Been targeting players that have a background in Zone Def IQ so I can add a little Press practice time. Are there any people that have been successful using Halfcourt Press/Zone when losing to produce more turnovers?

I ran press/zone awhile back at low D1. Overall I'd say it gets you maybe a steal and a half more per game on average, not sure about using it as just a late game strategy but idk if that would be worth the time it takes to train up press anyway. Unless you have defenders that would be good in the press anyway then you're going to want to get to about c+ IQ before you see any real benefit. I did 18 minutes each on offense an defense (you can still get most players to at least a- this way) and then adjusted to press minutes based on what everyone's potentials were.
It's fun and added something to the game for me but it didn't work out as well as I thought it might when I started.

I would suggest you commit to one or the other rather than play the combo. Zone is very dependent on IQ. Splitting your set practice time between press and zone will not benefit you. You would be better served having your Seniors running an A+ in either rather than a B+/A- in both.

Posted by mikvitu on 6/8/2017 1:42:00 PM (view original):
I ran press/zone awhile back at low D1. Overall I'd say it gets you maybe a steal and a half more per game on average, not sure about using it as just a late game strategy but idk if that would be worth the time it takes to train up press anyway. Unless you have defenders that would be good in the press anyway then you're going to want to get to about c+ IQ before you see any real benefit. I did 18 minutes each on offense an defense (you can still get most players to at least a- this way) and then adjusted to press minutes based on what everyone's potentials were.
It's fun and added something to the game for me but it didn't work out as well as I thought it might when I started.

When I did it, I had similar results. Running a press/zone yielded between 1-2 more TO's than just zone.

Posted by gomiami1972 on 6/8/2017 2:01:00 PM (view original):
I would suggest you commit to one or the other rather than play the combo. Zone is very dependent on IQ. Splitting your set practice time between press and zone will not benefit you. You would be better served having your Seniors running an A+ in either rather than a B+/A- in both.

do you prefer press over zone? Ive been looking through posts and it seems as though zone is harder to win with and the hardest defense to understand and implement correctly. Running a combo sounds really interesting and exciting but for only 1 or 2 Turnover's a game, it might not be as worth it as I first thought

When I first joined HD, I had a halfcourt press/zone team and found it lacking and that I should commit to one or the other, just as gomiami1972 suggests. I decided to go with the press and I have had no regrets in doing so.

Posted by zagsrulez on 6/8/2017 2:49:00 PM (view original):

Posted by gomiami1972 on 6/8/2017 2:01:00 PM (view original):
I would suggest you commit to one or the other rather than play the combo. Zone is very dependent on IQ. Splitting your set practice time between press and zone will not benefit you. You would be better served having your Seniors running an A+ in either rather than a B+/A- in both.

do you prefer press over zone? Ive been looking through posts and it seems as though zone is harder to win with and the hardest defense to understand and implement correctly. Running a combo sounds really interesting and exciting but for only 1 or 2 Turnover's a game, it might not be as worth it as I first thought

My apologies if this answer is somewhat convoluted but you ask a profound question that deserves more than a cursory answer but I can't get into too much detail or this post would be three pages long.

Personally, I prefer zone...but I'm biased. I ran press for many years and had lots of success (100 or so conference championships back in a time when HD had mostly full worlds) but became bored with it and decided to take the road less taken in zone. Zone is harder to implement correctly, the least understood at a theoretical level and is, pound for pound, an inferior DEF set. However, zone allows for an expanded recruiting pool because players that would be horrific in a man/press situation can be effective in a zone. For that reason and many more, I find zone to be a blast.

With that said, if you are just starting to master HD, running man or press is probably the better way to begin. Most of your opponents will be using those sets and you absolutely must have a good understanding of how to both play man/press and how to attack it to be successful in HD. Once you have that skill in your toolbox, then you can think about experimenting with zone which, IMHO, is a more specialized DEF from a theoretical standpoint.

Hopefully, that made some sense.

^exactly.
That being said just because you may be inexperienced doesn't mean you can't run it. I've run zone with most of my teams even if you're not a great coach you can still win your conference.

Posted by mikvitu on 6/8/2017 3:50:00 PM (view original):
^exactly.
That being said just because you may be inexperienced doesn't mean you can't run it. I've run zone with most of my teams even if you're not a great coach you can still win your conference.

No doubt. Zone isn't an "experts only and the unwashed need not apply" DEF set. However, if a coach has dreams of making Final Fours, knowing man/press is probably a good idea.

Like others have said, I ran zone/press with my 2 teams for a few seasons and found I really didnt gain that many more steals than if I ran just a straight zone...so I stopped

I run a press/zone combo. Seniors generally end up at A+ zone, A- press on my teams. I agree with gomiami in that a combo defense is not something to jump into. It has pros and cons, like every choice you make. One drawback is that players with high potential in a non-core often stay undeveloped in that area (like a guards rebounding, or a big's passing), because I'm using 50 minutes on sets, where lots of guys use less. But I find more value in adding the press to the arsenal than in fully developing non-cores in all my players. And 1-2 extra turnovers per game is not insignificant. That can be a big point swing. I like the flexibility of zone, both in game planning and roster construction, but I hate dealing with constantly losing the turnover differential. So I run combo with most teams.

I am going to keep it simple and stick with my Zone Defense, this was the default defense for my DIII school. I am going to get a better understanding of using the 2-3/3-2 Zones and recruiting the best players for it. This is my third season and my objective is to win my conference and CT to get my first bid in NT. I'll look more into switching defenses, like the FCP in future seasons. The HCP seems like a waste of practice time for me as I may not produce any results and switching to the Press would just put me at a disadvantage when I have a chance to run the table in my SIM filled conference.

A couple of questions from a noob:

I have a rebuild with eight new players, so I figure I can practice and run almost any set. I'm not going to win diddley-squat this year anyway. Some of the players have some knowledge of full court press and some have some knowledge of M2M.
1. If I practice full court press and M2M, does that learning apply to my defense if I were to run a combo, half court press / man?
2. What would be the considerations of switching sometimes during the season between pure full court press, pure M2M and combo press / man?

Posted by DeBeque on 6/12/2017 3:15:00 PM (view original):
A couple of questions from a noob:

I have a rebuild with eight new players, so I figure I can practice and run almost any set. I'm not going to win diddley-squat this year anyway. Some of the players have some knowledge of full court press and some have some knowledge of M2M.
1. If I practice full court press and M2M, does that learning apply to my defense if I were to run a combo, half court press / man?
2. What would be the considerations of switching sometimes during the season between pure full court press, pure M2M and combo press / man?

1. Yes. Press refers to both fullcourt and halfcourt press.

2. Since I've never run a combo defense I'll let someone else answer this. I might recommend that you not run a combo defense in your first couple years though because of the added complexity. Probably better to get a really good feel for either Press or Man first.

Just play FCP all the time