X's and O's: An Ongoing Discussion of the Exquisite Art of Basketball

[dirkfansince1998]

To move away from the offensive end. It´s interesting that more and more teams are adopting versions of Spoelstra´s 2-3 zone. Raptors, Blazers, Heat. Despite the overall improvement in 3-point shooting around the league zone usage percentage is going up. Priority number one is preventing penetration and take away the pick and roll. Takes away most of the high pick and roll or spain pick and roll actions that most teams like to spam. Also a lot more difficult to target individual matchups or force switches.

Next level is being able to disguise the zone. Keep teams guessing. Best example would be the bubble Heat run.