You all are freaking out and always saying how this team is going to be better and that team is going to be worse due to the new rules. DO you all really think teams will run 2-3 zones and make it look like college ball? NO, that is not even possible if you even know what the new rules are. Yes, the illegal defense call is changed, but there still is a 3 second defensive violation call which refs called very easily and somewhat commonly in all the summer league games I saw. A traditional zone which benefits shooting teams (Bucks, Mavs) would not work because of this 3 second rule. What you are going to see more of is half-court traps, more pressure defense while bringing the ball upcourt, etc. Some teams might try using zones, but I think most teams will use man to man as usual with some more swarming inside against people like Shaq, Mutombo, etc. The only other change was eliminating handchecks which I'm sure all would agree is a good rule. Handchecks slowed down the game and those tictac foul were annoying as hell and could be called at any time by the refs if they wanted to. I'm not saying the Mavs and Bucks will do better or worse this year, but take into consideration that the rules won't change the game THAT much. Did you all see the summer league games at all? How many zone defenses did you see. You probably saw hardly any, and from what I've heard, coaches might experiment a little, but it won't change drastically.
tozai, my recollection of the RMR was that the Utah defense shaded the low post making an entry pass to Griffin very difficult for Colson. The Summer Leagues don't offer enough time to teach players a new stlye of zone defense which differs from the collegiate level. Given a full 82 game season, I think doubling down or shading on a player who does not have the ball is going to become an integral part of defense for all NBA teams.
Yes I know exactly what you're talking about. I think that was Colson's fault for not watching for the defender coming from behind to strip the ball. I never said there weren't going to be no significant changes. Just no DRASTIC ones that will make a team like the Bucks way way better than they were. It's not like everyone now needs a Matt Bullard type player due to the new rules. They should have one anyways though...
The Summers Leagues are COMPLETELY different animal. Those aren't the real teams those organizations will use. You won't know if or how a team is going to run a zone until they use their real teams in preseason games.
Agreed. SUmmer league has lots of scrubs. Still with the 3 second rule, there is no way a team could run college zone defenses, period.
