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Heat's Kryptonite - Zone Defense

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  • #1

    Heat's Kryptonite - Zone Defense

    Hopefully Vogel is reading ESPN today:

    http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/mia...is-run-and-gun

    MIAMI -- When Heat coach Erik Spoelstra exited the locker room and sat down at the postgame podium, all he could talk about was the zone.

    "We got off to a terrific start, offensively to get what we want," Spoelstra said after the 100-92 loss to the Hawks. "And then we dealt with what we'll probably see quite a bit from here and we do need to get better and address it: they went to the zone."

    From there, Spoelstra emphasized that his team has a lot of work to do. With the way he labored over the Heat's struggles against the zone, you'd think that the Hawks played zone the entire game. They didn't; the Hawks employed the zone defense for only 25 trips down the court according to Synergy data, which is roughly the equivalent of a quarter's worth of basketball. In fact, the Hawks bagged the zone defense in favor of man-to-man defense in the second half, so the Hawks' use is probably overstated.

    But that doesn't mean it didn't transform the game. The term "game-changer" gets thrown around a lot in political circles, so I hesitate to use the buzzword for basketball purposes. But that's probably the best way to describe how effective the zone has been against the Heat, not just in Monday's loss, but this whole season.

    The Heat have played at a completely different style in Year Two of the Big Three, pushing the tempo and flying in the open court to get easy buckets in transition. Only the Denver Nuggets have played at a faster pace and generated more offense from transition than the Heat this season. And when they're not on fast breaks, the Heat possess the singular goal of attacking the basket and getting to the charity stripe in the halfcourt.

    But that all changes when opposing defenses employ the zone. It certainly had that effect in Monday's loss. The Heat came out blazing with their run-and-gun attack and took an early lead. And then Atlanta coach Larry Drew came out of a timeout in the first quarter with the zone and stopped the Heat dead in their tracks.

    The numbers don't lie. Synergy Sports tells us that the Heat failed to score on 14 of their 25 possessions facing the zone on Monday, which is an improvement over their putrid performance against Boston's zone just a week ago. But so far this season, the Heat have seen terrible results against the zone. The chart below shows the Heat's performance in three areas: in transition, against man-to-man defense in the halfcourt and the zone in the halfcourt.

    To be clear, most teams don't fare as well against the zone compared to transition. It's just easier to pick apart a backpedaling defense than a settled one that packs the paint. That much is obvious.

    But the key here is that the Heat's efficiency has fallen off a cliff even more so than we'd expect. The average team scores 112.8 points every 100 possessions in transition; the Heat have scored 121.6 points. The average team scores 101.9 points every 100 possessions against the zone; the Heat have scored a paltry 74.0 points. The gap is enormous and teams are undoubtedly taking notice.

    So you can understand why Spoelstra harped on the zone's impact after the game, even if the Hawks didn't use it much down the stretch. The Heat have been in control for most of the season, forcing teams to play at their tempo and asserting their dominance in the open court. But once teams go to zone, the Heat cede that control. Instead of galloping around the court as they please, they look like a deer in headlights.

    Look at the Heat's free throw rate (FT%) in the chart above. A team that features LeBron James and Dwyane Wade -- two of the best whistle-drawers in the game -- has only reached the foul line in four percent of their possessions against the zone, or just two times in 50 possessions. That's probably the biggest effect of all. When facing man-to-man, that free throw rate triples to 12.8 percent. In transition, it rises even further when teams have no choice but to arm-tackle LeBron and Wade barreling through the lane. But on Monday, the Heat only forced 10 turnovers, which kept their transition triggers to a minimum.

    A possession late in the first quarter illustrates the Heat's main issue of penetration against the zone. With the Hawks packed into their zone after a score, Mario Chalmers walked up the court and passed to LeBron James who stood 30 feet from the basket. From there, the Heat played a game of hot potato, volleying the ball around the perimeter eight times before finally puncturing the 3-point arc 20 seconds into the shot clock. And only then, with a 24-second violation near, LeBron took a dribble inside the arc and pulled up for a contested 22-footer.

    Clank.

    So much for the Chip Kelly explosive offense.

    A close review of the tape reveals that the Heat did improve as the game went on and generated some good looks. However, it's not a encouraging sign that rookie Norris Cole was often the only player who pressured the defense and tried to slice into the seams of the zone. Wade and LeBron struggled to draw contact in the lane since they weren't engaging in their usual one-on-one battles.

    After the game, Shane Battier was disappointed with the team's tentativeness and hesitancy to attack the middle of the zone, which he believed was wide open for most of those zone possessions.

    "We didn't do a very good job with our spacing," Shane Battier said. "We were trying to run zone offense versus play basketball. We need to be instinctual."

    The zone defused the Heat's normally explosive attack. The zone has effectively stripped the Heat of their greatest weapon, keeping LeBron and Wade on the perimeter and away from the free throw line.

    The Heat's numbers against the zone are indeed horrifying, but they should creep up as the season progresses simply because of comfort and regression to the mean; they didn't just suddenly abandon the free throw line. And it's worth repeating that the Heat faced man-to-man for most of Monday's game. Furthermore, if the Heat generated more turnovers on defense, the offense would be running in transition instead of playing hot potato.

    But if the NBA is looking for an antidote for the Heat's up-tempo attack, the Hawks and Celtics has offered a compelling blueprint. Now that a possible Achilles' heel has been exposed, expect to see more teams apply the zone in the future. If you want to slow down the Heat, neutralize their strengths and force them to play a different brand of basketball, the zone could be the game-changer you're looking for.

    Just don't turn the ball over. Easier said than done.
    Being the Video Tape guy that Vogel is.....hopefully he's going over the Hawks/Heat game to figure out what the best way it is to beat the Heat....well, other then locking Wade and LeDecision in their hotel room so that they can't go to the game
    Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.
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  • #2
    Re: Heat's Kryptonite - Zone Defense

    Good article

    Hope Vogel and company had a chance to read
    Sittin on top of the world!

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    • #3
      Re: Heat's Kryptonite - Zone Defense

      The question is....do we have the Players to properly implement the type of Zone Defense that would disrupt the Heat's offensive flow?
      Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

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      • #4
        Re: Heat's Kryptonite - Zone Defense

        Naah. The refs will read it too, and we'll see more defensive 3-second calls in one quarter than in the history of the rule.
        BillS

        A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
        Or throw in a first-round pick and flip it for a max-level point guard...

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        • #5
          Re: Heat's Kryptonite - Zone Defense

          I like the article for reminding me about this and pointing it out to a wider audience, but trust me Vogel didn't need this article to know about it. No NBA head coach does. It's just a matter of whether or not the coach wants to do it, and if they do, whether or not they feel like they have a roster that can make it effective.

          We haven't played a minute of zone before now, so I would be surprised if we used it heavily, and I wouldn't be shocked if we elect not to use it at all.

          I'd prefer we throw it at them here and there to keep them from building up too much momentum, but they may not try it. I guess we'll find out Wednesday. My hunch is we'll dabble with it, and if we can't pull it off we'll quickly stop trying to use it for that night.

          I think ideally I would want to use it to start and end each quarter, and then otherwise use man unless they start to go on a scoring run; I'd then try using it to slow them down again.

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          • #6
            Re: Heat's Kryptonite - Zone Defense

            I'm sure the Pacers coaches are well aware of this, it is obvious to anyone who watched the NBA Finals last season.

            But if the pacers have not practiced zone defense, if they do not intend to have it as an option this season, then the pacers will not play it tonight. A team should not do something they have not practiced.

            Playoff situation is different, you have time to prepare

            Of course there are degrees to zone defense

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Heat's Kryptonite - Zone Defense

              Wasn't this the same way the Mavs dismantled the Heat in the finals? They played zone almost exclusively in crucial situations against the Heat and they would let either Kidd or Stevenson float to help on Lebron and Wade. I don't see why anyone would act like this is a new development.


              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Heat's Kryptonite - Zone Defense

                Originally posted by Unclebuck View Post
                I'm sure the Pacers coaches are well aware of this, it is obvious to anyone who watched the NBA Finals last season.

                But if the pacers have not practiced zone defense, if they do not intend to have it as an option this season, then the pacers will not play it tonight. A team should not do something they have not practiced.

                Playoff situation is different, you have time to prepare

                Of course there are degrees to zone defense
                Of course the Pacers aren't going to be playing zone tonight


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                • #9
                  Re: Heat's Kryptonite - Zone Defense

                  I wouldn't play zone but I would leave Wade and Lebron open by the 3 point line all the time.................. don't argue with me the numbers back me up
                  @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

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                  • #10
                    Re: Heat's Kryptonite - Zone Defense

                    IMO Atlanta didn't beat Miami because of the zone. The zone helped, but they won because Miami's defense right now is poor.

                    I said this weeks ago that I didn't like Miami's new small-ball approach. Atlanta had a layup line to the hoop the last 2+ quarter of the game because there was nobody to challenge Horford and Smith at the rim. Haslem and Bosh do not intimidate anyone.

                    I just do not like the new Heat team. They score a ton but they have this false sense of security now that they can out-score anyone. Half the time I see someone get into the lane, I see one or two heat players sprinting down the floor, instead of trying to collapse on defense. Teams are getting good looks they never got against this team last year.

                    Small sample size, but they're 17th in opposing %FG and 24th in points allowed. Last year they were 2nd and 6th in those same categories.

                    All that said, Miami will continue to have issues with the zone because, like last year, they still have no point guard, and when they are forced to set up an offense, they simply are not consistent because there is no floor leadership to direct everyone.
                    Last edited by Kstat; 01-03-2012, 02:22 PM.

                    It wasn't about being the team everyone loved, it was about beating the teams everyone else loved.

                    Division Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
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                    • #11
                      Re: Heat's Kryptonite - Zone Defense

                      Didn't we do fairly decently against this Heat Team ( once I think ) last season under JO'B?

                      I thought that we basically clogged the middle and let them beat us from outside?
                      Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: Heat's Kryptonite - Zone Defense

                        Originally posted by CableKC View Post
                        Didn't we do fairly decently against this Heat Team ( once I think ) last season under JO'B?

                        I thought that we basically clogged the middle and let them beat us from outside?
                        It is hard to believe (from reading this forum) but the Pacers did actually win a few games under their previous head coach. yes they beat the Heat badly in Miami and beat the Lakers in LA.

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: Heat's Kryptonite - Zone Defense

                          Originally posted by CableKC View Post
                          Didn't we do fairly decently against this Heat Team ( once I think ) last season under JO'B?

                          I thought that we basically clogged the middle and let them beat us from outside?
                          Yep that was the game were Rush shot Dwade down to 3points and the second time we played them we had Dunleavy on Dwade and of course we lost that game.
                          @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Re: Heat's Kryptonite - Zone Defense

                            That Miami game last year was probably the best game Rush ever had as a Pacer.


                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Re: Heat's Kryptonite - Zone Defense

                              Originally posted by Unclebuck View Post
                              It is hard to believe (from reading this forum) but the Pacers did actually win a few games under their previous head coach. yes they beat the Heat badly in Miami and beat the Lakers in LA.
                              I'm asking you...only because you are one of the few posters on this board that will give an honest, non-snarky and straight forward answer to this when it comes to anything "J'OB related"......but what did J'OB do to win that 1st game? Didn't he basically "clog the middle" in that game?

                              What was the strategy used in that game to beat them? In terms of make up of this Team compared to last year's Team....outside of the Coach...I am guessing that our current lineup is more athletic but have similar type Players that can do the same thing.
                              Last edited by CableKC; 01-03-2012, 03:49 PM.
                              Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

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