how much zone will we see?

[MR.HAYWARD]

i think we should throw a bunch of zone at them for a number of reasons

[lab_warrior]

Totally agree...I think we need to slow the game down this time.  Although when we played zone last year, we got completely smoked by L'ville.

[MUfan12]

I think they'll start out man to man and work some zone in depending on how TN shoots it early. You don't want to go zone too early, as Tennessee's got a few hundreths of an Acker height advantage across the baseline.

[MarquetteFan94]

I'll never claim to be a basketball tactician but it seemed like when we went to a 1-3-1 against UW the game really turned around in the second half....I think Buzz will do a good job of mixing up the defenses.

[Big Papi]

I don't see how the 1-3-1 extended zone would benefit us tonight.  I think Tennessee is too quick for that zone and will exploit the huge cracks it creates for easy buckets.  UW didn't have the ballhandlers to beat the zone so they relied on shooting the 3s.  Luckily for us, they missed numerous wide open 3s and it turned the game around.  I don't think Tennessee will take the 3 over driving it to the basket. 

Also, Burke on Landry worked because Landry wasn't able to exploit Burke's lack of quickness.  I similar strategy against Tyler Smith will not work.  I don't expect a good game out of Burke as he is out of his element in this game.  If we do use a zone, it should be in spurts and a lot more compact, jamming up the middle and forcing Tennessee into shooting 3s with the hope that Tatum and/or Hopson have a bad night of shooting.   

[MR.HAYWARD]

burke will not guard smith, and yes the zone is to force the three and take away the drive...

[Big Papi]

burke will not guard smith, and yes the zone is to force the three and take away the drive...

Thats my point, we were able to stick Burke on a small forward without getting hurt defensively.  We won't have that luxury against Tennessee.  He will in all likelihood guard Chism when Chism is in the game.  My guess is Burke will have his hands full against whoever he is playing and probably be in foul trouble for much of the game. 

Playing any semblence of that extended 1-3-1 zone that we saw against UW will get eaten up by Tennessee's quickness.  If we zone, hopefully it will be a more compact zone that forces 3 point shots and not allow Tennessee to drive to the bucket.

[MR.HAYWARD]

not sure the 1-3-1 accomplishes taking away the drive and the three as well and allows us to trap

[esotericmindguy]

Was the 1-3-1 zone that effective or did UW just continually miss open 3 pointers.  I seem to remember a lot of wide open looks that Hughes, Landry or Bohanan just flat out missed.  Don't think UT will miss those, plus they probably practiced for it and it won't come as much of a surprise.  I expect mostly man to man myself.

[The Man in Gold]

UT as a team only shoots 34% from downtown.  Without Lofton they are not the threat they were last year.  I expect to see a more conventional 2-3 until they prove they can make their shots tonight.