Can someone explain the zone logic?

[ChrisShivers]

Saw this in an article from post game after Bowie State ...

Krzyzewski suggested he would not use the zone as much in the regular season against teams the Blue Devils are more evenly matched with, and he added that the Blue Devils will likely revert to more man-to-man pressure when Duval, Jordan Goldwire and Alex O’Connell return from their suspensions.

Is this implying Duke will zone more against lesser teams? If so, what is the logic there?

 

[DukeRulesBasketball]

Saw this in an article from post game after Bowie State ...

Krzyzewski suggested he would not use the zone as much in the regular season against teams the Blue Devils are more evenly matched with, and he added that the Blue Devils will likely revert to more man-to-man pressure when Duval, Jordan Goldwire and Alex O’Connell return from their suspensions.

Is this implying Duke will zone more against lesser teams? If so, what is the logic there?

I think zone especially a 2-3 zone would be better defense to play than man to man due to our size and length of our front court! But then again I’m not the GOAT!

 

[Dattier]

Saw this in an article from post game after Bowie State ...

Krzyzewski suggested he would not use the zone as much in the regular season against teams the Blue Devils are more evenly matched with, and he added that the Blue Devils will likely revert to more man-to-man pressure when Duval, Jordan Goldwire and Alex O’Connell return from their suspensions.

Is this implying Duke will zone more against lesser teams? If so, what is the logic there?

I read it more as "everything else being equal, we'll go man-to-man." But maybe we'll use games against badly overmatched opponents to fine-tune the zone b/c we won't want to roll it out b/c we need it in a close game unless we've already used it some.
And I'm presuming he specified the regular season b/c there's less prep time and general familiarity in the NCAAT.
I also take it to mean he thinks our man-to-man will be formidable.

 

[DukeRulesBasketball]

I read it more as "everything else being equal, we'll go man-to-man." But maybe we'll use games against badly overmatched opponents to fine-tune the zone b/c we won't want to roll it out b/c we need it in a close game unless we've already used it some.
And I'm presuming he specified the regular season b/c there's less prep time and general familiarity in the NCAAT.
I also take it to mean he thinks our man-to-man will be formidable.

Could be what Coach K was saying. I would like to see more zone this season for us though IMO.

 

[dukephysics]

If you want an explanation of the intricacies of the zone defense (or any defense for that matter), slide on over to THR. There's a special coach there with a mafia backing that has forgotten more about the zone defense than Coach K will ever know.

 

[RanDEVILman]

I think the explanation is simple: if you are better than your opponent at almost every spot...then play man to man. There is no hiding a bad player in that situation. While Duke would be a good zone team, I always feel like you can't be very good at a lot of things. K is a man coach. He has used zone to mask weaknesses in the past...this team has very few.

 

[dukephysics]

While Duke would be a good zone team, I always feel like you can't be very good at a lot of things.

I think this is it. I think especially with a very young team, Coach K just wants to get really good at the thing he'd prefer anyways and try to not get too cute.

 

[dukehokie]

Two questions are asked by most coaches who play both man and zone; can we guard they’re best players individually and can we afford to let them shoot. I personally interpret this as K referring to playing teams that go small. We can guard teams like Arizona, Kentucky, UNC, etc., but can we guard the small quick lineups we’ll see from ND, VT and a few others (not counting who we may see in the tournament). This team has the length to play an effective zone, but hopefully they never have to rely on it. Javin, Tre and Gary staying out of foul trouble will be imperative.

 

[Mac9192]

I don't know how much zone we'll play this year. Doubt it will be much. We have trees down low, so shots can and will get altered if the other team gets past our guards. A great luxury to have some serious size down low, something we haven't had in a few years.
This team has what we've all been craving--size, length and athletic talent.

 

[Devilinside]

I think what K is saying is that with all of the talent they have, they do not need to use the zone as much for purposes like giving key players a rest or slowing the tempo to something that suits us better. We can now play pressing man-to-man all game if we want.

 

[dukephysics]

Maybe he said it to screw with Roy. He can break it out when we are stomping the piss out of them at some point this year.

 

[dukesince91]

It sounded like to me that since we had 3 guards out we would zone more with a taller traditional lineup. If we have a 2 guard lineup then we're playing more zone, 3 guard lineup equals more m2m.

 

[2 skerz 3_rivals208847]

I think zone especially a 2-3 zone would be better defense to play than man to man due to our size and length of our front court! But then again I’m not the GOAT!

No. When you have bigs and rim protectors you try and play passing lanes and tight man to man. That way if you do get beat on a back cut or off the dribble you aren't totally exposed. Tough to do when you don't have rim protectors as we should know well!

 

[Quavarius]

Interesting quote. When he did it against Bowie, I thought it was because we were winning 32-5 and it gave us a chance to work on zone since we were killing them man to man. I also thought it was a way to not embarrass Bowie toooooo bad since they were missing some players as well.

 

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