Will the Sixers play more zone next year?

blargh · Post #1 » by **blargh** » Thu Jul 4, 2019 1:32 am

BB has rarely gone to a zone in the past, but we might have the right personnel to throw it out there every once in a while. It would let our big lineups rotate less, and let Embiid and Horford stay closer to the paint. Miami played probably more zone than any other team last year, and Richardson really excelled in it. It would maximize Simmons’ defensive strengths as well. And it’s well established what Thybullle can do in a zone.

youngcrev · Post #2 » by **youngcrev** » Thu Jul 4, 2019 1:38 am

I'd guess we'd see more zone played against them since they'll be tough to match up with size wise and don't have any zone busting type shooters. Not sure I see them playing more zone though. I think they're better built to man-up in a switching scheme than they were last year.

Post #3 » by **Sixerscan** » Thu Jul 4, 2019 1:40 am

I hope so with JRich and Thybulle, but then again it seemed like zone was a viable strategy when they were playing 2 of Embiid/Okafor/Noel together and they didn't really do it.

smittybanton · Post #4 » by **smittybanton** » Thu Jul 4, 2019 1:41 am

yup. golden state and toronto played a lot of disguised zone against each other. toronto even went "box and one" on steph, i think. jim boeheim, john chaney matchup-zones. this is part of the transformation towards european handball.

PhillyPhilly · Post #5 » by **PhillyPhilly** » Thu Jul 4, 2019 1:42 am

youngcrev wrote:I'd guess we'd see more zone played against them since they'll be tough to match up with size wise and don't have any zone busting type shooters. Not sure I see them playing more zone though. I think they're better built to man-up in a switching scheme than they were last year.

Who is "zone busting shooter" in your eyes?

76ciology · Post #6 » by **76ciology** » Thu Jul 4, 2019 2:07 am

No. Because everyone can contain anyone

youngcrev · Post #7 » by **youngcrev** » Thu Jul 4, 2019 1:58 pm

PhillyPhilly wrote:
youngcrev wrote:I'd guess we'd see more zone played against them since they'll be tough to match up with size wise and don't have any zone busting type shooters. Not sure I see them playing more zone though. I think they're better built to man-up in a switching scheme than they were last year.

Who is "zone busting shooter" in your eyes?

JJ certainly qualified. Pretty much any elite shooter that will kill you if you consistently give them space. Guys that force you to lean more their way than you'd like, stretching the zone out. Korver would help.

Black Mage · Post #8 » by **Black Mage** » Fri Jul 5, 2019 12:09 pm

While I'm not against the idea, I'm pretty sure with this personnel and bench Brett's going to go back to the switch everything defense. Certainly hope they don't, having only one style of defense makes the team too predictable. Changing things up with times when you don't switch keeps teams honest and should not be abandoned.