I strongly believe that the NBA should adjust the rules accordingly: It should be illegal for two or more defenders to defend one player within one arm's reach when the player does not have the ball. In other words, they should make it illegal do double-team a player who doesn't have the ball. I say this out of frustration. I just don't believe that the current rules make for a fair game. Please do not misunderstand: I'm not saying that the legal zone defense should be eliminated(though I believe it should). And, yes, I'm motivated selfishly: I want to see Yao perform better. And I really hate to see him get sandwiched between another center and a power forward before he even gets the ball, and preventing him from making a contribution. But I just don't see why it benefits the NBA to have a great player like Yao have his talent stifled because the defense gangs up on him before he even gets the ball. It prevents teams from better utilizing their more talented players, it doesn't allow many star players to really showcase their talent, and it makes for sloppier basketball. So my question is: why is this legal? How does it help game play? Who does it benefit? Why shouldn't it be illegal? -- droxford
surely if there are 2 players guarding one player who doesn't have the ball then that leaves 3 defenders having to guard 4 players, 4 on 3 that is damn tough to score on
There are ways to beat the zone. The current NBA coaches are still not totally adjusted to the zone. There are skills that can beat the zone. The current NBA teams are still having too many one-on-one game players. Give it a few years, when the coaches final adjust, and when teams start to focus on getting players with skills that can beat the zone, then it will be different. Ironically, Yao has zone-beating skills, namely, passing and shooting. He should be able to thrive in the current rules. It's up to the coach to design the offense and up to the players to implement it.
Yup. But I'm not talking about the zone. A zone defense allows a defender to defend no-one, and perform defense based on floor positioning. I'm saying that if they legalize the zone, they should at least make it illegal to double a player who doesn't have posession of the ball. When you couple the zone defense with double-teaming a player without posession, you end up with a defender who can more easily move between doubling the center and defending the forwards/guards. The mindset of 'doubling someone leaves another man open' doesn't work as well, now that they have these two rules together. I can understand (though don't agree with) the NBA's reasons for legalizing the zone. But I don't undertsand why they've made it legal to double a player without posession. I still don't see what benefit it brings. -- droxford
If you widen the court, you can space out more. The way it is now, they are already bunched up together, so it is like they are almost guarding them right now.
Agreed. Widening the court might spread out the teams more, but spreading out an offense in a larger court would result in players taking more low-percentage, long range shots. That would probably reduce scoring even more. I still haven't yet heard from anyone what benefit comes from making it legal to dbl-team a player who doesn't have possession. Why is it legal? -- droxford
not sure exactly why, my guess is they just opened up things a bit more the ability to shut down individual players, the other reason they did it was because the previous rules about double teaming were confusing as hell, sure it was doubling a player with the ball but it had to be a definitive double. Doubling players without the ball especially post players is something that has always gone hand in hand with zones, especially in a 2-3 zone, ie with one infront of the post and the other behind and also covering split line. with my coaching hat on i don't care why the rule is in place, I'm just thinking about how to beat it which is really not that tough.
I would seriously guess that either this summer or next there will be some changes in the defensive rules in order to make the offenses work a little better. Perhaps reneging a little on the rules they put in place a few years back. The NBA has caught a lot of flak about the low scoring, and has for the entirity of the zone era. Before, they just chalked it up to inexperience and said that, with time, scores will go back up. Well, it's not that the zone is even used that much - it's the fact that it's nearly impossible to get an illegal defense called against you now. Things like what you're saying would have been an automatic illegal defense (with the offense set up properly, at least) before they started allowing zones. Little things like that...not the zone in general, but the fact that it doesn't really matter if you just lag behind your man to cut off the pass or double down on somebody that's on the other half of the court. It made defense easier, but who wants to watch that anyway?
How do you enforce it? They used to have illegal defense rules to prevent double teams, but most everyone hated it. Players would just stand around, there was little to no passing, and it was called randomly. Teams would set up plays to get the illegal defense call rather than a play to score a basket. I can remember plays where Horry would run away from the basket and point to his man still sitting underneath close to Hakeem gaining the technical free throw. I always thought it was a silly rule to reward someone for running away from the basket. If college players and coaches can figure out how to run offenses against zones and double teams, I think the pros will too.
I can undersand this point of view, and I understand that it's for these reasons that the zone was made legal (though I don't agree with it). But I'm not saying we should bring back the old illegal defense rules. What they could do is: Make the zone legal: i.e. make it legal for a player to defend no-one, and have their defense based on floor positioning. By doing so, you involve the other offense players more than than they were in the old illegal-D days. It allows those other players to contribute more. But also, they should make it illegal to double team a player who doesn't have the ball. By doubling up on one guy before he can get the ball, it prevents a great player from making the strong contributions that he's capable of. -- droxford
I think the new defensive rules were intended to stop too much clear-out ISO plays. You just can't have 4 guys standing on the weak side and let one guy beat his man one on one any more. I think that's a good idea. And DFW is right about rewarding people for running away from the basket. And as Smeg said, beating the zone is not that difficult, especially when you have NBA level offensive talents. (It's difficult only for guys who can't shoot the midrange and can't pass.) That's why teams still don't use it very much. The big thing is that if you have a dominating big man, the new rules allow the defense to sag on him. Players like Shaq hate it because their game is exclusively in the low post. But players like Yao should be able to pull out to the high post where he can shoot and pass effectively. You just don't double a guy without the ball at the perimeter because that will leave the lane wide open.
How would you tell if someone was defending a floor position versus double teaming a player without the ball? This would be tough to do without introducing many of the problems associated with the old illegal defense rules.
Keep the rules the same: Just practice crisp passing and mid-range jumpshots. The reason why scoring is down is because they're are too many players driving into the teeth of the zone trying to get on "SportCenter" with a highlight reel layup or dunk and not enough players taking (and making)the 15-18 footer when it's open. Successful teams will beat any defense you throw at them. For example: After we got destroyed by Sacremento earlier, I heard shortly afterward that they love playing against zone defenses because they are so easy to beat.
All Yao needs to do is shift to a high post when being zoned. He's got the range, passing skills, length & athletic cutters to beat any zone. It's up to the coaching staff to make that happen. As far as "illegal defense" is now in the league it would work fine if they would call it!!! It is a rule that seems to be called very sparingly & if they would call it as it is written you'd see offense bump up a bit. (Not to mention making a more free flowing / watchable game. )
So how do you feel about Goaltending? I mean it prevents Yao from dominating too What other rules do you want changed so Yao can prosper Rule changes should be about the game. . not YAO that said The zone rule is wack Mainly because I like the attitude of the old NBA STICK YOU MAN IF YOUR MAN TORCHED YOU . . . saying MY HELP DIDN'T COME FAST ENOUGH was not good enough It is what made it a MAN's game not a boy's game I don't like rules to stop certain players or to help certain players If the ISO is working . .. . RULE AGAINST IT because we want more passing .. . . what happens when passing gets TOO efficient or something? Individual talents MADE the NBA Rocket River
Instead of implementing a zone to stop all the ISO plays, why don't they have an offensive 5 second rule where if one player holds on the ball for more then 5 seconds it's a turnovers. It'd have to have a set of parameters like a player can hold onto the ball for more then 5 seconds if they're dribbling the ball up court or are 7 feet out from the 3 point line. That rule would definitely promote more passing and less ISO. I never really understood the rule when I played highschool ball but I think there was some form of that that applied instead of the zone. As far as colleges beating the zone, it could just apply to the talent discrepency to score a lot of points, but most college teams don't even average as many points a game as the average NBA team. Add that with the fact that even the college teams that do average as many points, they also have a closer 3 point line, and have the blowout games against scrubs that good teams face in their schedule per season.
