How to break a zone???

[Sunbelt15]

Tell us about it Grandpa!

[paddyquakes]

It took me 3 days to get here being so bummed. But I had time to think about our zone busting. The high post ball rotation with Gardner standint 14 Ft from the basket is a good 2/3 zone buster. (good call Buzz). We were able to get it there and he made "set" shots and kicked passes around to get shots (which we clanked). But the high post player must also be a threat to put it on the floor and drive. He did none of this because he had no balls or or quickness to do this. I am grateful for all Devantes heriocs this year. But the next player Buzz allows to play, who is an out of shape McDonalds spokesperson of the year, should be his last. Buzz lost about 50 pounds. Now I know how. Devante was stealing his lunch money. 

[GGGG]

It took me 3 days to get here being so bummed. But I had time to think about our zone busting. The high post ball rotation with Gardner standint 14 Ft from the basket is a good 2/3 zone buster. (good call Buzz). We were able to get it there and he made "set" shots and kicked passes around to get shots (which we clanked). But the high post player must also be a threat to put it on the floor and drive. He did none of this because he had no balls or or quickness to do this. I am grateful for all Devantes heriocs this year. But the next player Buzz allows to play, who is an out of shape McDonalds spokesperson of the year, should be his last. Buzz lost about 50 pounds. Now I know how. Devante was stealing his lunch money. 

That's ridiculous.  Davante put the ball on the floor during the game on February 25.  Syracuse was packing in on him because they didn't respect our outside shooting.  He was probably our best player on the floor offensively on Saturday.

[MarquetteDano]

It took me 3 days to get here being so bummed. But I had time to think about our zone busting. The high post ball rotation with Gardner standint 14 Ft from the basket is a good 2/3 zone buster. (good call Buzz). We were able to get it there and he made "set" shots and kicked passes around to get shots (which we clanked). But the high post player must also be a threat to put it on the floor and drive. He did none of this because he had no balls or or quickness to do this. I am grateful for all Devantes heriocs this year. But the next player Buzz allows to play, who is an out of shape McDonalds spokesperson of the year, should be his last. Buzz lost about 50 pounds. Now I know how. Devante was stealing his lunch money.  

Take it easy on Gardner.  His weight is what gets him inside position in the post as well.  Agreed it would have been nice to have a big who could put the ball on the floor in the FT line, how many bigs in the college basketball can do this?  I think you are watching too much NBA and assuming the skills are similar in college.

[mu-rara]

They packed it in.  Rarely did we have driving or passing lanes available.  Many of the 3 point shots were well within the flow of the offense, but they didn't fall.  If we could have had even one decent shooter for them to respect, things could have been different.

A lot of shots hitting (clanging off) the front of the rim.  Could be a sign of physical or mental fatigue.

[paddyquakes]

I too noticed lots of shots were short rather than off target. No legs. Had to happen sooner or later. Hey I'm not ripping Devante here. I think Buzz let him get away with a walking feed bag. You give me chow I'm gonna eat it too.
 

[WellsstreetWanderer]

Throughout the game, I mentioned how most shots were short... definite sign of fatigue

Great Run and the team exceeded mine and everybodies expectations.  Hyped up for next year already

[GGGG]

Davante was 6/9 on Saturday - he had half of Marquette's field goals.  Without him, their 22% shooting drops to 13.6%.

Blaming this loss on Davante because he doesn't have "the balls or the quickness" to put the ball on the floor is the height of basketball stupidity.

[KonaWarrior]

The irony of it all was that DG was our best 3pt shooter of the day, 1for 1.

[paddyquakes]

Anyone calling themselves the Sultan of anything and carrying shooting % out to decimals, with over 10,000 posts, clearly has never had free time enough to dribble a ball himself.  So I understand how you don't understand the high post position in an offense. But just for kicks, what is the second dumbest basketball thing you have ever heard.

[chapman]

Holes in the zone are the top of the key and along the baseline.  We went to the top of the key a lot.  Didn't get along the baseline all that much.  I recall a Jamil 12 footer, that was about it.

[GGGG]

Anyone calling themselves the Sultan of anything and carrying shooting % out to decimals, with over 10,000 posts, clearly has never had free time enough to dribble a ball himself.  So I understand how you don't understand the high post position in an offense. But just for kicks, what is the second dumbest basketball thing you have ever heard.

Did you watch the game on February 25th?  Did you see him put the ball on the floor and take it to the basket then on more than one occasion?  

Did he somehow lose his balls and quickness over the past month?  No.  Syracuse wouldn't let him do so because they had no respect for MU's outside shot and packed it in the lane.  When Davante hit a couple short little shots in the first half on Saturday, they restricted him even more by denying him the ball.  They were going to make MU hit an outside shot first - and they never did.  Syracuse's entire defense was centered around not letting Davante do what he did on February 25 - and it worked.

[The Love House]

To me the way to beat the zone would have been to never let Syracuse get set up in the first place. This was the most frustrating aspect of the game. Every time we got a defensive rebound I wanted to see them race downcourt with an outlet pass on the fast break and just take it straight to the hoop. But it never happened. Instead EVERY FREAKING TIME it was the same - slowly dribble it up court, let Syracuse sink into their 2-3 zone, and then pass it around the perimeter until there was 5 seconds left on the shot clock and someone had it chuck up an off balance three. Same recipe every time. I love Buzz and I'm really pleased with our season, but the fact is he failed to adjust or to show any ingenuity in trying to keep Syracuse from getting set up on D. You can talk till you're blue in the face about how to beat the 2-3 after it's set up, but I think the better strategy would have been to never let them get set up in the first place. Run run run, keep them off balance, and keep subbing in fresh legs like we did against Butler.

[mu-rara]

To me the way to beat the zone would have been to never let Syracuse get set up in the first place. This was the most frustrating aspect of the game. Every time we got a defensive rebound I wanted to see them race downcourt with an outlet pass on the fast break and just take it straight to the hoop. But it never happened. Instead EVERY FREAKING TIME it was the same - slowly dribble it up court, let Syracuse sink into their 2-3 zone, and then pass it around the perimeter until there was 5 seconds left on the shot clock and someone had it chuck up an off balance three. Same recipe every time. I love Buzz and I'm really pleased with our season, but the fact is he failed to adjust or to show any ingenuity in trying to keep Syracuse from getting set up on D. You can talk till you're blue in the face about how to beat the 2-3 after it's set up, but I think the better strategy would have been to never let them get set up in the first place. Run run run, keep them off balance, and keep subbing in fresh legs like we did against Butler.

Syracuse gets back to cover the break pretty well, No?

[paddyquakes]

I did see the game on the 25th. That was fun eh ? He put more balls on the floor than I dropped tater tots. Then Saturday I kept droppin tots. That's cause I'm not afraid. But anyway, I'm over it. Thanks for letting me vent a bit. I sure needed it and am ready to move on. I give you the floor for the last word. But really, thanks. I just need to vent after the loss.

[Niv Berkowitz]

I like complaining about things too.  I mean, what's with airline food. I mean COME ON!!!

And don't get me started on Ovaltine. The box is round! They shoulda called it Roundtine!

[The Love House]

Syracuse gets back to cover the break pretty well, No?

Yes, but it's not their strongest point. Zone is their strength and we played right into that by letting them get set up every time. With a fast break I think we would have eventually worn them down in the second half. We have more depth on our bench. Bottom line is we needed to have a Plan B and we didn't. It was just the same thing every time down.

[Marqevans]

Jake Thomas got the ball and chose not to shoot. How is that Buzz fault?

I agree.  Jake seems to be hesitant about shooting.  Other than that he handles the ball well.

[The Love House]

I agree.  Jake Derrick Wilson seems to be hesitant about shooting unaware that he's allowed to shoot.  Other than that he handles the ball well.

Fixed.

[Bocephys]

Fixed.

I'm not so sure Derrick Wilson is allowed to shoot.  Not until there's less than 3 seconds on the shot clock at least.