Zone defense

[idajazz]

Why are they having such a hard time with Zone defense?
At this level they should be able to burn teams that play zone against them?
What gives?

[Matt007b]

we need someone to punish teams going into the zone...AK did that last night with his 3's..same with Memo.. but normally we need Korver/Miles/Brewer..basically a shooting guard to constantly knock down 3's and that will snap any opposing team out of a zone. I'm sure every team scout has noticed we suck against the zone and no doubt you will see it again in Boston.

(course on defense we need serious work..especially our guards roaming like they are..stay in front of your man!!)

[nghedman]

The zone brings out our two BIGGEST weakness on this team.

As already mentioned outside shooting. We have lost outside of probably Okur and (maybe Deron this year) our best 3 outside and mid-range shooters in Korver, Miles and Harpring. This is big.

The other is we have no "slashers" (except for maybe Deron this year again) no one on this team can take someone on the dribble and create there own shoot. The players on this team have relied so much on "the system" and having to following Sloans rules or get benched; they have lost the give-n-go, slash, or take the guy off the dribble. The new guy ....is it Maxwell, is doing wonderful early on because he is the only guy that can slash to the basket. Man, the Jazz need him. He could take over AK and Brewers spot here soon if he keeps it up. The zone is all about splitting the seams and pulling the defense one way and then passing to the open guy for the shot or to let him do the same after being a bit closer to the basket.

That's my take anyway. The Jazz need to make their shoots and get the killer instinct in them when up by 15 to move it to 30 points. and keep it above 20 in the fourth if they want to not get in these close situations again and again.

[schneiderjazz]

One thing that Bolerjack and Boone said a couple of times yesterday and I completely agree with is that the Jazz don't attack the zone. They just move the ball without purpose only to take a desperate shot to avoid a 24 sec violation. I wanna blame this on the fact that Korver and CJ are out, but IIRC, the Jazz have struggled against zone defenses for the last two or three years. They look lost and hesitant every time they face a zone. I don't know exactly what the solution is but being more aggressive instead of just moving the ball around the perimeter should help IMO.

[idajazz]

It just drives me insane.
At this level a zone should be a cakewalk.
All of these guys should have played against zones the whole time they were coming up.
They are supposed to be the most elite players on the planet.
A zone just shouldn't work in the NBA.

[ColdBlue]

The other is we have no "slashers" (except for maybe Deron this year again) no one on this team can take someone on the dribble and create there own shoot.

I think Matthews has shown glimpses of this skill. I'm surprised Sloan hasn't yanked him out of the rotation because of it.

I think CJ could be a pretty good at this too. Maybe Sloan will give our 2's a green light to create their own shot when the offense bogs down.

[StocktonShorts]

Forget 3pt shooting, none of the guards (save Deron) on the active roster can hit a mid-range jumper reliably. That's why the zone is killing them.

[carrottop12]

No Korver and no CJ makes Utah something something...

[DiscoLives4ever]

No Korver and no CJ makes Utah something something...

suck a**?