firstly im new here so hi everyone, Im a true whole hearted BBall fan, but the uk gets very little or no contact around NBA basketball any more so iv become a little out of touch these days (i.e. thats why im here!!!) Now b4 you all start saying your from the uk what do you know i am a level 2 EBBA qulified coach so im not daft when it comes to BBall! i dont have a team at the moment but im a fairly average player (Well i think so any way thats all that counts!) Right now iv got all that out of the way id just like the opinion of you all about how the Zone defence has affected the NBA since it has been introduced, as some or most or even all may be aware Zone Defences have been in the UK League for ever as you can guess id like them to be banished for ever from the uk game or the NBA (You tell me?) and lets have a good old man to man defence i just think that this would make the game far more entertaining for people in the uk to watch and allow players to use more one on one skills to promote the game in this country, be nice to get some opinions of people that love the game as much as me!!! looking forward to your responces???
Well, first u should title the thread so that we know what the actual topic is.... Anyway, i will admit I was originally against the zone, but now I've grown accustomed to it. While it does force players to do things they aren't accustomed to, perhaps that will force players to develop their skills. It will be interesting to see the long term effects to allowing the zone, granted it's looking ugly right now.
I think zone defense is the reason scoring is so low in the NBA today,players who averaged 30 ppg back in the days when it was man to man,now average around the high twenties.Scoring in the NBA these days is very low and and fg percentages have went down because its harder for playes to penetrate a zone so they end up shooting jumpers all day.
Thanks for the tip on giving my thread a title that makes a bit of sence!!! and thanks for the input, i can take the point about players having to improve there skills, but if games start to become jump shot contest surely this cant be beneficial to the long term prospects of the game. were is all the excitment and entertainment ok its cool to watch as tre after tre gets launched, but the man on man defence promotes a more moving cutting offence which then creates a larger amount of options for the team on offence, i think in time Zone defences will stagnate the game to a point that people will lose intrest in various country's for example in the uk do you realise how hard trying to get a game together is VERY difficult indeed (Well were i live anyway!!!)
well you can't put the blame for offensive decline on zone defense. Their are two IMO. First,the overall lack of fundamentals by the majority of NBA players. Alot of the players didn't attend college (or 4 years of it anyway) and are unprepared to face a zone defense and don't know what to do when they find themselves faced with one. Case in point,look at the troubles T-Mac had earlier in the year when faced with a Zone. Didn't know what to do...granted it's the NBA coaches job to fix some of those flaws but sometimes its harder to teach a player of McGrady's caliber anything new. The second is the overall reliance on the one-on-one game. The NBA went from team oriented game to a game based on isolation and one on one battles.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Dre:</div><div class="quote_post">The second is the overall reliance on the one-on-one game. The NBA went from team oriented game to a game based on isolation and one on one battles.</div> Preach, Sac is a good team game club. Avg 26.2 assists per game which definately no.1 in the nba. Which isn't surprising since they do so much backdoor plays. Anyways, there's far to much one on one play. Since this year's offense has been so bad, the league leader in assists averaging 9.2 apg by Kidd. Remember the days where 11 all the way to 14.5 led the league in assists. John Stockton and Magic man days are missed.
I cannot stand the leagues approval of allowing the Zone defense in the NBA. I always thought one of the differences seperating the NBA from college ball was the pressure put on a player to defend his opponent one on one. It's caused the game to slow down and with the lack of shooters in the league, we see low scoring, low field goal shooting games. It also takes away from the flow of a game and from players being able to slash to the hoop and provide fans with spectacular plays. Teams are going to start using this type of defense more and more, because it's effective and helps protect against the weaker defenders on a team. The Zone also makes it harder for coaches to find mismatches on the court and exploit them. For the fans it's eventually going to rob them of great player rivalries. You won't see players going back and forth at each other as much because they will no longer have the intensity of a one on one match up.
I agree with shape. They should kill the zone defense, it makes the game boring. I was so in to basketball last season, this season it was too much zone so many jump shots being taken, and so many clanks. It got to the point where I missed games and was like "Oh well ill just look at the score on NBA.com" I think we should just have a petetion to kill the zone because its slowly picking my interest, not LOVE, for the game.
Zone is good, but you cant slack when playing zone. Because when a player comes to your zone and tries to drive past you or whatever and you're laying off a little or slackin', then you might as well take a picture because he's gonna drive right past you or posterize you with a jumpshot or anything else you can imagine, like dunks, lay-ups, ect. But zone does give relief when man-to-man match-ups are in favor of the opponent or anything else zone is needed for when you're in trouble or you just wanna play the zone even if you dont neccessarily need to play it, but just because your more comfortable with the zone or it works better against the opponent, and there can be many other reasons.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post"> It's caused the game to slow down and with the lack of shooters in the league, we see low scoring, low field goal shooting games. It also takes away from the flow of a game and from players being able to slash to the hoop and provide fans with spectacular plays.</div> Well I think,if we had players that were more rooted in the fundamentals of the game (proper shooting form..being able to read and effectively know what to do to the various defenses etc) the Zone wouldn't be as much of a burden that it is. If nothing else it should force the team to work as a team to execute. But sadly,for the most part,that just isnt the case. Things like continuous ball movement in the passing lanes and working to find the open man just arent practiced or executed like they were 15 years ago.
Did MJ and the bulls not play as a team when they won 6 may i add 6 championships ok its easier to win games with MJ on your side but they were what team basketball is all about!!! and how good was there defence which was under the old man to man rules ok just before any one has to tell me that a good man to man defence should look like a ZONE i do know this fact but under the man to man defence rules a player has to be marking a man giving more space if played right the man to man defence can be more effective to apply pressure and force more turn overs. great teams have great defences full stop? the fundementals of a player should be worked on i agree but saying the zone will force this to happen, this point shouldnt be made as it is the responsibility of the coaching staff to promote good fundematals to there players and the player should want to learn how to play the game to the best of his ability i.e. learn the fundamentals of the game jsut to use mj as an example again, how good are MJ's fundementals now that proves that a player should want to improve as an individual and a team!!!?
It's a pain being in the UK, as we don't get to watch much of the NBA. OK, the Finals are on Sky Sports, but it's expensive to subscribe to Sky Sports just for that .
