I just took over a D1 team that runs strictly zone. Can zone be effective at the D1 level, or would it be more beneficial if I ran a zone/press?

Yes zone works.

Biggest thing so far that I have found with a zone is to make sure you have stout big men. Block is very nice. . .

But would I have a better chance to succeed if I went with a zone/press?

Doesn't it depend on your recruiting style? If you run zone/press, you'd better be recruiting guys with really good ath/spd. I thought about moving my Cal Poly SLO team to a combo, but I don't recruit enough ath/spd, so I decided to leave them a straight zone. Others, of course, will know more.

Quote: Originally posted by a_in_the_b on 1/31/2010Biggest thing so far that I have found with a zone is to make sure you have stout big men. Block is very nice. . .

Would you consider BLK a must have at the PF, SF spots or mainly for the C when playing a zone?

Well, understand that I am mainly talking from my VMI team, but it seems to me that Block at the Power forward and Center, especially when combined with good defensive ratings, has more effect in Zone. The zone I have tried at other levels, I have had some good success with a shot blocking SF though, especially if you are running a two three.

The lineups that seemed(Again, for me) to do best at the three two involved basically a three guard lineup with two strong bigs.

I play the zone, having maybe 2 shot blocking guys underneath help alter shots and you can get some blocks.

THe other thing about Zone is that you can often hide a weakness as long as you have a strength elsewhere.

For example, if you have one less Athletic and one more athletic post, they can compensate for eachother, etcetera. Same on defense. You can(Again, this is just in my experience) try for much more. . eccletic. . . players than you can in a man to man or often press.

Thanks guys. I recruited a C at D3 who has 57 REB and 54 BLK. Will he still be effective even though his ATH is 13 and his DEF 19?

with the limited def and ath he won't block many shots. it will also hurt his reb and I wouldn't expect that guy to be very dominant blocking shots and I'd only expect him to be a decent rebounder.

YOu need either ATH or speed. I have had some successful players at SF with a limited ATH. . but only if they had an extraordinary speed for the position to compensate.

I run a 3-2 with great success with great shot-blockers/rebounders at PF and C and ATH/SPD at PG, SG, and SF. I even run a press with it.