When a team throws out an effective zone defense it can surprise both the other team and the the fans. That’s what Pitt did to Fresno State on Tuesday night.
Pitt has used the zone increasingly in the last few years. The results have not always been as effective. In that lost 2011-12 season, the zone was used more out of desperation than anything else. It did not go well. No, it did not.
Last year Pitt would use the zone effectively in small bursts. Just to change things up if a team was getting too many easy buckets. But quickly they would drop back into the man defense.
On Tuesday Fresno State started off with some hot shooting from the outside and good penetration against Pitt’s perimeter defense. A little more than four minutes in and down five points, Pitt switched to a 2-3 zone and Fresno State scored only 5 points the rest of the first half. Initially it was the surprise of facing a zone, when they clearly didn’t expect anything but man-to-man defense.
“They did something that we hadn’t expected or seen a whole lot of,” Fresno State coach Rodney Terry said. “They played a little zone defense. Over the years, they’ve been a really good man-to-man team. But they did a great job with their zone, and it really affected us and kind of took us out of the rhythm of what we were doing early.”
After Fresno State (1-1) made 5 of its first 9 shots, including 3-pointers on its first two attempts, Pitt switched to the 2-3 zone to use its size advantage.
“They came out very strong,” Wright said. “They were hitting a lot of shots. We weren’t getting stops. We have a great coaching staff, and they adjusted. The 2-3 zone, I guess, worked for us in our favor, and we stuck with it. We’re very versatile. We can play one-on-one defense, and we can also play zone, and we rebound out of the zone, which is very important.”
That was a significant difference between previous attempts by Pitt to use the zone. While effective at times, a zone leaves you vulnerable to second chances on rebounds. Especially if you are a team that doesn’t use it a lot. Against Fresno, the Panthers were still able to get defensive rebounds.
The other reason the zone was more effective for Pitt than any time previously. The pieces fit much better.
Dixon said he began to consider using more zone a few years ago when the 3-point line was moved back a foot and used it more last year for a variety of reasons.
He said the combination of personnel and the new emphasis on foul calls and hand-checking has made it clear to him that they could play a lot more zone defense this year and this was a good time to start.
“I was obviously really happy with the first half and how we responded after being down,” Dixon said. “The zone was good for us. I think we have the personnel for it and our man-to-man was not where it needed to be.
“I had a feeling we would have to use some zone because they would be hard to guard with their four guards.
“But we have bigger guards than we ever have in James [Robinson] and Cameron [Wright] and we have pretty good size and athleticism. The only question was whether we could — and can — rebound out of it, and we obviously did a good job there, as well.”
You can expect to see a lot of teams use zone defenses this year. Almost out of necessity. As Coach Dixon notes, with the rule changes emphasis to increase flow and offense, zone defenses will be popular. Especially against teams with quick guards.
And the biggest difference for Pitt in their zone is that their backcourt is much longer than it has (ever?) been. Not just Wright and Robinson. Durand Johnson — who not only looks like he is trying on defense, but is playing it well — Josh Newkirk and Lamar Patterson. That size on the perimeter makes playing a zone much more effective. More ground can be quickly covered and passing lanes clogged.
And it isn’t just the backcourt fits a zone better. The frontcourt with Talib Zanna, Mike Young, Derrick Randall and Jamel Artis work well in it because they are athletic enough to get rebounds in the zone. Pitt piled up 48 rebounds. The frontcourt grabbed 30 of them. And that is with Fresno St. launching 45% of their shots from beyond the 3-point line.
The rebounding by Pitt despite the zone defense becomes more impressive when you realize that they held Fresno St. to 37% shooting — lots of misses — but Fresno St. only managed 5 offensive rebounds.
It isn’t that Pitt is going to be a zone defense team. They now have the personnel to use it effectively, and Coach Dixon is taking advantage of it.
After that, I’m cautious about drawing too much from the game. Fresno State was completely overmatched. Pitt blew them out despite an 0-11 on 3-point shooting night.
Individual play that is worth noting.
Durand Johnson. I already mentioned that he is actually playing defense with energy this year. I’m also pleased with him on offense. He is not looking to launch the minute the ball hits his hands (though, he did have one of those shots in the game). He’s passing the ball, and he’s attacking the basket. He looks like a much more complete player this year.
Cam Wright. Is it possible to be awkward and comfortable at the same time? He’s athletic as hell, but there is something almost angular to his movements that makes him look not quite right. In a game where we describe things in terms of flow, rhythm, motion, and so on; Wright is none of those things. He’s jerky, disruptive, almost flailing at times. Yet, it is with control and purpose. It works in his game and it fits into the team.
Mike Young. Really impressed with him, and I know it’s not going to be the Big East any longer, but I have a little worry about him physically holding up for an entire season. He looks so skinny in the frontcourt.
Individually, they look like the know what they are doing.
See how well it holds up under pressure, but they have a nice combination of experience and youth.
Just a gut feeling. A lot to look forward to.
Wait a minute. You’re talking about basketball?
Florida State Quarterback Jameis Winston Being Investigated for Sexual Battery – USA TODAY and others.
I love his game. He is the most skilled four Pitt has had in a long, long time. He can dribble, drive, pass, shoot (3 point range), post up, rebound and defend (both post and perimeter). He is really only lacking experience and strength/explosiveness. If he puts on 15lbs of muscle, which looks possible on his frame, LOOK OUT!
Having Randall to bang with bigs should free him up, too.
I would not be surprised if he is Pitt’s best player come tournament time.
Very few, if any, great defensive teams play BOTH man and zone. Usually, great teams have one primary defense, and maybe throw something else out there as a change of pace.
While I like the idea of playing zone for all the reasons mentioned, I am worried that playing too much of it will take away from their man defense. This team is very young and inexperienced. There is only so much practice time (and scrimmage rime, aka the non-con schedule) available to work on defense. Every minute they spend on zone, takes away from something else.
The aggressive man to man, switching and doubling all over the half court, looked to have the potential to be really, really good. But it requires a lot of teamwork, communication and PRACTICE. They absolutely have the personnel to play that brand of man to man.
I would prefer they play 90% man in these early “scrimmages”, get good at it, then mix in the zone later. The zone is like a great side dish at thanksgiving dinner, the man to man is the turkey.
This is the longest, perhaps most versatile and athletic Pitt team I can recall. Johnson, Young, and Artis- from a distance- have the same lean athletic builds. Cam Wright stretches well. Newkirk has a nice bounce to him and James Robinson looks a lot more fit.
The last couple of years we needed to switch to zone primarily as a reaction to how poorly we were playing man. This year’s team can make that switch more proactively and see results. It’s not a bad thing to be able to play different types of defense.
I am, thus far, REALLY impressed with the team that Dixon has put together. We’ve played some creampuffs for sure, but the new guys reveal an emphasis on recruiting better athletes. Young has looked poised and skilled. Besides being a hard working rebounder, he seems to actually have both a face up and back to the rim game. Probably needs to work on them both against better competition, but he’s not starting from scratch. And he had some nice passes as well. He can even handle the ball some too. Artis- is he Young’s clone? I mean, he doesn’t look much different or far behind.
Love what Randall has shown so far. Wants to rebound, not a bad passer. Doesn’t make stupid fouls. He arrives with some of the rough edges already sanded off.
Who’s going to pick up JJ Moore’s shot attempts? Looks like Durand Johnson. I think he still has a lot of “chucker” in him, but I agree with Chas he looks good. Feisty and long on defense and aggressive on offense. Great 6th-man.
Excited about what we can do this season. There are some intriguing lineups that Coach can throw out there.
Here the Fresneck coach spent the whole halftime showing them how to run their offense against the zone and PITT comes out in the Man.
Confuse the heck out of them. Then at some point in the 2nd half you switch back into the Zone.
Would also like to see Pitt play the 1-3-1 trap on occasion, to see if they can force a turnover.
Another wrinkle, something else, anything to cause confusion or uncertainty against the enemy opposition. In that big game, when one turnover leading to a hoop is the difference in the game.
We’ve been on the receiving end of some of those, I’d like to see us get more proactive, rather than reactive.
There is no doubt that they are running more fast break offense by design and playing different defensive schemes. Even the zone looked different than last year’s 2-3. And I too, have been impressed with the coaching job Dixon has done so far.
* Keeps your bigs under the boards where they belong
* Eliminates most all the switches on screen
* Forces teams to shoot from the outside
* Eliminates a lot of the one on one crap these kids thrive on. ie. Dribble penetration
* Cuts down on fouls 25 feet from the hoop on switches. Nothing was more frustrating than watching Aaron Gray, Gary McChee, DeJuan Blair, and Steve Adams picking up touch fouls 25 feet from the hoop.
* Easier to control, that one great player the other team has. Example we had no one who could stop Dwayne Wade, one on one, a good zone might have.
* Easier to disrupt passes in the passing lanes that can lead to turnovers.
* If teams have quicker guards than yours, they can be more easily defended in a zone.
In summary, Pitt only gets so far against better teams, especially in the Big Dance, when all teams are playing hard, because when matched up one on one in a Man defense, the really good teams have better players, better athletes. And that gap is further widened if you’re trying to defend those better players with lesser players in a Man defense.
A well played Zone is the Great Equalizer.
We might go further in the Big Dance if we learn how to play it very well.
I use to play the top of the zone all the time and always picked off several opponent passes a game which led to easy layups, etc.
If you have really active players on the top, like Wright you can really cause havoc for the other team. Get some easy turnovers and easy points.
And we’ve all watched Pitt for long enough, when they sometimes go long long stretches in games where they really struggle to score points.
Getting easy points is something I think we can do with active long players on top of the zone.
Would have been interesting if PITT would have had a good zone back then to see what would have happened.
Temple’s matchup Zone with lesser players always caused problems for opponents in the Big Dance.
Pitt’s going to be facing quicker, faster players in the ACC compared to the more physical Big East. In a Man defense, your lack of quickness is further exposed. I think JD probably recognizes that fact and is preparing for it.
A Zone defense can camouflage your lack of quickness and you’re not as susceptible to that one opposing playing you can’t quite matchup with who goes off for a huge game. We’ve seen that more than a few times.
Maybe JD will bring back Gurgs to implement it.
Worked for UNLV in 1990-1991.
We had them really spooked in the 1rst half, so much so that Dean Smith lobbied for the game ball to be changed. And unbelievably the refs did !
Agree Sam’s number should be retired. He’s got to be way up their in all-time rebounds.
Because of this, I know a lot of people were voting Cam Wright off the team when we were going through the transfer/recruiting turmoil recently – even after he shot about 50% from the floor last year. I invite any of you who are man/woman enough to eat your words on that one. He could and probably will be one of our best players this year.
I was nervous just like the rest of you coming into this year because of all the new pieces (freshman, transfers, redshirts) but I have been pretty impressed with what I’ve seen so far. I never thought I would see a Dixon team that wasn’t rooted in halfcourt, 35 second offense. But we are running in transition and attacking the paint early in the shot clock regularly now. Although we didn’t shoot well on pullups the other night, I think this might be one of the better shooting teams we’ve had in a long while. Heck – in the exhibition games I remember seeing a few side P&R sets for Artis which he hit comfortably.
Trying not to get too far ahead of myself but I like where this team is going right now.
Offensively it is difficult to draw any conclusions from these two games. Both teams just didn’t have the personnel to challenge Pitt inside. The guards did a decent job attacking and getting to the rim. I am concerned about dribble penetration against a strong defensive team. Josh Newkirk has the quickness to do some of that, but he is very young and isn’t strong enough to finish at this stage in his career.
We have some players that can shoot in Durand Johnson, Newkirk, Mike Young, and Cam Wright from the mid-range. I am interested to see how the team evolves offensively. I anticipate some struggles on that end from time to time.
We will see how the team develops over the next several weeks. The non-conference schedule is very weak, therefore Pitt can win a lot of games early and get confidence. That’s not a terrible thing with this team. Confidence is important.
I believe Pitt can make the NCAA Tournament with this team. I will be very happy with that result given the tumultuous off season.
Finally, Steve Adams is playing phenomenally well in the NBA. That is nice to see for the big guy. The encouraging thing is to see how much he learned at Pitt. He is asked to do much of the same things that he did at Pitt and is performing at a high level. Adams was lost the first two months of the season. Pitt did a fine job with his development and he should feel very good about his decision to attend the university.
Randall certainly could be an adequate starter this year or next, if Uchebo isn’t the answer.
Dixon needs to recruit a center for the 2015 class, if not 2014.
On Pitt, I’m excited to see what Cam Wright does this year. I rather like the type of angular athlete he is. He can use both hands, has really good body control, and he’s a surprisingly good finisher around the basket. He seems to have a real look in his eye to want to prove he is a baller. His handle seems better too. Hoping this is his leap year.
Wright reminds me a little of Antonio Graves. Not the most graceful, but always working hard and often effective.