came in. It took KU off guard, and allowed Boyle to give his frontcourt some rest and keep them out of foul trouble in the 1st half. It was a great move.
 
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