I only have a few seasons under my belt, so any advice appreciated. I run a 2-3 zone and sometimes press. Considering changing to different defense since I am not sure it works that well.

What ratings/attributes do you look for in a zone defense? (specific numbers would be great)

What about in a man-to-man defense?

Would you recruit differently based on the type of defense you run? In what ways?

I used to think that maybe I could lay off the Def rating since I ran a zone, but now I fear that is not true.

Basically - does anyone have advice on how to recruit for the different types of defense sets?

If you are planning on moving up in the next 4 seasons do not change defenses under any circumstance IMO. Play whatever defense your players have the best IQ in and ONLY play that defense. Sometimes you might win playing a D that your players are F in but that is almost always a fluke. GL to you in your HD career!

If you are planning on being in D3 for a while then I would go for around the following.

High SPD (40+) while sacrificing DEF for Press. High DEF (40+) and sacrificing SPD for Man. And recruiting the best players possible while having an AVG defense around 40-50 in your back and frontcourt for Zone.

Example for 2-3 Zone:

PG - 60 DEF
SG - 20 DEF
Avg backcourt DEF = 40

SF - 10 DEF
PF - 50 DEF
C - 60 DEF
Avg frontcourt DEF = 40

After looking at your team, I think that your DEF ratings are a little on the low side. I would not switch DEF. I would play a combo 2-3 Zone/Press and start aiming for players 30+ in DEF.

I would also never play France no matter what the situation. His REB is just simply unacceptable in any match up I can think of. I hate to cut players, but if you plan on being in D3 for 4+ seasons I would cut him.

Yeah, France was an example of a player that I settled for. He is an example of a player I could get because he was close in proximity and the other PF I was looking for would not bite. I guess I should have passed and saved the scholly.

I also can't see him ever starting or even playing much since his Reb is so low and has no potential. I cut a player last year so I prefer not to again (that dropped my rep from A+ to A). I might just ride it out w/ France and never start him.

Pork, thanks for the numbers. Very helpful and nice to have something to shoot for.

you can sometimes get a good player if you look for a low defense guy who is good in other areas. A lot of times a solid player with a low def will slip by. Def is less important in zone.

I don't know if its true, not having run much zone yet, but I always presumed you would want at least a few very good defense players to cover for the bad ones in the zone.

The way the players are created it is almost impossible for you to get a completley bad defense team.

You do want to keep it in mind though. Look for people with good cores and low defense.

i used to run the zone.....and by all means i am no expert....but i think i have the hang of it from all the good advice i've gotten from the vets.......basically with the zone...just remember its a combo defense...porkpower 's post is a great example of how the zone works........the beauty is that if you run a 2-3 zone......that the 2, being the guards, one guard can have horrible defense but wonderful offensive skills while the other guard has to have great defense, so that they can average...or balance out the defense....the combo, the average of the two (so keep in mind, having two guards with t50 def doesn't make your def any better. right vets?)..........now for the 3 part of the equation, this is the fun part.......i believe its whatever you want.......want to have an offensive sf with low def, fine but make sure you get the def average up with two solid defenders at the pf or the c positions............or be creative have a terrific offensive center with low def and balance out his def flaws by having a stellar defensive sf and pf......etc.

now that i look back on the zone...it wasn't too bad, if i had more time to see it from this perspective i probably would have refined my style a bit more.

In my opinion, Zone is the best defense to run in D3. It is pretty easy to find great offensive players with low defense and you can find less then great players with high defense to make up for them.

When running the zone, I'd suggest finding frontcourt players that can rebound (mostly because the zone is supposed to be the worst reb defense, having good reb Fs and Cs will negate this) and a C/PF with a high Block rating (zones give you the best chance to block a shot, and a big with a low Def but high Block can be a great defensive player). And of course, it always helps to have good ath/speed ratings, too. If you have have a PF and C that are great rebounders, you can also try a 3-2 against strong 3-pt shooting teams and have some success with that. Good luck.

Quote: Originally posted by porkpower on 11/23/2009If you are planning on being in D3 for a while then I would go for around the following.

High SPD (40+) while sacrificing DEF for Press. High DEF (40+) and sacrificing SPD for Man. And recruiting the best players possible while having an AVG defense around 40-50 in your back and frontcourt for Zone.

Example for 2-3 Zone:

PG - 60 DEF
SG - 20 DEF
Avg backcourt DEF = 40

SF - 10 DEF
PF - 50 DEF
C - 60 DEF
Avg frontcourt DEF = 40

With a zone, the backcourt/frontcourt balance is important?

For example, I was considering a zone defense of
PG: 37Ath/70Spd/44Def
SG: 41Ath/53Spd/51Def
SF: Open
PF: 31Ath/37Spd/34Def/43Reb/32SB
C: 46Ath/42Spd/20Def/44Reb/62SB

As you can see, my 2 guards have an average D of above 40 (47.5) but my 2 post players are well below 40 (27).

I was leaning towards starting 3 guards and playing a 3-2, but if it matters how the defensive ratings are distributed in a zone (frontcourt/backcourt) might I be better off going with a 2-3 and trying to find a SF with at least good D rating to boost up my frontcourt average?

You need rebounding in the zone. I had decent success with teh zone till I switched to FCP a few years back. I never really looked at defense with the zone. Seems like zone and FCP were the 2 that you didn't really have to worry about DEF ratings in this game.

With a zone, you MUST have quick guards. They have to be able to move around to defend the perimeter. I think this is more important than DEF for zone. They need to be able to be in the 60 level by senior year at least.

You also MUST have great rebounding big men (60+ by senior year, I like 70). I also think that shot blocking was more important than DEF in big men running the zone. I always looked for good big men with high REB and SB when running a zone.

I usually like to have a SF that can rebound, is quick and has decent DEF ratings. This way you can be versatile and go 2-3 or 3-2. the SF in the zone is usually the one I use to help boost defensive ratings.

When would you use the 3-2 vs. the 2-3?

one of my teams runs a combo zone-press. I'll occasionally use the 3-2 if the other team starts 3 guards and/or the 3 slot takes a lot of 3 pointers...