Latest Defensive Craze: 2-3 Zone

Syracuse and Louisville have made it to the final four.  Syracuse plays nothing but 2-3 zone and Louisville plays more than most when they're not dogging you with their full court pressure.  Their 2-3 zones are very different, but both very effective.  The 2 things I like most about their zones are 1.) the amount of ball pressure each one applies and 2.) Decision to cover the arc and challenge the FT line jumper late with the Center.

The things I don't like about the 2-3 zone in general are 1.) the mentality most players have about what a 2-3 zone should look like from years of youth league standing in an area, not guarding anyone or boxing out and 2.) Its the most commonly played zone defense and thus the one teams are most comfortable playing against.

I don't believe you can be a great zone defensive team and man to man defensive team at the same time.  I'm not saying the players from Syracuse aren't capable of playing m2m, but the emphasis, practice, and attention to detail required to be great at one defense means you have to commit to one or the other as a base defense. If you are a m2m base team then I would advise you to look elsewhere for a change of pace option and not the 2-3 zone simply because it is the most common zone out there.  One example would be the 1-3-1.  Its entirely different to play against.  Teams shouldn't be able to use their 2-3 zone offensive package against 1-3-1 so they have to spend extra time preparing for it even if  you're only going to show it a few possessions.

My guess is with the success of Syracuse and the attention their 2-3 zone is getting that we will see more teams playing 2-3 zone next year than ever.  This summer might be a good time to refine your 2-3 zone offense.