I didn't see this in the other two posted articles from today. This is from the "Rockets Summary" part. I found it the most interested quotes from todays paper. If you haven't seen the last two games, JVG has been experimenting with a zone a lot--a pretty aggressive 2-3, with an interesting use of the 2 guards out front. Feigan got JVG to remark about it, how little they've worked on it, the usefullness of zones, and when he might use them. So far, it hasn't worked that well, but not much practice on it, yet. <hr> <a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/4270620.html">ROCKETS NOTES: Work in progress</a> By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle <hr> f it appeared the Rockets had been working on zone defense for no more than a week before breaking it out Tuesday, that would be a kind evaluation. They worked on it for a day. Coach Jeff Van Gundy stuck with it despite dubious results against the Mavericks and on Wednesday against the Bucks, saying he wants to have it as an option for a variety of reasons. "It's not going to be one time," Van Gundy said. "There are certain uses for it. The main use is we'll get zoned, so we'll have to practice against something. The second one would be against teams with shooting 5s (centers) and against teams hurting us with the pick-and-roll. "So we'll use it less than one percent of the time. But whenever we do, hopefully it will be somewhat effective."
It'd be nice if the zone could help us prevent incidents like Raef LaFrenz's billion-point game against us in Boston last year. That was horrible. Also, didn't Miami use a zone against Dallas in the finals?
Both Dallas and Miami made extensive use of the zone in the Finals. I believe Avery is a big zone user, though I could be wrong. I'm all for JVG using the zone more. US players have a real hard time working against it. It's like they just don't know what to do. The only issue is that it is hard to use against teams with fast point guards and 3-pt threats. Unfortunately, that is what most teams are moving to. JVG's system does seem to work of course. Despite fielding an all-CBA team for most of last year, we did get the job done on defense (3rd in league). The zone will be good to have in certain cases.
Man, I'm really starting to warm up to JVG this year. First he initiates a faster offense, now he's implementing a zone D. Finally some flexibility from our coach. The zone D won't be effective against all opponents, but it's something we can switch to if our man-to-man is not working. Always good to have more options than not. Imagine Yao being a sentinal in the middle of the zone. No one would want to go up against that.
Yeah, when Van Gundy was asked about the zone in the post game interview he responded that the zone would help Yao. If the other teams have a shooting center and he rolls out to the top of the key to shoot, Yao has to chase him out there and inevitabaly never gets to him. The zone gives them a better chance to guard those shots. Good answer. I don't know if he is thinking about Yao's big toe but it might help.
Yeah, it sounds to me like JVG is practicing this zone for 3 reason: Dallas, SA/Tony Parker, and for the purpose of having the 1st team see a zone defense in practice. Notice how the 2 guards are staggared. One meets the PG early the other is inside the arc. I saw Alston/Head meet the PG, with Spanoulis staggared. It seems like the purpose might be to drive the PG towards the other guard--to visualize, towards Spanoulis, then once they have the opposing PG to one side, he has to pass, and then they go into more normal 2-3 positions. This could eliminate Parker from driving and getting into a pnr set; ie, get the ball out of the PGs hands using the staggered front to slant him to one side, then go into normal 2-3.
You saw it last night with skinner hit some 18ft jumpers. i would prefer a zone at times for those undersized Cs who shoot. this way it keeps yao closer to the basket where he can be a more intimidating presence for pentrators and help our rebounding
I figure we'd just give the Skinners of the world their 18 footers... he's not good enough at it to really make the Rockets pay consistently. Just make sure at least he's lightly contested and you'll be fine.
I am a little bit concerned that we may have a slow start. JVG has to make some quick decisions. who should start, who should be the 6th man, we go 9 players deep or 12 players, the lineup when yao sits, the lineup when tmac sits .... if we have to wait until NV to get answers, it' really hard to get 11-4 as many here expected.
I think the set was designed more towards 1s that can actually shoot. I still don't consider parker in that mix. Perhaps this is a possible way to deal with mike bibby/baron davis/Marbury, and maybe to some degree Phoenix, who absolutely killed us last year with those PnRs and then kickouts for a three; although the suns are a dilemma, since they can make shots even if you give them an inch of space. So unless we can play the zone to perfection where it looks like a man to man defense, it really won't help the cause too much in that case.
HA HA HA HA...this explains why some of the players look lost most of the time on defense these past few games
Nice post Fuse. JVG said, 5s who can shoot and teams that hurt us on PNRs. You're right, Phoenix is a candidate, too, strictly speaking based on the quotes. But I didn't include them in my guess, because my belief is a zone against Nash and his revolving door of 3pt shooters would never work. Scores of 3pt shooters with a HOF, penetrating PG is the very definition of a zone-busting team, imo. Think about which NBA team you'd pick to take on Greece's zone. I'm thinking Phoenix. Parker, despite his lack of shooting range, is one of the best PNR points there is...that damn teardrop of his. I mention Dallas because they'll likely go small with us, and I'm not willing to sit Yao down if they do. I don't think JVG will either. It's a matter of their best team against ours...mismatches both ways. We can't stop Dallas from fielding mismatches anytime they want, but they have to beat our mismatches, too. Also, I just can't imagine JVG playing zone against weaker teams. Who cares about Marbury, Davis, Bibby. Can they even beat us straight up? Why give Dallas and SA extra videotape to scout of our zone(s), against lesser teams. I like the idea of using it "one percent" of the time for very special situations in small minutes...to save it largely for the playoffs, in case we need to actually rely on it in a 7-game series.
Yes, Parker and that tear drop of his is freaking annoying as hell. Actually, as long as we keep him out of the paint, its good. I would much rather him pull up for a long 2 or 3 for that matter. TBH, I don't think the teams with the above listed names can beat us straight up regardless, but it gives our big men a breather, and that may be valuable as the toll of a long season starts kicking in. Zone also takes a lot less energy to play than man to man. There is only so much to Yao's stamina, and we need to preserve it all we can for offense.
I think you hit upon at least part of the reason for Van Gundy trying it. If the situation allows, and they can be effective for stretches with a zone, why not? Still, seeing it for the first time was the equivalent of an alien spacecraft landing in my backyard. Sort of made you sit up and say, "What the hell??"
