I'm wondering what the forum's thoughts are running a fastbreak/3-2 Zone combo. I had some success with it at D3, but my teams have been all over the place at the D1 level, and I think it's b/c I have no clue what I'm looking for in terms of building the roster/constructing the lineup. Two issue I've consistently had were 1) getting out-shot by a considerable margin and 2) not being able to capitalize on a deep roster by running uptempo (the zone seems to negate it.)

Am I just working with a flawed combination, or is there things you would look for at certain positions to run the pairing successfully? Thanks! (to anyone's who's bored enough to answer)

Im not an expert by any means, I have no FB teams and one zone team so grain of salt and stuff. My guess on the issue of getting outshot would be rebounding and TOs. Zone doesnt cause many TOs, I think FB does. Zone can suffer from rebounding issues (not sure how FB fares in terms of offensive rebounding). I would think that would be a difficult combination for those reasons and I assume FB works best off of turnovers created which is difficult to do in Zone D's w/o a press. I also believe it can probably be done and would be a unique combo.

Thanks Deuce--hadn't really thought about it like that, in terms of the success of FB being negated by the benefits of the zone. Part of the reason I want to try to it is the uniqueness of the combo, but I'm starting to get the idea that it might require a very specific, no-margin-for-error, recruiting strategy, something I figure will be hard to pull off as a C- team (and not getting better). Definitely giving consideration to adding the half-court press now.

Fast break works best when you have a speed/ath advantage. At d1 it’s harder to do this.

Just started playing a few seasons back (DIII Knight - So Cal - Whittier) - so I'm a newbie. I came in cold. The team I chose ran a FB and Zone. So I've stuck with it. I have not fared well at all. But I think its because I'm still learning. I hadn't really considered whether a selected offense could affect a defense's effectiveness and vice versa. I generally have a SP advantage but a Ath disadvantage. I'm sticking with the combo for now because that is the only Off and Def my players know.

Posted by crex649 on 4/7/2018 8:40:00 PM (view original):
I'm wondering what the forum's thoughts are running a fastbreak/3-2 Zone combo. I had some success with it at D3, but my teams have been all over the place at the D1 level, and I think it's b/c I have no clue what I'm looking for in terms of building the roster/constructing the lineup. Two issue I've consistently had were 1) getting out-shot by a considerable margin and 2) not being able to capitalize on a deep roster by running uptempo (the zone seems to negate it.)

Am I just working with a flawed combination, or is there things you would look for at certain positions to run the pairing successfully? Thanks! (to anyone's who's bored enough to answer)

The zone will definitely negate any advantage you have in running a deep bench. And I would expect you to be outshot, given the lack of turnovers forced by zone.

I have played around with a fullcourt press/3-2 zone defense with the fastbreak, but only at some early stage rebuilds, so I don't have a ton of data. I think the combo defense would work much better because you can force the TOs with the FCP, but if you don't get the turnover and are able to recover defensively and set your halfcourt defense (i.e., gambling on the TO doesn't break down your D, causing an easy layup), the zone will be easier on stamina.

If you are going to stick with the FB/zone combo, shorten your bench. Plan on consistently playing 9-10 players, so you can take walk-ons/ineligibles/redshirts. Your most important player might be your center. He needs to have massive ATH, REB, DEF and BLK attributes. Be willing to sacrifice LP (and any scoring at all, really) to get those 4 main attributes. Zone tends to get out-rebounded and you need the blocking ability to change the trajectory of shots. Your dream player for this defense is a young Dikembe Mutumbo, but probably with less scoring. If you can get a power forward with those same attributes to play along side him, even better.

As far as the rest of your positions, recruit like you normally would for a fastbreak team -- high ATH, SPD, DEF, STAM, etc. All of those attributes are going to translate well to a zone defense. And because you are going to be willing to take a few walk-ons, you can afford to get into recruiting battles to get the best players.