Why did we stay in zone?

It's a good question, we'll see if anyone asks Fran at the presser.

I was also surprised after Iowa got a turn on the press, Iowa fell out of it.
 
I think it just has to do with trying to keep guys fresh and more importantly keep guys out of foul trouble. There would have been big foul problems if we tried to play them straight up all game.

Also in Coach Fran's defense, when you're overmatched on the road sometimes you just have to take the chance that the opponent will go cold. A big problem was that we couldn't rebound out of the zone, which is typical for young teams.
 
I hate the 2-3 zone. It's a lazy defense. It works if a team is dominating inside and cold outside. You force your opponent to beat with the 3. Teams however are shooting 57% against us from the outside. We hardly ran it but I hated running the 2-3 zone in high school because it allowed to many open looks. We ran a lot of a Box & 1, 3-2 zone or even 1-2-2 or 1-3-1 defensive zone is more effective.

I don't understand why we get away from the half-court press so quickly. It works.
 
HawkeyeRyno said:
I hate the 2-3 zone. It's a lazy defense. It works if a team is dominating inside and cold outside. You force your opponent to beat with the 3. Teams however are shooting 57% against us from the outside. We hardly ran it but I hated running the 2-3 zone in high school because it allowed to many open looks. We ran a lot of a Box & 1, 3-2 zone or even 1-2-2 or 1-3-1 defensive zone is more effective.

I don't understand why we get away from the half-court press so quickly. It works.
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I agree with you except the part about it being a lazy defense. You have to work your a$$ off and if the other team is smart they will still get the open look like they did. Hate it and could not believe he started the 2nd half in a zone down 14 points. You work your butt off on D and get torched with the open 3. It can be demoralizing.
 
There's definitely a time and place to use zone....but to stay in it while the other team is torching you from deep is sadistic.
 
The other thing is, when we're in man, the offside players sag so far into the lane to help interior defense that the other teams' wing shooters are left alone anyway. So again we get torched, unless the shooter is cold.
 
Iowa's D has been "torched" from the 3 pt. line all year. It's the one knock I have in coaching. I know we don't have the speed defensively, but it gets annoying watching Iowa get beat by teams who make a dozen threes a night.
 
It's called good coaching.

The probability of us winning that game was near zero once the 2nd half got underway. Why not take the time and work on some things like zone and different sets? I'm glad he did as now they have some good video to show the kids vs just playing against the 2nd / 3rd stringers on our bench.
 
Foul trouble, matchups, etc... It is frustrating to give up open 3's but Purdue is a quality, well-coached, veteran squad. Purdue often made the extra pass (and even the extra-extra pass) which leads to open looks. My biggest frustration, which I absolutely can't believe Fran doesn't go ballistic on our kids for, is when our guys close out on their shooters and we go flying by them trying to block their shot on the perimeter. That's terrible, off-balance defense, and then that player is no longer in position to box out/rebound. We did this many times yesterday. One of my coaching pet peeves. Yesterday was a learning experience, nothing more. Granted it's in front of thousands of people, it's on tv, it counts in the standings, etc... but yesterday served its purpose. Our young kids played major minutes on the road. That will pay off down the road this year and in future years. I really wish we had a frosh. post (5 man) who could be getting serious minutes this year. That would help for next year.
 
hawkeye12345 said:
It's called good coaching.

The probability of us winning that game was near zero once the 2nd half got underway. Why not take the time and work on some things like zone and different sets? I'm glad he did as now they have some good video to show the kids vs just playing against the 2nd / 3rd stringers on our bench.
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Are you suggesting Fran wasn't trying to win the game in the 2nd half? I'm glad the kids have video of Smith torching us too. "Hey, look at his form guys. See the rotation of the ball and his follow through....splash. Now that is how you shoot the ball."
 
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