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Zone fury signified nothing
by Tim O'Sullivan / March 4, 2002

The return of the zone defense has not made the impact that some feared and others hoped it would. Through some perverse administrative logic, implementers of the rule actually thought it would increase scoring. However, in the 2000-01 season teams scored an average of 94.8 points per game. In 01-02, the number is 95.3, hardly a noticeable difference. And shooting percentages changed even less: .443 in 00-01, .442 in 01-02. The purists thought that the zone would decrease the already declining scoring, but that obviously hasn't been the case.

The question is, why has the return of the zone made as much impact as Greg Ostertag guarding Shaquille O'Neal. That is, none at all.

There are several explanations. First, not many teams are trying it. Zones are very complicated and difficult to teach and so coaches are shying away. Most coaches complain about the lack of practice time given to them by the heathens disguised as schedule makers, so they don't want to use their precious practices installing new systems. Zone defenses also allow for open shots from the perimeter, exactly what the league wanted when they
killed the illegal defense rule. But coaches hate to give up open looks, from anywhere. It's also difficult to box out and rebound defensively out of a zone. And coaches hate to give up offensive rebounds.

Second, many teams were already playing zone defenses, they were just forced to masquerade it as man-to-man. The Miami Heat are a great example. People have been complaining for a long time now that Pat Riley teams used zones. The Heat allowed just 86.6 ppg in 00-01, second in the league behind the New York Knicks and Riley-protégé Jeff Van Gundy. This year, the Heat are leading the league in opponent's ppg at 88.2. Players on these type of teams are so used to playing by the old illegal defense rules that it's a hard habit to break. So why should Riley switch to a pure zone and re-teach his players everything they know when his pseudo-zone was working just fine?

Third, teams aren't allowed to play pure zones anyway. The defensive three second rule prohibits players, most notably shot blockers, from camping out underneath the basket and swatting away everything that moves. As a matter of fact, big men are so conscious of not violating the new three second rule that many offensive slashers have found the lane to be more open than it was in the past.

However, the departure of illegal defense has made some impressions on the league. From a fans' point of view the most important change is, naturally, the departure of the illegal defense call. Nobody really understood the rule anyway, it was like one of those wonders of nature you just have to accept, like the fact that bees can fly or the mating habits of females. The only things for certain about the illegal defense call was that one was a warning, two or more were technical, the coaches would always ask for an explanation, the guilty player would stand still as statue and point to his feet and some lines on the court and the fans would be bored and confused.
Thank goodness we don't have to go through all that anymore.

Another positive is that there are less isolation plays. You know the play, when the center and power forward stand above the three point arc and act like they're waiting in line at the concession stand while their teammates
play on half the floor. Half the team playing on half the floor was simply ugly.

The return of the zone has also made certain types of players more valuable. If you're tall and can shoot, the new NBA rules are for you. Tall because height is more of a defensive weapon in a zone. And outside shooting is the
best zone killer. Perhaps that is why the Dallas Mavericks' Dirk Nowitizki, a 7-footer who can drain the trey, is having such a breakout year. Or maybe he's just that good.

Finally, the Minnesota Timberwolves and coach Flip Saunders have been praised as being the best utilizers of the zone. The T'wolves have a very long front line with 7-foot small forward Kevin Garnett, 6-10 power forward Joe Smith and a pair of 7-foot centers in Radoslav Nesterovic and Loren Woods. All those inches make for an intimidating zone. The defense has helped Minnesota overcome the loss of point guard Terrell Brandon, and the team has also been able to win games when Garnett missed time due to injury. But, the T'Wolves are allowing exactly the same number of points per game, 96.0, this year with the zone as they were last year without the zone.