Antinomy wrote:70sFan wrote:Antinomy wrote:
Jordan went on the record saying that he didn’t like playing against zone defenses.
Think about it like this: An ISO scorer like Jordan was highly suited to play in an era where you either had to guard him straight up or send a hard double at him. Keep in mind that you weren’t allowed to just sag off guys like Grant or Rodman if they just so happened to wander around the 3 point line.
Imagine if Durant, for example, was allowed to play under those rules. He’d be unbelievably unstoppable.
When Rodman was around the three point line, his defender had to be around FT line. That's still sagging off. Don't exaggarate illegal defense, nobody run above three point line behind Rodman.
Teams like the Knicks tried playing zone against the Bulls but would get called for illegal defense SEVERAL times per game. I’ve literally seen it. The games aren’t hard to find.
That's similar to saying handchecking now is illegal and because it gets called sometimes it means no one handchecks, even though we know it still happens. By and large illegal defense wasn't called nearly as much as people make it seem nowadays. It was barely understood even by the people who introduced it themselves
https://www.si.com/vault/1985/10/28/628680/give-the-dan-a-plus A set of illegal defensive guidelines that (theoretically) eliminates the zone takes up nine pages of the 60-page NBA official's manual but still confuses spectators all the time—and coaches and players most of the time, not to mention the refs. Darell Garretson, the NBA's chief of officials, doubts that either Dallas's Dick Motta or San Antonio's Cotton Fitzsimmons fully understands the guidelines, which would not be so bad except that they (along with Milwaukee's Nelson) created them. Pete Newell, Golden State's director of player personnel and one of the most respected minds in the business, says, "There are a lot of people who don't understand the guidelines, and some of them wear whistles.
The final problem, of course, is that illegal defenses, however comprehensible in the rule book, are just plain hard to recognize on the court, even for the zebras. Frequently a violation will be whistled on the possession that immediately follows an assistant coach screaming: "Illegal defense! Illegal defense!"
That said there are numerous occassions where zone was played and nothing was done about it. This part from that same article touches on it:
The Knicks under Hubie Brown constantly press full-court, often with a 1-3-1 zone. "After a made free throw or field goal," says guard Darrell Walker, "we're coming after you." They start it near the end line just after the opposition has taken the ball out of bounds—perfectly legal—and they attempt to force the ball to one outside alley or the other and double-team it in a corner of the court, which is also perfectly legal. It is a zone, pure and simple, but the kind of zone that the rules allow. It was so slick that last season it brought the Knicks the league lead in illegal defenses with 90. Watch complaints about the legality of Hubie's press soar this year when Ewing starts "rotating."
Milwaukee, arguably the best defensive team in the league last season, seems to draw the most fire about its tactics. In Nelson's system defenders switch every time offensive players cross—or anytime a potential pick is set. At all times the Bucks' strategy is to keep their own big men under the basket. Golden State coach John Bach says the Cavs and Celtics are two other teams expert in using partial zone on a switch.
Systems aside, there are teams that rely upon "team defenders." When someone calls an opponent a team defender, he means: "That s.o.b. plays zone 90 percent of the time." The leading team defender, by acclamation, is Larry Bird, who on a remarkable number of occasions has been seen drawing offensive fouls and just plain getting in the way of players who aren't his to guard. Ironically, the cover of this year's official NBA Guide is a perfect illustration—Michael Jordan, openmouthed, is driving to the basket and there is Bird underneath on defense, even though Bird would almost never have the responsibility for checking a speedster like Jordan.
Again, this article is from 1985. So there's obviously no era bias involved
and then there are countless other references and whatnot. Couple more:
What particularly bothers Motta is that many teams try to get away with zone defenses now, content to only be penalized by a technical foul. "Our teams are zoning now. Rule or no rule. We're not allowed to use the word `zone' but it's a zone," Motta said.
-THE NBA HAS THIS RULE ABOUT ILLEGAL DEFENSE, BUT WHO CAN EXPLAIN IT, AND WILL IT EVER GO AWAY? A TWILIGHT ZONE (LA Daily News April 14, 1996 Scott Wolf)
-CLEVELAND LOOKS GOOD FROM INSIDE, Boston Globe/Bob Ryan January 8, 1989
Of course, Don Nelson plays the best zones that are never called. His Warriors have Chris Mullin, Mitch Richmond and a defense that funnels everything in to Manute Bol when he's in the game. And Golden State outrebounded Utah by an average of 51-41 in the four games
-The Teams of the '90s Key Up for a Head Start Washington Post/David Aldridge April 27, 1989
Johnson applauded Riley's switch to a trapping defense in the second half after the Suns led 54-50 at halftime Friday night.
The Suns have been hampered by poor outside shooting throughout the series, and Phoenix coach Cotton Fitzsimmons has complained that the Lakers are playing an illegal zone defense.
Phoenix has shot 51, 42 and 46 percent in the first three games, compared with 60, 45 and 49 percent for Los Angeles.
Suns guard Jeff Hornacek said, "We've been an outside shooting team all year and we expect our outside shooting to take us through it. But when you're not hitting outside shots, their zone looks like it works a lot more.
The Jazz is all about Karl Malone running the floor as well as any big man alive, and Stockton finding the open man as well as any guard alive, and Jeff Malone shooting the jumper as pure as anyone in the game. But they're mainly about zone defense, which is supposed to be illegal in the NBA.
"We come as close as possible" to playing zone, Eaton acknowledges. "You have to have the ability to help and you have to be able to shut down the middle. And to be able to do that, you have to push it to the edge."
Coach Jerry Sloan, who spent a career knocking opposing guards upside the head in Chicago, says this isn't his ideal, only an appreciation of his personnel.
"I like to run as much as anyone else," he said. "When I was in college we used to score 100 points seven or eight times a year. But with Mark Eaton on the floor, we can't run fast. We can't give them 100 {points}, because we probably won't score more than that. That's who we are and that's who we've been for years."
How do they get away with it? It starts with Eaton, who camps out in the lane as long as possible, shaded toward his man, but gets out just before it's too late. Stockton lingers when the ball goes inside, not quite double-teaming, not quite going back to his man. Thus he's able to help in any direction - inside, against people cutting down the lane and against his own man.
"We know the rules," burly forward Mike Brown said. "We take advantage of the 2.9 seconds, going down and coming back. And usually, we don't get too many zone defense calls.
-NOTEBOOK; No Matter What They Call It, Jazz Dials Z for (Illegal) Zone, David Aldridge Washington Post, May 19, 1992
"Utah plays the best zone in basketball. They play a 2-1-2 with five guys with a foot in the paint 90 percent of the time," Karl said in Seattle on the second of three consecutive off days in the Western Conference finals.
-HEY, IT'S GANG UP ON UTAH DAY, The Columbian Vancouver (AP), May 23, 1996
Karl said he will do a lot of double-teaming and triple-teaming, if necessary, to stop Jordan. He even threatened to try an illegal 1-3-1 zone suggested by McMillan.
"We're going to give him many looks," Karl said.
-Running From Cover // Top Defender Payton Won't Be Matched Up Against Jordan, Lacey J. Banks, June, 4 1996
Despite the injuries, the Lakers were hardly playing like a desperate team. Instead, they were relying on the resurgent offense of Abdul-Jabbar and the explosive moves of James Worthy (26). Defensively, LA defied the bylaws of the NBA and stuck with a trapping zone defense to minimize Detroit's quickness.
-PISTONS ROLL TO 3-0 LEAD, Boston Globe Jackie McMullen, June 12, 1989
Etc
no
