I apologize if this subject has been recently already, but after tonight's game, I think it is important to come up with new strategies. Unlike what Sportscenter says and way too many newbies believe on this board, Franchise and Mobes were not selfish tonight. The had very few missed opportunity passes to Yao Ming, and many of those time, the passer was double teamed and the defenders were denying in Yao's direction. What has disturbed me much more tonight, was the inability to run and execute a competent offensive set for 3 quarters. What happened time and time again was this: A 3 or 4 would set a screen high on the 3pt line for a 1 or 2. The Celtics would trap the guard and the forward would not roll to the bucket. Instead, the forward would shift a little to the side and by the time he got the ball back, the defender would recover. Then the ball would be swung around to the strong side wing for an attempted post entry pass. But the interior defense would be tight and another defender would lag towards Yao. In the mid 90's, Seattle would do this to Dream ALL THE TIME. It was called Illegal Defense (the explanation for those of you who are new to the NBA game). Seattle was the ONLY team that would consistently kick the Rockets' asses. Seattle was a bunch of cheaters and got away with it because the Refs only called it a few times a game, even though it was the set defense. In the NBA today, teams are utilizing the zone to deny the Rockets from taking advantage of Yao on the inside. The lack of a successful plan B by Rudy T is hindering the Rockets in my opinion. He's using archaic offensive sets that were successfully defended by an illegal zone back when they championships. Now that the zone is legal, adjustments need to be made. How is this to be done? The Rockets won this game because they played good D, got fast breaks, and the Celtics couldn't shoot worth crap...and it all happened in the last half of the 4th quarter and overtime. They deserved to win, but it could and should be much easier than how it went down. Mobly shot lights out and Franchise was scoring Kobe style. If the Celtics took better advantage of the Rockets offensive ineptitude (15 turnovers in the first 41 minutes-vs 2 turnovers in the last 12), and if the stayed in the same zone strategy, they would have won. Now for some defensive strategy. I noticed the Rockets finally went to a zone in the 2nd half with Yao. Good. Yao needs to anchor a zone. He's not quick enough yet to switch (or even show) on pick and rolls. He needs to stay inside defensively, whether or not his man is out top. He becomes useless defensively (because of his lack of quickness) if he is away from the bucket. Just my thoughts. Any of y'alls are welcome.
some zones can be beaten from the outside shot... others by taking it to the hole and getting a shot or an open pass. im not too knowledgeable on the zone d.. but i know there is the 2-3 zone 3-2 zone 4-1 zone 1-3-1 zone, and some other ones i think but thats all i really know about the zone
I wonder what would have happened if we pulled Yao off to one of the wings. Would they still have double teamed him? I was disappointed that from the way they were doubling Yao without the ball, we would have found a way to force them into some defensive 3 second violations.
Well, one way to NOT attack a zone is with the dribble, which the backcourt continues to do too often.
Great thread. If you just looked at the personnel, you would think Boston would gotten blow out by the Rockets every time they meet. They had such a soft middle. That is why they did what they did against us. How to beat a zone? It is pretty easy actually (in theory anyway). The best way is the inside out game. It is the most effective because the interior of a zone commands so much attention. The center would then pass back out to the open man. At most one more pass, you would have a wild open shot. The problem is our guards can’t make these kinds of passes. They can only do lofted passes which would usually result in a turnover because it takes too much time for the ball to reach its destination. The only people that can do quick bounce pass or zip pass are Rice, Taylor, or Griffin. But Rice and Taylor don’t usually play with Ming. And Griffin are usually unguarded by the defense at the 3 point line. Even with a clear passing lane to Yao, Griffin would take an open 3 pointer. Now failing to play the inside out game. The next best option is to play a parameter passing game. Boston loves to trap the ball carrier. The ball carrier makes a quick pass to another parameter player. Even if he is not open, he would have the defender running at him. Either one more quick pass or a drive and a dish will net you a wild open shot. Either inside passing or parameter passing, the trick is quick pass. You want to see the ball hopping. The last thing you want to do is trying to penetrate against the zone. Unfortunately that is exactly what our guards tried to do for the first 3 quarters. In terms of zone defense, I truly doubt any team relying on it will have much success in the playoff. Any team with guards with adequate passing skill and a few shooters will bust the zone in no time. But a zone is nice if used once a while to confuse the opponent. Oh, by the way, if we play like we did last night against the zone, we would lose 9 out of 10 times.
Great Topic Kim, this is what I stated in another thread: If Boston is double and triple teaming Yao What do you do???? Force if over three defenders or swing to the open man??? Yao played well yesterday because his presence opened up the floor for Cat and Steve. Do you honestly believe Cat and Steve would have gotten 60 without the open looks they recieved with Yao in the middle?? I think Yao is probably happy and so is Rudy that they won. I think there were a few instinces in which Yao picked Cuttino and rolled to the basket and was not seen in which I was furious, but they were TRYING VERY HARD to get it to Yao, and took open shots instead of forcing the action. That is team basketball. I think thats why Glen Rice is a key to this team. He recieves a good amount of respect especially after his Phoenix Performance in which he shot the '3' lights out. He allows us to spread the floor and will capitalize on double teams. I love the way Glen is trying to get Mo and Yao involved more. At 6'8 he is one of our better passers inside and knows when to shoot and when to pass. Terrance Morris has been quite good as well at getting the ball inside, but its something that Cuttino and Posey both need to work on. Moving the ball and kicking it to the open man is how we can beat the zone and Steve, Cuttino, James, Mo and Glen have to make their open shots if Yao is being triple teamed otherwise Seattle here we go again. And that was when we had lights out Elie, Horry, Sam and Kenny we were able to survive the doubles and triples and not until we got Barkley were we able to beat out Seattle with their damn illegal zone!
The way to beat the zone is to overload on one side to make three defenders try and guard four offensive players. This is done by bringing up a player to the high post (either the 4 or the 5) and leaving one player (either the 2 or the 3) on the weak side being "guarded" by two players in the zone. Ball movement is the key. Theoretically, there is no way for 3 defenders to guard 4 offensive players given proper spacing on the basketball court. In a typical 2-3 zone, if Francis dribbles the ball to one side of the court, Mobley moves down to the baseline with Yao in the post and Eddie cutting across diagonally to the free throw line. Now you have four offensive players on the strong side of the floor. The 2-3 will allow one defender on the top of the zone on the side of the ball. One man in the paint (guarding Yao) and one man in the corner (guarding Mobes). Griff should be open on his flash to the top. If the defense reacts and tries to stop the flash, one of the guards will be left alone. Against a zone, there are always good shots to be had. It's about patience and not-forcing a situation that's not there. The pass over to the top of an over-aggressive zone usually leads to an open jump shot for the weak side defender. Since the zone principle requires guarding a space on the floor, the offense should leave the "space" guarded by the zone defender empty, resulting in an ineffective assignment. Ok, time for you guys to rip me now.
