Beating a Zone

[MikeyT42]

Whats done is done. Its time to move on, Marquette moves on this weekend to try to beat the 'Cuse 2-3.

Conventional wisdom would tell you to swing the ball around and work inside outside. With the lack of a post up game and no high post (or wide post) players on the roster. Not to mention Marquettes inability to shoot the ball beyond 19 feet. Add to the fact that our best slasher is still listed as "day to day". How do we go about attacking the zone? Here is my take on it.

1.) Let Matthews or Fitz work from the top of the key. They are bigger guys and might be able to work the high low a little better not to mention step in and hit a jumper from the elbow on occasion.

2.) Let DJ create from the wing. Slash and fill. Marquettes success will depend on him being able to get into the lane and dumping down into Ooze and Lazar.

3.) Big men. The big men need to fill the slots in the zone. High post or Low post it doesn't matter. They need to be able to recieve an entry pass and not freak out and have the ability to find. A cutter or a man open along the arc.

4.) Win in transition. Marquette needs to be able to get down the floor quickly and not let the zone defense take shape. Too many times last night MU let the friars settle in defensivly. Causing MU to settle for a less than acceptable shot.

Thats my take. I'd love to hear a little more from the X's and O's guys around here.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Are you being sarcastic? You just described exactly what Marquette already does. Matthews seems to be bringing up the majority of the time, with James on the wing. And Crean's been talking transition since the loss to Alabama!

[ecompt]

DJ doesn't want to slash and fill, he'd rather take the uncontested 22-footer that invariably clangs off the side of the rim. Pitt got the ball inside the zone at the foul line last night, but I don't think we have anyone who can catch the ball and distribute it from there. And we certainly don't have anyone who can hit a shot from there.

[spiral97]

Are you being sarcastic? You just described exactly what Marquette already does. Matthews seems to be bringing up the majority of the time, with James on the wing. And Crean's been talking transition since the loss to Alabama!

no he's not PRN.. it might be what marquette has striven to do earlier this season but they certainly made no effort to do almost any of what he said last night.. I agree with his strategy points mostly.. difference between last night and mikey's approach:
1.) I saw very little work from Fitz at the top of the key last night.. matthews was the only one that did what mikey suggested - and guess what - he was actually fairly decent offensively
2.) DJ was not slashing hardly at all last night.. hardly saw him dump off to the bigs unless you count the airba.. I mean.. "toss" to barro...  DJ was shooting threes.. Mikey is advocating focusing him on getting into the lane
3.) bigs were hardly filling the slots.. they need to challenge in that position on offense and maintain their position on defense (did they get a single charge called in their favor last night?)
4.) there was almost NO transition last night.. more often than not I saw DJ _WALKING_ cross court with the ball (and sometimes only looking at his feet) rather than pressing in quick and creating transition opportunities.

I'll add a few more
5.) restrict 3pt shots as follows:
a.) fitz and cubillan: only allowed 3 misses each
b.) DJ: only allowed 2 misses
c.) McNeal (if he plays), Matthews, and Hayward: only allowed 3 misses total between the two of them
d.) nobody else is allowed to take ANY under ANY circumstances.
this means we limit misses to 11 (a third less than last night's result).  The only exception to this is if a player is shooting better than 45% then they can continue until their percentage falls below that threshold.

6.) During the last 5 minutes of each half if Marquette is up or down by less than 6 points there should be no player on the court who has missed 3 or more FTs AND have a FT% less than 65% (unless unavoidable to maintain a 5 man team).

7.) Aim for a minimum of 2 passes on a minimum of 50% of possessions.

8.) Any player who accumulates 3 turnovers shall be benched for a minimum of 10 game minutes and then allowed to play again.  If they accumulate 5 turnovers they should be benched for the remainder of the game (unless unavoidable to maintain a 5 man team).

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Let me clarify...that is exactly what Marquette "attempts" to do. I realize they're not doing it very well.

[rocky_warrior]

sprial - 5abcd, 6, and 8 require a lot of "over thinking" by the players.  I suggest you simplify the strategy - our team seems to have talent but can get bogged down by what they're being taught.

I assume you've sent these suggestions to Crean? 

[Sir Lawrence]

To beat a zone, you have to puncture its middle, not just trim the edges. You have to get the ball into the gut and score inside or force the defenders to converge, and then shoot 3's after the ball gets passed out. Three pointers taken after pass-outs give the shooter time to see the defenders coming.

When you just stand around the perimeter, the shots typically have to be taken more quickly with less sense of exactly where the defenders are. Also it is more difficult to shoot accurately when you have to focus on the rim quickly (after receiving a pass from the side) than when you already see the rim as the pass is coming. The sooner a shooter can focus on the rim, the easier the shot is. But, even more important, when the ball comes from the middle of the zone, causing defenders to converge and then move out, this opens up rebounding lanes for offensive players. When the ball is merely swung around the perimeter, usually there are no rebounding lanes.

[SGWarrior]

I'd also like to add that our rebounding against the zone must also dramatically improve against Cuse.  Our frontcourt must react quick and get in front of the zone once the ball goes up.  Our inability to rebound against Providence's zone was a huge problem.

[spiral97]

sprial - 5abcd, 6, and 8 require a lot of "over thinking" by the players.  I suggest you simplify the strategy - our team seems to have talent but can get bogged down by what they're being taught.

I assume you've sent these suggestions to Crean? 

5abcd requires hardly ANY thinking.. each player knows how many they haven't made and know their personal limit... simple just like a baseball player should know how many strikes and balls they have.. the other rules are up to the coaching staff to track... they should be doing that already but do not seem to be setting the limits strict enough.. not sure how this is too much for a college player to "think" about.  by setting hard limits it seems to me that it IS simpler.

and no, I am not going to tell Crean how to do his job.. where did that comment come from, geez..  I never even suggested that and I wouldn't.. Crean has been coaching for far longer than I have and I won't even claim to be better at it than him.  this is discussion about what we THINK needs to be done...

(edited to add a smiley since that can read a bit strong otherwise )

[Murffieus]

Sir Lawrence is correct-----to beat a zone the ball has to be PASSED inside----if nothing there it has to be PASSED back out quickly to the weakside arc for the trey attempt.

The reason the opposition plays a zone is to STOP the slashing----and since in a zone areas are being guarded it's very difficult to slash-----so I'm taking DJ off the hook on that-----but he needs to shoot better from the perimeter----his technique needs overhaul----he throws the ball rather than pushing it!

[mviale]

our zone killer is sitting on the Houston bench

[chapman]

Anything beats what they already do.  That is, four players including the ball handler remain almost entirely still while one weaves across occasionally looking for the pass.  When McNeal is playing they rely on him to bring the energy and penetrate into the zone and his mild success against it becomes the offense.

[Sir Lawrence]

Tonight will be very interesting based on the tough zone that 'cuse plays.  If Tc can't find a cure, it's going to be a brutal January.