so dallas wins title with zone d

[ducks]

will teams actually start playing zone now

[DJ Mbenga]

it doesnt always work. phoenix played it all wcf and still lost

[ducks]

either does man all the time

[ElNono]

Dallas had some really good defensive players, namely:

- Chandler anchored the paint really well for them. Here's a guy that's mostly offensively challenged, but made a dent playing solid defense.
- Marion (another guy that can't create his own shot) really raised to the challenge. He had to defend Wallace, Kobe/Odom, Durant and Lebron on the perimeter and did a sound job on all of them.
- Haywood actually played really well banging with the Lakers big in that 2nd round. He eventually went down with the injury, but he gave them a boost defensively. Here's another guy that has no real offense.
- Kidd never looked overwhelmed, even though he had to play against Andre Miller (who always manages to give TP trouble) and Westbrook. He still provided his usual steals, physical play and rebounding.

Worth mentioning also is that they've practiced that zone defense for a good amount of the season, and by the time the playoffs came around, it was no gimmick.

Dallas found itself down double-digits in a plethora of games, including the Finals. And they were always able to turn it up a notch defensively to get back in it and turn it around. It never gets old to say it: Defense still wins championships.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Spurs haven't won a game in the second round since 2008. Think about that for a second.

*shudders*

[mavsfan1000]

Also a big key against Miami is not turning it over.

[Sean Cagney]

Spurs haven't won a game in the second round since 2008. Think about that for a second.

*shudders*

Okay they eliminated Dallas last year who won this year! They have 4 titles! THINK ABOUT THAT????? SHUTTERS.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Okay they eliminated Dallas last year who won this year! They have 4 titles! THINK ABOUT THAT????? SHUTTERS.

Living in the past SHUTTERS

[mavsfan1000]

Jason Kidd being a key part in not turning it over btw.

[FromWayDowntown]

In 2002-03, the Spurs mixed in an effective zone at times on their way to a title; it didn't seem to change the way other teams used the zone.

Nets Zoned Out Again (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2003/story?id=1567915)

Spurs Hate 3-2 Zone, but So Far It Works (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/10/sports/pro-basketball-spurs-hate-3-2-zone-but-so-far-it-works.html?src=pm)

[TDMVPDPOY]

lol heat has no one that could hit their shots

i wonder why james jones didnt get minutes against the zone?...most of the game they were daring bron to shoot the 3 but he was buzy looking to do the extra pass for the assist padding

[ElNono]

In 2002-03, the Spurs mixed in an effective zone at times on their way to a title; it didn't seem to change the way other teams used the zone.

Nets Zoned Out Again (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2003/story?id=1567915)

Spurs Hate 3-2 Zone, but So Far It Works (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/10/sports/pro-basketball-spurs-hate-3-2-zone-but-so-far-it-works.html?src=pm)

Thanks for the links... noteworthy, IMO:

''During the regular season, we were terrible at zone,'' Jackson said. But in preparing for this series, the Spurs noticed that the Nets had trouble against a zone defense, and the assistant coach P.J. Carlesimo encouraged Popovich to try the 3-2.

[SenorSpur]

I've never been fond of that wussy-ass style of defense and I'm sorry that the NBA ever elected to make it legal.

[PublicOption]

it only worked because Miami had no point guard.......do that shit to CP/TP/or Rose and they will eat it up.

[temujin]

Zone is the ultimate team defense.

Props to Carlisle to recognize that.
He practiced that in games all year long.

It usually helps contain bigs.
Bigs like Randolph and Gasol.

Spurs played no zone in the PO, and for a cause, since thay hardly played during the year.
Yet Spurs won two RS games this year by turning to a zone.

More evidence that Popovich just lost it.

[koriwhat]

Living in the past SHUTTERS

dallas winning the ship is in the past too... what's your point?

[41times]

will teams actually start playing zone now

I think the answer is yes. Most coaches and players were looked down upon for playing the Zone in the past. But the Mavs showed against 4 very good Playoff opponents that there is a time and a place to play the Zone. The key is switching back and forth at the right time trying to catch your opponent off guard with with it. It clearly worked for the Mavs in the Playoffs.

Holding Portland to around 92 ppg
Holding Lakers to around 89 ppg
Holding OKC to around 99 ppg
Holding CHeat to around 93

[Bruno]

On the paper, the best defense in the NBA is the man to man defense. Zone defense is quite bad with rules like defensive 3 seconds really hurting it.

The main reason why Dallas zone defense worked is because NBA teams don't play a lot against zone defense. If next year, more and more zone defense is played it will become less and less effective.

If I were a coach and I saw that a lot of teams are starting to play zone, I would do the opposite move and stop working on it at all. Even a great zone defense like the Mavs one is bad against a team that has a lot of practice against it. Instead of wasting time on that, I would spend a lot of time on improving the man to man defense.

[in2deep]

I wish Pop would use ANY D

[sribb43]

People act like they only ball zone defense. The showed it in small doses which made it very effective. If you play zone for too long of stretches, teams will eventually find the gaps and exploit it.