2-3 Zone

[ADavisTheGOAT]

Our big men weren't getting stuck at the top of the key and we got a lot of steals. Maybe if MA would run the 2-3 almost constantly, he can save his job.

[hogginbama]

You mean our bigs were under the basket in the 2nd half clogging the lane and attempting to rebound? I thought they were supposed to switch with the guards and let our 6'2"-6'4" guards defend the bigs under the basketball. What is this new, innovative concept that you speak of?

[Sho Nuff]

The thing to keep in mind is that LSU has no half court offense.  We'll have to adapt when we play a team that can shoot.  Guarding the perimeter effectively is one of our greatest weaknesses.

[Nipsey Mussle]

You mean our bigs were under the basket in the 2nd half clogging the lane and attempting to rebound? I thought they were supposed to switch with the guards and let our 6'2"-6'4" guards defend the bigs under the basketball. What is this new, innovative concept that you speak of?

You try to be smart and then say "bigs under the basketball" like a dumb arse.

[Nipsey Mussle]

I've been clamoring for more of the 2-3 zone b/c it also allows Hannahs to play more as we can hide his defense a bit.

[songofthesword]

I never liked man trapping or pressing.  A good ball handler will eat a man press alive and a good screen and roll team will eat a team that switches up alive. You can easily extend the two threr or three two to the whole half court and not have ti switching,  i dont think we try to switch as much as i think we dont kbow how ti fight through screens

[Youngsta71701]

I never liked man trapping or pressing.  A good ball handler will eat a man press alive and a good screen and roll team will eat a team that switches up alive. You can easily extend the two threr or three two to the whole half court and not have ti switching,  i dont think we try to switch as much as i think we dont kbow how ti fight through screens

This is our main problem on defense when we do play man. It's like our guards don't know how to fight over or go under the screen. It's like they don't want to fight. They just get lazy and let our big man handle it and that should be their job.

On another note. It's almost unbelievable to me how often Dustin Thomas and Trey Thompson pick up stupid and silly fouls that just don't make any sense at all. Then Trey likes to act like he didn't do anything. Like the refs aren't on the court or something. Lol...

[hogginbama]

You try to be smart and then say "bigs under the basketball" like a dumb arse.

Umm, that would be our guards playing defense against their "bigs under the basket" as they so often do when our big boys try to play defense in the perimeter. That happened multiple times when they would come out, switch on a screen and Hannahs, Barford & Macon were left on an island withe the LSU bigs underneath.

[LZH]

You try to be smart and then say "bigs under the basketball" like a dumb arse.

Umm, that would be our guards playing defense against their "bigs under the basket" as they so often do when our big boys try to play defense in the perimeter. That happened multiple times when they would come out, switch on a screen and Hannahs, Barford & Macon were left on an island withe the LSU bigs underneath.

Everyone is so touchy lol.

Fact is, Anderson may be able to save his job over the next two weeks. But if it were my decision, stumbling into one of these last slots in the tournament would not make any difference. I have already seen enough to know this isn't going to get any better, regardless of time. We need to move on after this season is over.

[hogman99]

I've been clamoring for more of the 2-3 zone b/c it also allows Hannahs to play more as we can hide his defense a bit.

Don't kid yourself, others besides Hannahs need their defense hid as well.

Did you notice how the high post was open against the zone? Fair teams will exploit that against the Hogs, LSU is not good and didn't know how. They will attack it and either shoot, drive or dish when the zone collapses and there is no rotation and recovery. To play a good zone, you need to understand what the offense wants to do and be able to read and recover quickly. I'm not to confident the Hogs can do all that against a decent team.

[mbgrulz]

Everyone is so touchy lol.

Fact is, Anderson may be able to save his job over the next two weeks. But if it were my decision, stumbling into one of these last slots in the tournament would not make any difference. I have already seen enough to know this isn't going to get any better, regardless of time. We need to move on after this season is over.

Im just not sure firing him gets us anywhere right now. I'm not sure keeping him does either haha. We'll have 21-23 Ws at the end of the regular season. That's pretty good, but we'll likely miss the dance for the 5th time in 6 years. We have really nice classes coming in the next 2 years, but I don't see next years team making the dance with so much reliance on young/unproven players. It's almost like you have to either fire him now, or bite down and hold on for the next 2 years.  This would all take care of itself if we could get it rolling and sneak into the dance!

[PORKULATOR]

I think we have a match up zone defense that plays too much man. Too much help.
Match up zone would be perfect and would still lead to fast basketball without all the help defense putting us out of position.

[12247]

We know that 8 out of 10 years, Arkansas should not be worried about getting into the dance.  We should be grinding our teeth right now about what our seeding will be and where we will be playing that first weekend, usually close to home due to our nice seeding.

Same is true for football.  Instead of constantly worrying about Bowl eligible, we should be concerned about which Bowl our 9 win season will get us.  Poor Administration, Poor Coaches if winning is a concern.  Over half the posts on Hogville are created either defending or offending this Administration and these 2 HCs.  As difficult as it would be for me, we need to either accept what I see as crap level Personnel at AD, FHC and BHC and just let it go or start trying to correct our direction.  The amount of history is available to make a sane judgement.  Mike has had roughly 150 games to show proof that he can correct the basic causes for collapse and BB has had 50 games to do likewise.  Long has been blessed to sit and watch all this.  It isn't like no one knows.

[Atlhogfan1]

Im just not sure firing him gets us anywhere right now. I'm not sure keeping him does either haha. We'll have 21-23 Ws at the end of the regular season. That's pretty good, but we'll likely miss the dance for the 5th time in 6 years. We have really nice classes coming in the next 2 years, but I don't see next years team making the dance with so much reliance on young/unproven players. It's almost like you have to either fire him now, or bite down and hold on for the next 2 years.  This would all take care of itself if we could get it rolling and sneak into the dance!

What does that change long term?

[hawginbigd1]

This is our main problem on defense when we do play man. It's like our guards don't know how to fight over or go under the screen. It's like they don't want to fight. They just get lazy and let our big man handle it and that should be his job.

On another note. It's almost unbelievable to me how often Dustin Thomas and Trey Thomson pick up stupid and silly fouls that just don't make any sense at all. Then Trey likes to act like he didn't do anything. Like the refs aren't on the court or something. Lol...

I agree, Beard is the worst, but they all just seem lazy getting under or over the screens. The thing you failed to mention is MK wants to switch he will jump out to 25 feet in front of the ball before the screen even gets set, he wants to get that 1 out of 10 steal he makes instead of doing what's best for the team. As much grief as he gets TT handles this way better than MK.

[Youngsta71701]

Everyone is so touchy lol.

Fact is, Anderson may be able to save his job over the next two weeks. But if it were my decision, stumbling into one of these last slots in the tournament would not make any difference. I have already seen enough to know this isn't going to get any better, regardless of time. We need to move on after this season is over.

If we were to finish top 4 in the SEC behind Kentucky, Florida, and South Carolina I would exactly call that limping. That means your better than 10 other teams in the SEC. I'll take that as an improvement and keep moving forward.

[Youngsta71701]

Don't kid yourself, others besides Hannahs need their defense hid as well.

Did you notice how the high post was open against the zone? Fair teams will exploit that against the Hogs, LSU is not good and didn't know how. They will attack it and either shoot, drive or dish when the zone collapses and there is no rotation and recovery. To play a good zone, you need to understand what the offense wants to do and be able to read and recover quickly. I'm not to confident the Hogs can do all that against a decent team.

The high post was only open a couple of times against the zone. Other than that someone was usually there. As a matter of fact Hannahs and Watkins got a few deflections and steals being there at the high post.

[Youngsta71701]

What does that change long term?

Getting into the dance is a much more positive outlook than not getting into the dance. It matters, trust me. Kids want to know they have a chance to play in the NCAA tournament. Get there and there's a chance. Don't get there and there is no chance.

[Youngsta71701]

I agree, Beard is the worst, but they all just seem lazy getting under or over the screens. The thing you failed to mention is MK wants to switch he will jump out to 25 feet in front of the ball before the screen even gets set, he wants to get that 1 out of 10 steal he makes instead of doing what's best for the team. As much grief as he gets TT handles this way better than MK.

+1, I think Moses would much rather be a guard.

[ShadowHawg]

I've been clamoring for more of the 2-3 zone b/c it also allows Hannahs to play more as we can hide his defense a bit.

Agreed. You can see other teams causing us to switch out top until they can catch Dusty in a mismatch against their best guard.

[Youngsta71701]

Agreed. You can see other teams causing us to switch out top until they can catch Dusty in a mismatch against their best guard.

Vanderbilt absolutely killed us with this. Especially in the 2nd half.

[hogman99]

The high post was only open a couple of times against the zone. Other than that someone was usually there. As a matter of fact Hannahs and Watkins got a few deflections and steals being there at the high post.

I guess we will see how that zone works in the next few weeks. I can wait until after the season to discuss its effectiveness.

[Youngsta71701]

I guess we will see how that zone works in the next few weeks. I can wait until after the season to discuss its effectiveness.

Agreed. Should be interesting to one, see if we're going to play it more often and two, see how affective we will be against other teams besides LSU when we do play it.

[mbgrulz]

What does that change long term?

Not having to change coaches and set the program back by a minimum of 2-3 years...

I don't think some of you get what it will do if you have to fire CMA. Look at all the schools that went out and got big name coaches...Miss St...Auburn...Bama...None of those schools are better off than we are.

[hogsanity]

The question is not do they play better in a zone, the question is how long will Mike's ego let him stay in it. They played a lot of zone a couple times earlier this yr and got a couple wins, then he went right back to "his style" with predictable results.

[Atlhogfan1]

Not having to change coaches and set the program back by a minimum of 2-3 years...

I don't think some of you get what it will do if you have to fire CMA. Look at all the schools that went out and got big name coaches...Miss St...Auburn...Bama...None of those schools are better off than we are.

Nutt era deja vu.

Why would it set the program back?  Anderson done such a poor job the program would need a 2-3 year rebuild? 

[hawginbigd1]

Nutt era deja vu.

Why would it set the program back?  Anderson done such a poor job the program would need a 2-3 year rebuild?

errr uh well uh you see uh.....oh never mind

[Youngsta71701]

Nutt era deja vu.

Why would it set the program back?  Anderson done such a poor job the program would need a 2-3 year rebuild?

Players will transfer believe it or not. Maybe some of our best young players. Not to mention the new staff would have to start all over again when it comes to recruiting. But according to some those two things aren't important. If we get a quality coach and don't get many quality recruits we'll still be fine because coaches win games not players. Sarcasm off...

[Atlhogfan1]

Players will transfer believe it or not. Maybe some of our best young players. Not to mention the new staff would have to start all over again when it comes to recruiting. But according to some those two things aren't important.

Like that doesn't happen with Anderson. 

A new staff shouldn't.  They should already be recruiting.  Have their contacts.  Know who is out there and available.  Maybe not this specific region if from outside of it.  But employed coaches are already recruiting.  Already in contact with the AAU programs.  Have watched the players on the summer circuit.

This is the thing when we hired Anderson.  Even after 9 years as a head coach, he and his staff hadn't bothered recruiting in the class leading up to his leaving Mizzou and coming to Arkansas. 

[Hawg Red]

Players will transfer believe it or not. Maybe some of our best young players. Not to mention the new staff would have to start all over again when it comes to recruiting. But according to some those two things aren't important. If we get a quality coach and don't get many quality recruits we'll still be fine because coaches win games not players. Sarcasm off...

Players have been transferring every year with Anderson here, so.....

[Youngsta71701]

Players have been transferring every year with Anderson here, so.....

Name the ones that have become success stories at their new school? I can name one. Jacorey Williams this year at MTS and we all know the reason he HAD to transfer. It is yet to be determined on Whitt. There is a reason why they left. Not as much playing time for them as they would like in Mike's system. Some just wasn't a good fit like Mickelson and Abron. And not to mention Babb tearing it up at Iowa State. Sarcasm off...

[hogsanity]

Name the ones that have become success stories at their new school? I can name one. Jacorey Williams this year at MTS and we all know the reason he HAD to transfer. It is yet to be determined on Whitt. There is a reason why they left. Not as much playing time for them as they would like in Mike's system. Some just wasn't a good fit like Mickelson and Abron. And not to mention Babb tearing it up at Iowa State. Sarcasm off...

It is not that they did or did not become successes at their new schools, it is the roster holes they left here. As for Babb. while not tearing it up, he is playing 19 mins, grabbing 4 boards, and has a 2.5 assist to to ratio. Those would be decent #'s coming off the bench for the Hogs. Plus, what would he have been like here in his JR season, with now almost 3 years in the program?

[Youngsta71701]

It is not that they did or did not become successes at their new schools, it is the roster holes they left here. As for Babb. while not tearing it up, he is playing 19 mins, grabbing 4 boards, and has a 2.5 assist to to ratio. Those would be decent #'s coming off the bench for the Hogs. Plus, what would he have been like here in his JR season, with now almost 3 years in the program?

Good points about the holes they left. I think don't think we miss Whitt much if any at all. I do however think that Williams could be a key contributor on this team. Especially when it comes to hustle, defense, rebounding, and scoring in the mid range area and down low. But it was his own fault why he had to transfer. The Babb transfer hurt us when it came to numbers if nothing else. We were very shorthanded last year. I'm guessing he left because he wanted more minutes also.

[Atlhogfan1]

Good points about the holes they left. I think don't think we miss Whitt much if any at all. I do however think that Williams could be a key contributor on this team. Especially when it comes to hustle, defense, rebounding, and scoring in the mid range area and down low. But it was his own fault why he had to transfer. The Babb transfer hurt us when it came to numbers if nothing else. We were very shorthanded last year. I'm guessing he left because he wanted more minutes also.

Williams would have been done after last season. 

[20gauge]

Doesn't it say something about the type of player we are recruiting that they don't have success at other places. I mean it may be nice to say hey look we got lucky and this kid didn't do much at his next stop. But heck what if he stayed and did the same. You cant just keep getting project guys to develop. When need some guys that can come in and hit the ground running, not JUCOs either those guys while decent players are just stop gaps.

[hogsanity]

Good points about the holes they left. I think don't think we miss Whitt much if any at all. I do however think that Williams could be a key contributor on this team. Especially when it comes to hustle, defense, rebounding, and scoring in the mid range area and down low. But it was his own fault why he had to transfer. The Babb transfer hurt us when it came to numbers if nothing else. We were very shorthanded last year. I'm guessing he left because he wanted more minutes also.

I always thought Babb probably got tired of being jerked around. Mike was always saying things like " Babb has really come on in practice, we're going to have to find ways to get him involved" then his next 3 game lines would be 0:00 minutes, 1:45 minutes, and 2:22 minutes played. The Mike would say the same thing, and he would not see the floor in 2 or 3 games.

Williams would have either had to red shirt here last year or he would have played his Sr season and been done.

[Youngsta71701]

Williams would have been done after last season.

You are correct. He definitely would have helped us last year with bodies if nothing else. If Beard was able to play the first half of last year I believe we would have had more wins. JMO though...

[NotSoFastMyFriend]

I've never understood why the Hogs don't run more 1-3-1. It allows your best defensive player (Kingsley) to focus on one thing - protecting the rim. Also, it is a little more staunch against the 3-ball than the 2-3 and there are more opportunities to trap the wings and force bad skip passes. Just me?

[Youngsta71701]

I've never understood why the Hogs don't run more 1-3-1. It allows your best defensive player (Kingsley) to focus on one thing - protecting the rim. Also, it is a little more staunch against the 3-ball than the 2-3 and there are more opportunities to trap the wings and force bad skip passes. Just me?

I actually think they did run some 1-3-1 in the 2nd half against LSU. Looks like they ran a few variations of zone. They mixed up the zone coverage's pretty good in the 2nd half of that game.