When zone defense is brought up in reference to USA basketball, it usually has a
negative undertone. However, after watching Team USA’s 86-85 win over a scrappy
Spain team, maybe the zone defense benefits all.
In the closing seconds of the game, Team USA switched to a zone and completely
confused Spain. Kevin Durant was able to use his lankiness to his advantage and
blocked a possible game-winning jump shot. With all the size and length on the
court, Spain looked rattled and never appeared to get into the designed play.
But how shocked should Spain or anyone else actually be? After all Team USA does
have the “zone guru”, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim, on their bench.
With all the athletic ability Team USA possesses, maybe Boeheim’s defense is
what’s best for the team. The zone is designed to force the opponent to shoot
the outside shot and move the ball or make an extra pass. So with all the
athletic ability that the team possesses, they may perform better in the zone
rather than man to man defense.
Think about a lineup with Derrick Rose and Andre Iguodala at the guard spots inthe zone. Both guys are very active on the defense end and could possibly createtons of steals and fast break points by playing the passing lanes. Then put Kevin Durant, Lamar Odom, and Rudy Gay on the blocks/center positions, and opposing teams will not only have a tough time shooting over them, they’ll also struggle snagging rebounds over those three giants.
The zone also allows Team USA to mask a very big problem they will have, and that’s the lack of a “true big man.” And when they run into more physical teams, the lack of a Tim Duncan or Dwight Howard type of player may catch up to them.
The next “big” guy on the bench is Tyson Chandler and after him it’s Kevin Love. Although, both are very capable NBA players, the less we see of them the better it is for Team USA.
Team USA should know that there aren’t too many teams in the world that can match up with their speed or their athletic ability and if they switched to zone, they would eliminate almost every shot besides a jumper for their opponent. Now in the past that may have been to the opposing teams advantage, but not this year. So far not too many teams have shown that they can
consistently knock down a jump shot.
So if Team USA properly executes the zone, they should become a nightmare for other teams.
However, that is a big “if.” For most of the players on Team USA, they probably have not played zone since they were in high school, because the zone has become a lost art on the college level and hardly used in the NBA. However, since the NBA allegedly hosts the best talent in the world, and Team USA has the “Michelangelo” of the defense painting the perfect picture, they
should be fine.
yeah they used the zone a cplt times
navarro started lighting them up though and brought them out of it
iggy still hoisting up long 3s for no reason though lol nothing has changed
Iggy had a turnover at the end of that game too. Looked sloppy. But he does look sharp and decisive with his dribble drive(same old) and his d is pretty solid. I’m watching that and there letting this 5foot nothing Spainard hit the key and pop jumpers from the line like he’s at the Y in the over 30 league(umm i knownothing about that league!). Noone wants too stick Durant. He’s killin that league. Chris Paul is wasted talent in Charlotte/New Orleans? Who are they?
I hope the Sixers can cash in on IGgy’s higher profile so they can actually get rid of him…
He not worth the contract and is just an average to good player,but nothing special and definitely not a shooter or a franchise type of player.. He’s a dime a dozen in the NBA, slasher,runs the floor which is about 70% of the NBA players anymore..
i agree playing bball with some of the best everyday can only help him and like pman says hopefully it helps us to get him outta here (harry K style)