Stoudemire won't be traded to the Cavs, but this thread is still very lulzworthy.

[Nash]

Those are the exact answers I was lookin for, too bad buckeyes is just going to claim he would have answered the same way.

To correct a mistake you made in the last one though, it's not just if the other team has bigs. A zone is also very effective at stopping penetration, so if you have a team with a lot of slashing type guards, you would want to run more of a zone defense against them.

Really a zone defense should only be employed when the other team struggles shooting the ball. If the other team has bigs and a shooter, i'd still go man and play the sag defense that you were talking about.

yeah, i forgot all about penetration from guards lol. man would definitely be used for that.

And I've always thought if the team has good posts and one good shooter you still run a zone. Only if there is one good shooter. The main difference is that you constantly have to call out where the shooter is on defense. When calling out the man, you should also have the nearest player playing closer to him than normal. The point would be to close out fast enough to make sure he can't get a good shot. Syracuse does this exact thing.

What if the player is a post player?

in that case, you would double down on the post. I send the double from the baseline and then once he passes it out, it is all about rotating on defense.

Another thing is fronting the post. THe defender would completely front the post player. This shuts down the passing lane completely except for the lob overtop. To stop that, the help defender would need to play closer to the post player to take the lob away

[ralaw]

box and 1 IMO is the best way to neutralize any 1 player. It basically takes the player out of the game on offense if run right.

But man to man sag help works well in this situation as well. Double down on the ball unless your man is a specified shooter.

We use to break up a box and one with motion, screens, back cuts and skip passes. A smart team can handle it, because it creates a lot of lanes and wholes if people know how to read and react to it.

[Sportsbuck]

I used to suck at basketball, but I've worked on my jumper to where I'm at least decent. But, all I want to say is my HS basketball team > yours

Hopewell Basketball:
08-09: 28-1, 12-0, Undefeated Regular Season, Conference Champs, Regional Champs
09-10: 22-1, 11-1, Conference Champs, Still have conf. tourney and districts, regionals, and state to go

Here's our starting 5
G: Earl McClaurin, 5-11, being recruited by a wide range of schools, some small and then Indiana and Purdue have been putting on the press lately
G: Adrian Addie, 6-2, has had an offer from Gardner-Webb since he was a freshman
G: Jordan Downing, 6-5, committed to Davidson, all-time leading scorer and dropped 31 on a Wake Forest recruit earlier this year
F: Bryce Hawkins, 6-5, being recruited by lower D1 schools
C: Bootz Brooks, 6-8, committed to Howard (D1), conference player of the year
6th man: Justin Avery, 6-1 220, a QB/linebacker on our football team that is a lockdown defender

Last year we were even better... had 2 D1 guys graduate: PG Brandyn Curry (Harvard), he was all-state, and G Alex Godette (Army).

[FirstTimer]

Those are the exact answers I was lookin for, too bad buckeyes is just going to claim he would have answered the same way.

To correct a mistake you made in the last one though, it's not just if the other team has bigs. A zone is also very effective at stopping penetration, so if you have a team with a lot of slashing type guards, you would want to run more of a zone defense against them.

Really a zone defense should only be employed when the other team struggles shooting the ball. If the other team has bigs and a shooter, i'd still go man and play the sag defense that you were talking about.

I'd also add one of the most effective ways to beat a zone too is to make the zone shift without actually moving the ball with dribbling

Skip passes can wreak havoc and cause confusion in the transition but ball fakes and short passes are your friends.

Zones requries a TON of practice to play effectivly at all as they literally require 5 men to be on the same page at all times. Man you can get away with more of a two man game on defense going as simple as ball side and help side.

Unless the team is just a flat out fantastic zone team and has amazing chemistry simply working the ball around with passing should always get you a solid look at the basket. Most teams play zone simply as a change of pace or to throw a wrench in the other teams game planning for a short while so they normally aren't very strong zones and more gimmicks other teams employ for short stretches.

For some reasons many teams panic when they see a zone but patience is the best virute to have as a team when facing one.

A favorite play of mine against a 2-3 zone is: PG passes to Wing passes to short corner, high post dive weak side block, weak side back screens by high post dive man and weak side wing point guard fades to weak side 3pt elbow. Skip pass to point. open shot take it, if not cutters flood to ball side. Chaos for the defense. REALLY basic but REALLY effective.

[SuperKevin]

I used to suck at basketball, but I've worked on my jumper to where I'm at least decent. But, all I want to say is my HS basketball team > yours

Hopewell Basketball:
08-09: 28-1, 12-0, Undefeated Regular Season, Conference Champs, Regional Champs
09-10: 22-1, 11-1, Conference Champs, Still have conf. tourney and districts, regionals, and state to go

Here's our starting 5
G: Earl McClaurin, 5-11, being recruited by a wide range of schools, some small and then Indiana and Purdue have been putting on the press lately
G: Adrian Addie, 6-2, has had an offer from Gardner-Webb since he was a freshman
G: Jordan Downing, 6-5, committed to Davidson, all-time leading scorer and dropped 31 on a Wake Forest recruit earlier this year
F: Bryce Hawkins, 6-5, being recruited by lower D1 schools
C: Bootz Brooks, 6-8, committed to Howard (D1), conference player of the year
6th man: Justin Avery, 6-1 220, a QB/linebacker on our football team that is a lockdown defender

Last year we were even better... had 2 D1 guys graduate: PG Brandyn Curry (Harvard), he was all-state, and G Alex Godette (Army).

I played for Gardner Webb for 2 weeks back in 2003 as a walk on. Became academically ineligble immediately and left school

[Nash]

We use to break up a box and one with motion, screens, back cuts and skip passes. A smart team can handle it, because it creates a lot of lanes and wholes if people know how to read and react to it.

generally, any offense that uses motion, screens, back cuts and skip passes, AND has a player that forces a box and one will be able to beat almost any defense.

An offense with perfect execution is nearly unstoppable.

Personally I believe if you are playing a team that isn't smart but has a dominant player then you play box and one. If you have a smart team with a dominant player then you go to a sagging man-to-man

[Woy]

Wow you guys know a lot more about basketball than I ever did. I like the 2-3 because I was able to just sit in the middle of the key and go side to to side.. I was a terrible offensive player in any other situation but a fast break... Thank God for these freakishly long arms.

It seems like we played very similar Glen, lol. I loved playing the middle of the 2-3 zone because I collected a lot of blocks with my long arms. Offensively, I was very streaky - one night I would shoot the lights out, another I couldn't hit the broad side of the barn - so I wouldn't consider myself a good offensive player.

[longhornfan]

Haven't picked up a basketball in about a year but I did coach some 7 & 8 year olds my freshman and sophomore year at A&M.

We were horrible though, I don't think we won more than 2 games. Still one of the coolest things I did during college.

[Sportsbuck]

When I play now I mainly play the point (I'm just shy of 6 foot so its not like I have much of a choice)... I can run an offense and a lot of times I make things happen just by being athletic. I can hit an open jumper but for the most part I drive and dish. I play in a rec league right now though... me and my friends play on a team and we dominate everyone. Its a 15 game season and so far we are 12-0 and we haven't had a game closer than 23 points (Also helps when you have Downing - the one committed to Davidson - to pass to).

[Nash]

I'd also add one of the most effective ways to beat a zone too is to make the zone shift without actually moving the ball with dribbling

yeah, this causes the defense to tire and creates confusion. As a guard that plays up top in a 2-3, I hate when teams swing the ball. Its tiring as hell.

Skip passes can wreak havoc and cause confusion in the transition but ball fakes and short passes are your friends.

skip passes, quick passes, and ball fakes will kill a 2-3 with patience

Zones requries a TON of practice to play effectivly at all as they literally require 5 men to be on the same page at all times. Man you can get away with more of a two man game on defense going as simple as ball side and help side.

Agreed, man just requires you to know your help positions while zone requires constant communication. You always have to talk.

Unless the team is just a flat out fantastic zone team and has amazing chemistry simply working the ball around with passing should always get you a solid look at the basket. Most teams play zone simply as a change of pace or to throw a wrench in the other teams game planning for a short while so they normally aren't very strong zones and more gimmicks other teams employ for short stretches.

For some reasons many teams panic when they see a zone but patience is the best virute to have as a team when facing one.

A favorite play of mine against a 2-3 zone is: PG passes to Wing passes to short corner, high post dive weak side block, weak side back screens by high post dive man and weak side wing point guard fades to weak side 3pt elbow. Skip pass to point. open shot take it, if not cutters flood to ball side. Chaos for the defense. REALLY basic but REALLY effective.

my favorite zone offense is a simple high-low motion offense. I'll post a pic of it in a minute

replies in bold

[ralaw]

.

Another thing is fronting the post. THe defender would completely front the post player. This shuts down the passing lane completely except for the lob overtop. To stop that, the help defender would need to play closer to the post player to take the lob away

We use to front the post and have a weak side defender behind them. However, this would create a hole on the weak side of the defense and a smart coach would send a shooter on the weak side. However, we very rarely played zone defense.

When I was younger I watched Allen Iverson shut down Joe Smith in highschool by fronting the post. The team kept trying to lob it over AI, but he must have had like 8 steals just by jumping up and taking he ball.

[ralaw]

generally, any offense that uses motion, screens, back cuts and skip passes, AND has a player that forces a box and one will be able to beat almost any defense.

An offense with perfect execution is nearly unstoppable.

Personally I believe if you are playing a team that isn't smart but has a dominant player then you play box and one. If you have a smart team with a dominant player then you go to a sagging man-to-man

Assuming you have the athletes to play man to man. I watch a lot of highschool basketball and a lot of times the teams just don't have the athletes to stick man to man and if they do the players just don't know how to play man to man.

[Nash]

I love how all the kids look like 8 and then there is the one giant in the back that looks like he is 16

When I play now I mainly play the point (I'm just shy of 6 foot so its not like I have much of a choice)... I can run an offense and a lot of times I make things happen just by being athletic. I can hit an open jumper but for the most part I drive and dish. I play in a rec league right now though... me and my friends play on a team and we dominate everyone. Its a 15 game season and so far we are 12-0 and we haven't had a game closer than 23 points (Also helps when you have Downing - the one committed to Davidson - to pass to).

lol I'm the exact opposite. I'm not really athletic but I can play point because I know how to beat defenses, have a really good jumper (not as good as buck3y3s though of course) and i don't turn it over. My court vision is pretty good and I'm an above average passer.

I play very similar to Jon Scheyer at Duke actually

[Woy]

Did they let you shoot from the outside? I wouldn't dare.. That was a one way trip to the bench. I would get like 6 ppg on FT's and put-backs..

Yeah, I had the green light and would move to guard when the opponent ran a 2-3. We had a lot of depth in the frontcourt, so I wasn't only stuck under the basket as a center.

As for ppg, I averaged between 8-9. Our best player averaged 19-21, then we had two more players average over 10. Rebounding the ball and blocking shots were my specialty.

[NAHSTE]

Since we're posting picture evidence of our basketball credentials, here's the last bball team I played on, the LSU student-TV station's co-ed intramurals team, the "(Channel)75ers" I'm the guy with the long black socks, with the arms crossed so gayly. We uh, lost every game, but I dropped around 18 points in my last performance.