Mike Miller hurts his thumb and might miss a few weeks (UPDATE: Out until January)

i think it's the microphone's shadow

 

With the zone, you don't need to double the guy. Fall back to deny the midrange and post game.

This is exactly how international teams stop the athletic but poor shooting Team USA teams.

If you watched Beijing Olympics with all 4 of Bosh, Wade, Lebron and Kobe, teams always played the Zone.

International teams and NBA teams don't have enough defensive stoppers to play that many stars 1 on 1.

The zone turns superb athletes/stars into long range jump shooters.

The zone denies both open mid-range and paint play. It exposes the 3 point line wide open. Most teams lay zone at the Free throw line extended.

That's the beauty of the zone against the Heat.

You can't play Zone against the Magic or Celtics since they're great 3 point shooting teams.

But against poor 3 point shooting teams like the Heat and Lakers, it's the perfect offense. This is why pretty much every team plays Zone against the Lakers.

 

Correction: "it's the perfect offense"

"it's the perfect defense"

 

I don't think he was saying the zone would stop the heat. But he is indicating that the zone would be the BEST line of defence against a team with lebron and wade.

I don't mean to argue, but what would your suggestion be against 2 of the best penetrators in the game? man on man? sagging help?....i don't think there is a defensive scheme against the heat right now. The zone is probably the best option by forcing drive and kick as they don't have a reliable three point catch and shooting player. Basically IMO, against the heat you really have to give up the 3s and stop the penetration. Just hope they don't have a good shooting night.

 

A zone (at least a 2-3 or 3-2) will shift the defense to the ball on the outside, which is vulnerable to 1) quick passing since it will leave open shooters and 2) penetration through the gaps. Since the NBA doesn't allow a guy to just stand in the paint without a defender present, you can't pack the middle as you can in international ball.

The reason a zone won't work well against a team with Lebron & Wade on the floor is that these guys can get into transition after even a made hoop, which allows them to penetrate before the zone can set (one of the best ways to beat it). I think if any team plays zone for more than bursts against the Heat, they'll get in a lot of foul trouble.

The Heat will miss Miller, though, because he was going to get lots of open shots regardless of the defense since teams are going to have to double one of the big three at all times.

 

I think there is a misconception that the zone only gives up 3s. That's not true in the NBA, because of the size of the court. The zone leaves huge gaps if played out to that far, so giving up 3s also gives up penetration. Packing the paint is fine (outside of the rules that limit it), but then you give up mid-range shots, and the Heat won't have problem hitting those (Bosh & Wade in particular are excellent mid range players).

It's ok to mix things up and play the zone at times to confuse the defense, but it would never work as a full-time strategy against the Heat. For one thing, it minimizes the one advantage teams will really have over them, which is their lack of rebounding.

The way to beat the Heat is to hope one of the big three gets injured.

 

This is exactly why teams play Box and 1 Zone now.

I think the opposite. If you try any other kind of defense against the Heat, you're screwed:

1 on 1: Nobody can guard Wade or Lebron 1 on 1...this will lead to major foul trouble or easy dunks.

Doubling teaming won't work either because all 3 of Lebron/Wade/Bosh can pass.

What kind of defense do you think would be best against the Heat?

 

You are right in the sense that you can't play a full time zone in the NBA. its just that with the penetrating power of the heat, its better to give up the long range jumpers than layups/dunks. I am not saying the zone is perfect, but i feel its better than 'hope one of the big three gets injured'. I don't think the heat is unbeatable. You are right, Miami's lake of rebounding will be their biggest problem this year, especially on the defensive end. But playing man on man will be just suicide. Wade and Lebron are too good a passers to be put in a situation where they can penetrate and dish off. playing the zone will at least reduce paint scoring which will be miami's biggest threat.

 

Someone should change the title of this thread:

It looks to be much more serious than "might miss a few weeks".

 

Prayer.

Honestly, I'm not sure. Has there ever been a more athletic team? I think to beat the Heat, teams are going to have to go big to wear them out / get them in foul trouble, basically hope to score on one end and give up the inevitable on the other. If the Lakers bigs are all healthy, they have a pretty good chance.

 

Haha, probably. I'm not saying a Zone will stop the Heat. No matter what, the Heat are going to win most of their games.

But the Box and 1 zone is built to stop athletic superstar layers like Lebron/Wade.

This is why Kobe succeeds with quality Big men. You can't play box and 1 against the Lakers because of Pau/Bynum.

And you couldn't play Zone against last year's Cavs because they had such great 3 point shooters.

But Bosh and Big Z on the other hand are more of shooting big men rather than a low post players like Bynum/Gasol.

And with Miller's injury, the Heat are down to just 1 outside shooter.

Before, I thought the Heat would have a chance at the Bulls 72 game record. But without Miller for 2 months, they're looking at 60 wins or less.

 

Unless one of the big three gets injured for an extended period, there's no way this team only wins 60. The Cavs won more than that the last two years and they weren't half as talented. Shooting-wise, it's not even like the Heat are that bad. House, Jones, and Chalmers can all shoot. None of the starters are bad shooters-- just not necessarily 3pt shooters. I don't think they'll win 72, but they have a chance.

Also, I think you'll be surprised by Bosh if you haven't watched him much. He's actually probably the most similar player to Gasol in the league today. Both have/had a rep as being "soft" when they were the man, but they are incredibly skilled, finesse bigs who are deadly from 15ft in. Bosh absolutely dominated in the Olympics when given single coverage, and I think he'll be the biggest recipient of these new powerhouse team now.

 

For some reason, I instantly thought this was about brad miller. Conditioned response.

 

I think it's always easier if you don't need to contest a player on 3pts line, essentially get more defensive resources inside the arc. But it's obviously beyond your intelligence.

 

They should cut Juwan Howard right now if they have any hopes of winning that championship. The Juwan Howard bug never stops.

 

Skimmed at the title and thought it said Brad Miller...that would mean more minutes for Yao! :grin:

 

Eddie House, James Jones and Mario Chalmers say hi.

 

James Jones was the 1 "shooter" I mentioned.

Eddie House is way too streaky and no longer a good shooter.

And, Lol, Mario Chalmers? Where the hell did you get that Mario Chalmers was a good shooter? He absolutely sucks at shooting. :grin:

 

The Cavs won 61 and 66 games the last two years.

I think that team had superior shooting compared to the Heat.

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict the Heat don't win 66 or even 61 games this year.

I'd put the Heat at 50-55 wins because of their lack of 3 point shooting and inside play.

 

Bodog has their line at 64.5 wins, so this should be easy money for you.