I haven't paid too much attention to DI, or any other world aside from Allen, and just know coaches I've either talked to in depth or are in the Allen world who are very successful with the zone in DII/DIII. The zone, run properly, can be just as effective as any other defense. I know people are going to raise they're hands and say blasphemy!!! But it does a great job at keeping teams below 40% FG and normally you foul much less than an opponent, where in a given season you Make way more Foul shots than your opponents shoot. Some examples are ...
D2
Incarnate Word/Knight
D3
Thomas/Allen
D2
S. Arkansas/Allen
D2
Findlay/Allen
D3
Calvin/Wooden
I'm sure there are a lot of other coaches who have had a lot of success with the zone, it's just those who run it, and are successful with it are few and far between. Defense matters just as much, if not more, in the zone than any other defense ... reason being, you're going to give up a lot of offensive rebounds and 2nd chances - it's best to have a strong defense to negate that. I know coaches like to say it's alright to have a bad defender because you can hide them, but I honestly think that's hogwash, and that is my opinion and I will take that to the grave :P -
on a side note, regarding the OP ... unless you're barretchap or of that ilk running a combo defense, I think it's best to run one set defense in DIII. Here is a good thread to read up on regarding Hybrid defenses -
LINK CLICK HERE
3/3/2013 5:25 PM (edited)