Is it possible to compete with the overwhelmingly dominant press teams by running zone in d3??? Seems like everyone runs the press and the are smashing teams and they own the top 25 in Allen.

There have been some strong zone coaches in D3, but the press can simply overwhelm at that level due to the impurities in players and its ability to really capitalize vs. low BH and PASS teams at that division.

FB/Press give me the most trouble but I do OK, playing humans, with zone.

Key is I'm not looking for "impurities in players" when recruiting.

A good zone team is the best way to beat a good press team. But yeah, at D3 the press still seems to dominate.

Look at MikeT's team in Smith-he's done a really nice job building that zone squad (at least he had a great squad last season, I haven't checked this year).

This D is better than last year, the O isn't. I overcompensated for D in my 3rd/4th classes because FB teams were giving me fits.

I'm having success running zone. My team in Smith this season should be a tough D to deal with. Problem is that I may struggle against elite press teams as my BH skills aren't great.

Yeah, I agree with darnoc that zone is the best way to beat a really good FB/FCP team. Lots of times those teams don't shoot many threes, so if your team is built for 2-3 zone your chances of shutting them down are pretty good. Pair that with a great perimeter shooter that can't be double teamed in FCP and you're on to something. I've had reasonable success running a system like that at Ferrum in Allen, but like any other situation it all depends on recruiting the right players. And that's hit or miss sometimes...

Yup, zone teams can compete. For zone teams to be really good you can
't be afraid to play - defenses and you can't have bad defenders.

Posted by Trentonjoe on 8/21/2017 11:23:00 PM (view original):
Yup, zone teams can compete. For zone teams to be really good you can
't be afraid to play - defenses and you can't have bad defenders.

Having solid defenders in the zone is key. I read a lot about 'hiding' bad defenders in a zone, but I think using that strategy is a guarantee that your zone team won't compete with top 25 caliber teams. A zone loaded with athletic defenders and the right kind of bigs can destroy a team's shooting % against you.

i feel like my team should be a good team.. I've lost to two teams I think I'm better than... I'm gonna stick to zone tho I guess.

Your PG's def is hurting you, he pretty much makes your 2/3's good to great defensive scores just about average. Your post players defense is also not NT quality, Try to keep improving your ATH/DEF/BLK.

It also looks like your rebounding is a little weak. If you are going to play the 3-2 you really need guys in the 80-90 range at PF/C for rebounding.

Something that I noticed about your team: Both of your Center's have low Defensive ratings. Brian Newman regularly finds himself in foul trouble in each game. Fouls put the other team on the free throw line for easy points, which might contribute to some of the close losses that you have had.

I know Zone coaches preach HIGH REB and HIGH BLK in Bigs, but we cannot forget the importance of Defense at every position. If you are playing a 3-2, then you should be able to compensate by having a PF with very high Def rating so it averages out better.

Indianajoinz,

A big part of your problem is your bigs. They have low ATH and low DEF. That is going to kill you all day long, no matter what defense you run.

I've been running zone for a lot of seasons with a fair amount of success. Here is a very simplistic way of looking at it: you need your starting 5 to average out to being good ATH, good SPD, good DEF. At D3, if your starting 5 averages out to 60+ ATH, 60+ SPD, 60+ DEF with B+ or better IQ, you will be a very competitive team. You only have 1 player with 60+ ATH -- Wardlaw. That's way too low.

People have this idea that zone allows them to get away with bad defenders. That's wrong. You can't have 5 bad defenders (or 4 or 3 or probably 2 bad defenders) playing together. The flexibility of zone is that you can take a lower DEF in a player, so long as you can average it out with someone bringing higher DEF. For example, lets say you find a SG who will max out at 40 DEF, but he will be at 95+ PER with 70+ SPD and 50+ ATH. He is probably too much of a defensive liability for a man or press team to use him as a starter -- they would probably have to use him for bench points. You can recruit him and start him, so long as you have a 80+ DEF playing along side him to average out his DEF weakness.

When recruiting and analyzing players, if you are considering recruiting a player with low ATH, low SPD or low DEF (especially the last one), ask yourself, "Where on my roster am I going to make up for that?"

Thanks for the advice!! Putting other team on the FT line is killing me

IQ is super important.