Is everybody else as pleased as I am to see Coach K start mixing in some zone defense? I've wanted to see this for several years now especially when teams were having their way driving the lane against us. I just feel like playing some zone is going to make us even better each year.
Zone Defense
- Thread starter LetsGoDukies
- Start date
I think last year opened the way to seeing more zone. K hasn't hesitated much this year to switching to a zone when man isn't working. Our teams have become so young (due to OAD's) that playing zone is just part of the process now.
I know K loves his man defense, but whatever helps us win games is all that matters to me.
OFC
I know K loves his man defense, but whatever helps us win games is all that matters to me.
OFC
We haven't had that old school, lock down man D in a few years. Even so, I would hate to see K give up on it.....not that that will EVER happen. One of the things I have REALLY like from Ingram is when he's on the point of that extended 1-3-1 with that 22' wingspan. Tough to pass around that, and it has caused some problems for our competitors. I would love to see more of that.
I'm with you guys.. I love the lock down D but when we're not playing it well and teams are embarrassing us then I like seeing us try to counter it with the zone. Seems to be working well.
I honestly think for the most part we've done poor playing the zone. I think the team gets lazy while in the zone, they don't have the fire, quickness, rebounding, hustle, desire, etc that a syracuse typically has.
But I understand the need and hope we improve with man and zone so we have both as solid options.
But I understand the need and hope we improve with man and zone so we have both as solid options.
I would like to see if we could run an amoeba defense. Love man-to-man the best, but the 1-3-1 is extremely good. UNLV ran the amoeba defense pretty well as I recall.
Another example of the primary characteristic that has led to his historic greatness: adaptability. Many clamored for some zone looks years ago, but he made the change recently because a confluence of events necessitated it: The "one-and-done" era where kids leave sooner, and don't have the years to development in K's man-to-man system and become proficient at that level; the new rules to hinder contact on ball handlers; and, in general, the rise of overall athleticism and decline of "skill" in college basketball - I think that is the biggest AAU contribution, for better or worse: kids don't play in passing/cutting, etc. systems in AAU, they play in iso and ball screen situations almost exclusively, so they come to college with, if nothing else, the ability to drive and attack. Coach is smart enough to see that all those things make his traditional attacking man-to-man a precarious thing to rely on exclusively.
I think we've played the 1-3-1 much better than the 2-3. The 2-3 hasn't looked good.
We should be a good man team by the end of the year if we keep working at it. Mason and Amile are pretty good building blocks for any defense.
We did, it didn't work. it made our rebounding even worse than it already was.
Agreed, 1-3-1 has definitely been better, but I think we've struggled with our baseline runner some in the 1-3-1.... You need someone really quick back there to get to both corners.
The problem with the "man to man lock down D" is that it can't happen anymore because of the rule changes. Our perimeter defenders would foul out in 15 minutes if they called games now how they did when K's man D was famous.
On top of that, switch man takes a lot of chemistry and strength that isn't developed anymore because of early exits.
1-3-1 is the most active zone and when you have length like Duke, it is very effective. 2-3 tends to make guys complacent. A good 3-2 zone can also be pretty effective. Either way, I think the zones have been effective, Duke has had great field goal percentage D and couple that with the good rebounding numbers, I feel like the D has been effective.
The rule changes have made classic Duke D obsolete except for in stretches. Quinn was doing it a little last season. Go back and watch that 2001 team on Youtube. They were in your pocket for 40 minutes. They'd be calling a foul every possession now.
edit- DukeHokie beat me to it
I like the D that'll be used against the Holes:
The 2-3-3 zone.
The 2-3-3 zone.
If you can run it correctly, it causes nightmares for teams. We run it on offense with the lower man running base line whole game. Talk about causing problems.
Since you guys covered most of the points of interest, I'll just say this: Man-Man, Zone, 6 guys on the floor, pay off the refs; whatever it takes to "Just Win Baby"! 
Go Duke!!
JC-OFC
Go Duke!!
JC-OFC