Isn’t it funny how Calipari and many of his supporters think a zone defense is bad? They come up with several reasons why they think it’s bad.
Some will say it shows a sign of weakness that you can’t guard man to man. Funny, Calipari played man defense 99% of the season and it showed a major sign of weakness. Every basketball analyst from every sport media outlet could see it. Every UK fan could see it too. Opposing coaches could see it as well. There was a reason that Oakland coach, Greg Kampe, and many of his players felt good about the matchup with UK. The whole world could see that UKs man to man defense was bad from perimeter to the paint.
Another reason Calipari and others say zone defense is bad is because it’s hard to rebound out of a zone. Again, Calipari played man most of the seasons and was consistently a bad rebounding team. Oakland played zone all day on UK and outrebounded them. It was only by one rebound, but keep in mine this is Oakland, we are talking about, not Oakland, California either. The Golden Grizzlies tallest player is 6’9”. Two players, Trey Townsend and DW Cole, had 20 rebounds between them. They are only 6’6” and 6’3”.
Another reason Calipari and others are against zone defense, is cause they say teams can shoot better against a zone. Well, UK just had one of their worst shooting games from the perimeter this season against a zone defense. Oakland, on the other hand, had one of its best perimeter shooting games this season while going against a man to man defense.
I think it’s funny how Calipari refuses to play a defense that has always given him problems when he faced them. It’s not like it has to be zone or man the whole game, but being able to switch up defenses to change the momentum of the game wouldn’t be a bad thing. With a strictly man to man defense, you are often only as good as your weakest link in defense. We had a lot of weak links in defense this season. I think a zone defense helps teach playing together as a unit better. It’s easier to play help defense and trap out of. Like I said, it doesn’t have to be strictly man or zone, but it would be nice to be able to change things up depending on what the other team is doing.
Some will say it shows a sign of weakness that you can’t guard man to man. Funny, Calipari played man defense 99% of the season and it showed a major sign of weakness. Every basketball analyst from every sport media outlet could see it. Every UK fan could see it too. Opposing coaches could see it as well. There was a reason that Oakland coach, Greg Kampe, and many of his players felt good about the matchup with UK. The whole world could see that UKs man to man defense was bad from perimeter to the paint.
Another reason Calipari and others say zone defense is bad is because it’s hard to rebound out of a zone. Again, Calipari played man most of the seasons and was consistently a bad rebounding team. Oakland played zone all day on UK and outrebounded them. It was only by one rebound, but keep in mine this is Oakland, we are talking about, not Oakland, California either. The Golden Grizzlies tallest player is 6’9”. Two players, Trey Townsend and DW Cole, had 20 rebounds between them. They are only 6’6” and 6’3”.
Another reason Calipari and others are against zone defense, is cause they say teams can shoot better against a zone. Well, UK just had one of their worst shooting games from the perimeter this season against a zone defense. Oakland, on the other hand, had one of its best perimeter shooting games this season while going against a man to man defense.
I think it’s funny how Calipari refuses to play a defense that has always given him problems when he faced them. It’s not like it has to be zone or man the whole game, but being able to switch up defenses to change the momentum of the game wouldn’t be a bad thing. With a strictly man to man defense, you are often only as good as your weakest link in defense. We had a lot of weak links in defense this season. I think a zone defense helps teach playing together as a unit better. It’s easier to play help defense and trap out of. Like I said, it doesn’t have to be strictly man or zone, but it would be nice to be able to change things up depending on what the other team is doing.
