I asked this on my world chat board, but figured I would put it here for discussion as well.

I have always run the zone but after my teams ousting in the 2nd round last season in Wooden I started wondering if a zone defense can truly ever reach elite status? Not that I had all 90+ defenders, I realize I did have a few deficiencies on defense, but for the most part I had a few 90+ defenders and the rest were 80+, which for a zone is pretty decent.

All that aside (as none of that is the point yet), assuming all other ratings are equal (ATH, SPD, etc) I am wondering if a defender with a rating of 90 in a zone is equal to a 90 defensive rating in m2m? Is the 90 rated defender in the zone wasted as opposed to a 90 rated defender in m2m?

To take it even further, if all of the players in a zone defense are 90+, can that defense truly be as good as a m2m defense where everyone is rated 90+? If the answer is no, then why am I still running the zone?

Short answer-I think zone is the most difficult defense to win with at D1. There are so many more elite scorers in D1 than D2 and D3 and so hiding a defender in D1 isn't a winning strategy. Zone also produces the fewest number of turnovers of any defense and at D1 losing possessions adds up over the course of the game (again, so many more elite scorers there).

Regarding the second paragraph, it's not that simple. Ratings-wise, defense is a combination of ath, sp, def, and blk and so you need to take into consideration more than just the defense rating.

Posted by darnoc29099 on 6/21/2017 10:53:00 PM (view original):
Short answer-I think zone is the most difficult defense to win with at D1. There are so many more elite scorers in D1 than D2 and D3 and so hiding a defender in D1 isn't a winning strategy. Zone also produces the fewest number of turnovers of any defense and at D1 losing possessions adds up over the course of the game (again, so many more elite scorers there).

Regarding the second paragraph, it's not that simple. Ratings-wise, defense is a combination of ath, sp, def, and blk and so you need to take into consideration more than just the defense rating.

Thanks and I agree on your second point..which is why I had the caveat that if all other things were equal, lets say all ratings were equal, would that defender do better in the zone or m2m? My hunch is he would be a bit wasted in the zone