In all my seasons, I have never had a squad run the Zone.

What cores do I recruit for at D1, to run the zone well?

I have applied for, but not been accepted for the position if you start looking at my teams.

I approach the cores as the same for all defenses - you want players with ath, spd, and def. One notable thing is that I ignore block on my straight press team, whereas it is near core status for bigs on my zone teams. Stamina isn't as important for zone.

The big advantage zone gives you is flexibility, both in game planning, and in team construction. Teams that run zone can utilize specialists a little better than the other defenses. A D1 center who is 60-90-50-90 in ath-reb-def-blk is very subpar in man or press, but can be an effective 5 in a 2-3, or when paired with an elite def 4 in the 3-2.

I've only done D3 but I ignore speed with bigs and have ATH/DE/REB/BLK as priorities. I've been using two C in a 3-2 with 90+ BLK/REB and it's been working well. Press/FB teams give me the most trouble as to be expected.

Thanks guys! The team I am looking at only graduates three, has the returning 9 guys all A+ to A- in zone, and has already signed a pretty good SG/SF with a zone preference. And since Center is a Rising Senior with no backup, the Center position was of most concern to me! I am glad you responded, and I hope that on Wednesday I can start scouting.

Thank you again.

No experience recruiting D1 in 3.0 but I'm almost positive you can find a low speed guy with BLK/REB that no one wants to eat a few minutes. Just a specialty guy until you can get a more appropriate D1 player.

Remember the 2-3 plays like 2-2-1. That's why I play 3-2 because my C aren't well-rounded enough to stand alone. Seems a lot of people don't know this last time we talked zone.

Should ATH or DEF be of more concern. I get the part about BLK/REB.

I can only speak from a D3 perspective, and some of it is what I've been told by an experienced "zone guy", but you can get away with poor DEF if the IQ is good. I take that as "I can teach a dude how to play DEF but I can't do much with ATH" so I worry more about ATH than DEF.

Ideally, of course, you want both but, since your pickin's might be slim, I'd work on ATH/BLK/REB if you have to skimp. Especially if you only need him as a back-up. His ATH will be there while he learns zone.

Posted by MikeT23 on 4/18/2017 1:09:00 PM (view original):
I can only speak from a D3 perspective, and some of it is what I've been told by an experienced "zone guy", but you can get away with poor DEF if the IQ is good. I take that as "I can teach a dude how to play DEF but I can't do much with ATH" so I worry more about ATH than DEF.

Ideally, of course, you want both but, since your pickin's might be slim, I'd work on ATH/BLK/REB if you have to skimp. Especially if you only need him as a back-up. His ATH will be there while he learns zone.

Thanks!

It is a misconception that you can go without DEF in a zone. The one way that is true is that a bad defender could be balanced off with a great one and, with a high zone IQ, he will foul out less than he might in other defenses. However, your opponent's FG% will be higher while he is on the court.

The computation is grouped by position. So, in a 3-2, the C & PF operate on the same equation (which, I assure you, focuses on ATH, BLK & DEF). Likewise in a 3-2, the equation for PG, SG & SF is identical. In a 2-3, the PG & SG use one calculation, SF & PF use another, and C is on its own (desperately needing ATH, BLK & DEF...and REB too...for the rebounding calculation). If you think of defensive rebounding as part of defense, even though it's a separate calculation in this engine, then REB is an absolute must. Zone is the worst defensive rebounding system (which the engine gets right...). So, you've got to have REB 3-5 whether you play 3-2 or 2-3.

What does that tell you? Like every other defense, guards (1 & 2) do not really need BLK or REB. Your 5 simply must have BLK & REB! If you end up with a couple great PFs, then you could play 2-3 all the time and play the one with better handle at the 3. If you end up with a gang of guards, you might try to make sure you get several C's to play at 4 & 5 and play a 3-2.

The big tradeoff is that a zone defense will foul less, requires less stamina, but will generate few turnovers, and is handicapped on defensive rebounding. So, it is tempting to maximize guard speed and big rebounding/blocking to offset some of that.

To be clear, I did not say "Don't worry about DEF." I said I'd be more inclined to stress ATH if I had to pick from the two because high IQ can be had while ATH/DEF are limited by their potentials.

Followup thought, more on game planning then recruiting. But Zone related.

Is tempo important in Zone? I realize that tempo is more of a function of Offense, but does the "math" do anything using tempo in transition?

Tempo is less about running up and down the court and more about firing off a shot quickly. I've got a good offense and have ran uptempo in all but 2-3 games. Hasn't had any effect on minutes played. Although I feel like I'm fouling more. But I think that's a possession thing. More possessions for the other team, more foul opps.

I think others have covered it pretty much, I started running the press/ zone a few seasons ago with my GW team so my recruiting is a little bit different...but as mentioned just make sure you have a good Center if you are running a 2-3, and 2 good big men if you are running the 3-2

Also, dont forget to recruit for your offense as well....dont just focus on recruits that fit into a zone, they must also fit into your offensive scheme

I got my team, but it says no signee's Part One recruiting (I swear I saw a guard High ATH, and about 58 Spd). Not altogether a bad thing, as I can now recruit three. Thank you "Zone" guys for all the good advice.

Posted by wvufan76 on 4/19/2017 7:19:00 AM (view original):
I got my team, but it says no signee's Part One recruiting (I swear I saw a guard High ATH, and about 58 Spd). Not altogether a bad thing, as I can now recruit three. Thank you "Zone" guys for all the good advice.

Now that I have sat down to look at my team, I am thinking that "Grambling" which was the other team I was considering is the one with the upperclass Center and no backup. This Albany squad has three FR Centers.

Still good advice moving forward.