Follow up to a post I made over the weekend where I ******* and moaned like a little girl because my team wasn't winning enough.

Received 8 responses either by post or sitemail that all told me I needed to stop playing a press/zone combo defense and switch to straight press. That somewhat struck me as surprising so I thought I'd follow up by asking folks when -- if at all -- it would make sense to play a combo press/zone over the press.

I personally had been running the press/zone because of the fact that I don't get tired with fatigue and also because I had a good team of shotblockers that I thought was best utilized in a zone.

But since everybody said switch to the press, I'm curious to know when the combo defense might be used effectively. Or if the press is superior in all instances.

I would use the combo if you're playing a team without good 3-point shooting ability and you want to limit their 2-point % with a zone. But outside of D3 those opportunities become rare.

A friend in D1 Naismith evolved from 2-3 to combo to just running full-blown press once his players developed good SPD/ATH/STA over a period of 8 seasons. Press just gave him more success. It's the best utilization of characteristics that are useful on both offense and defense.

I used to be a fan of M2M, won my D3 title with it. I inherited a M2M/combo team at D2 and had more success just running press. Now it's the only thing I'll run. I think the engine just favors it SLIGHTLY, but that marginal advantage pays off over time.

8 seasons? are you serious?

im not trying to be an ***... im just trying to comprehend why you would phase something in over that long a period of time.

kuj, your reasoning sounds valid to me.

i switched my FB team to zone/press a couple years back. my theory was that it would spare me some of the fatigue that my fb offense is causing.

but what i noticed is that i was forcing fewer turnovers (as you might expect), and that was bad news for my fb offense as TO's are the best way to start the break.

so, im sliding back toward straight press.

and lately, i havent been able to beat my way out of a paper sack. so, not that sure if that is any consolation, but im as stumped as you are on this issue. let me know if you figure out the answer.

I would use a zone press when my team is not good. Either through weak IQ's or bad ath/spd. It allows you to build either ratings or IQ's but still not totally rely on the press to win games.

I did this at Rutgers, the team intially was a zone team, i played zone for a year while practicing press IQ's. Next year i practiced both zone and press but played a combo. Once I got good enough to where I could recruit players for a fullcourt press defense, I switched over.

I have always felt that a zone was kind of like an equalizer. It allowed bad teams to compete with better teams, but at the same time, if you are a good team it allows worse teams to compete with you.

If you have a good team i see no reason to run a zone. Maybe at div 3 if there are a lot of teams that really rely on 1 or two scorers it would be effective, but otherwise I see no use for it.

Quote: Originally posted by oldave on 4/21/2010kuj,  your reasoning sounds valid to me.i switched my FB team to zone/press a couple years back.   my theory was that it would spare me some of the fatigue that my fb offense is causing.but what i noticed is that i was forcing fewer turnovers (as you might expect), and that was bad news for my fb offense as TO's are the best way to start the break.so, im sliding back toward straight press.  and lately, i havent been able to beat my way out of a paper sack.  so, not  that sure if that is any consolation, but im as stumped as you are on this issue.  let me know if you figure out the answer.

Why not go with press/m2m then? Doesn't m2m cause more to's than zone?

Quote: Originally posted by oldave on 4/21/20108 seasons? are you serious?im not trying to be an ***... im just trying to comprehend why you would phase something in over that long a period of time.

He didn't intend to switch to the press from the zone, he played zone his first few seasons; what I'm saying is he found press made his teams much better and eventually he switched to press from the zone/combo.