It seems like so many middle school games that I've seen over the last few years (admittedly boys games), have had 1 or both teams feature a zone defense.

 

While I know you want to put kids in a position to win (builds confidence, allows them to work on defensive skills in practice while still playing zone D in games, teaches them to guards an area, allows lesser athletic kids an opportunity to play etc.), I'm curious to see your thoughts on middle school teams playing mainly zone defense.

 

 

***Press defense not included***

It seems like so many middle school games that I've seen over the last few years (admittedly boys games), have had 1 or both teams feature a zone defense.

 

While I know you want to put kids in a position to win (builds confidence, allows them to work on defensive skills in practice while still playing zone D in games, teaches them to guards an area, allows lesser athletic kids an opportunity to play etc.), I'm curious to see your thoughts on middle school teams playing mainly zone defense.

 

 

***Press defense not included***

 

Personally...I hate it. Could care less about wins. Coach fundamentals! Will take the kids a lot farther than any win will.

Hate it

I don't like it...I wouldn't be opposed though to a rule that stated you have to play zone or man X amount of the time.

Hate it. My team plays in a B league. Almost every team plays a zone. We went man to man for the first half of the season. We caved halfway thru the year and dropped to zone. It has not helped our record, but it has helped keep the games closer.

Hate it too. I think the reality of the situation is this:

 

1) Man to Man defense has to be "taught". It has to be drilled in practice. It has to be worked on with boring drills.

 

2) A "coach" has to be disciplined to teach proper man to man defense. It takes some time. Too many coaches at this level are more interested in teaching "plays" than fundamentals of the game.

 

3) Coaches yell, "Stop reaching and move your feet", and make some crazy sideways slide on the sidelines, but my guess is that if you asked the coach to "teach" what he just shouted, most would struggle to do so.

 

4) Playing good man to man defense is hard. It requires some degree of foot speed, anticipation, and desire. Everyone has to recognize where the ball is, how to gap the dribbler, how to sag off your man, and be in a "help" position. It is also susceptible to screens when all defenders are not in sync and they don't talk on defense.

 

5) Most part-time school coaches haven't realized that basketball is a contact sport, and playing man to man defense requires contact.

 

6) The way that zones are used in the Middle school games is easy to coach....Stand in this spot, and guard a specific area.

 

 

As the original posted noted, I think a zone allows more of these lesser athletic kids (who are gonna get cut in HS), play at the middle school level.

Hate it too. I think the reality of the situation is this:

 

1) Man to Man defense has to be "taught". It has to be drilled in practice. It has to be worked on with boring drills.

 

2) A "coach" has to be disciplined to teach proper man to man defense. It takes some time. Too many coaches at this level are more interested in teaching "plays" than fundamentals of the game.

 

3) Coaches yell, "Stop reaching and move your feet", and make some crazy sideways slide on the sidelines, but my guess is that if you asked the coach to "teach" what he just shouted, most would struggle to do so.

 

4) Playing good man to man defense is hard. It requires some degree of foot speed, anticipation, and desire. Everyone has to recognize where the ball is, how to gap the dribbler, how to sag off your man, and be in a "help" position. It is also susceptible to screens when all defenders are not in sync and they don't talk on defense.

 

5) Most part-time school coaches haven't realized that basketball is a contact sport, and playing man to man defense requires contact.

 

6) The way that zones are used in the Middle school games is easy to coach....Stand in this spot, and guard a specific area.

 

 

As the original posted noted, I think a zone allows more of these lesser athletic kids (who are gonna get cut in HS), play at the middle school level.

 

Great post! Agree 100%. I think most of the coaches just don't know how to teach proper man defense and give up on it. OR have kids that could never play it and it is their only chance. But you are still doing a disservice if you aren't making them and working on it in practice. To someone's point, they will just get cut down the road. Heck, they may be the best player in their class, but remember high school is a combination of classes. If kids behind them have better skills, it's just a matter of time and then parents have an issue cause Johnny was always the best in his class. Well Johnny never built the skills foundation and now Johnny is on the bench.

Hate it, hate it, hate it......But unless you go out and coach a team go a little easier in regards to the coaches who are currently out there. I've never claimed to be a great coach, but when I applied for the job a few years back there was NO ONE ELSE IN LINE, I do it because I love the kids and have fun, certainly not for the $$........My team has played man to man pretty much all season until a few weeks back. Had to switch because we were getting killed every game....Now since we switch up defenses we have been able to compete a little better and even win a couple of games. Some of you sound like you would be great coaches, I've mentioned this before: Your invited to come help me anytime. I'd welcome anyone who has knowledge to share.

Great post! Agree 100%. I think most of the coaches just don't know how to teach proper man defense and give up on it. OR have kids that could never play it and it is their only chance. But you are still doing a disservice if you aren't making them and working on it in practice. To someone's point, they will just get cut down the road. Heck, they may be the best player in their class, but remember high school is a combination of classes. If kids behind them have better skills, it's just a matter of time and then parents have an issue cause Johnny was always the best in his class. Well Johnny never built the skills foundation and now Johnny is on the bench.

 

It would be great to work on the fundamentals of man to man but it takes a lot of time. Answer me this question, how do you find time when a lot of schools only practice 1 night a week for an hour and a half? Easier said than done, I can assure you!

While coaching man-to-man may be more difficult, its still not rocket science. Take the team that practices 1.5 hours per week. If they spend 30 minutes per practice on it & play it at least 75% of time during games, that would amount to 35-40 reps of experience over 1 season. I believe your affiliate high school coach would be appreciative as compared to straight zone MS teams. In the meantime, plenty opportunities arise for teaching / learning moments.

 

Coaching MAN is not that hard. Getting the kids to play it with the needed desire presents more of an issue. Some are apathetic, some are behind athletically, but that's what this level is about . . . to teach & begin the separation process of who can & can't ball.

I had a teammate in college who played zone in HS. We were doing man to man drills and we would get back to our rooms and he would ask a ton of questions about the drills. 1st question was how do you know all of that? I told him we played nothing but man. It costs him a lot of playing time because of it.

 

A zone is much better to begin with if the players know man to man principals.

While coaching man-to-man may be more difficult, its still not rocket science. Take the team that practices 1.5 hours per week. If they spend 30 minutes per practice on it & play it at least 75% of time during games, that would amount to 35-40 reps of experience over 1 season. I believe your affiliate high school coach would be appreciative as compared to straight zone MS teams. In the meantime, plenty opportunities arise for teaching / learning moments.

 

Coaching MAN is not that hard. Getting the kids to play it with the needed desire presents more of an issue. Some are apathetic, some are behind athletically, but that's what this level is about . . . to teach & begin the separation process of who can & can't ball.

 

I fully agree with the second part of your post with regards to personnel.

Hate it, hate it, hate it......But unless you go out and coach a team go a little easier in regards to the coaches who are currently out there. I've never claimed to be a great coach, but when I applied for the job a few years back there was NO ONE ELSE IN LINE, I do it because I love the kids and have fun, certainly not for the $$........My team has played man to man pretty much all season until a few weeks back. Had to switch because we were getting killed every game....Now since we switch up defenses we have been able to compete a little better and even win a couple of games. Some of you sound like you would be great coaches, I've mentioned this before: Your invited to come help me anytime. I'd welcome anyone who has knowledge to share.

 

I do coach and I ran an AAU org for about 8 years. If you aren't teaching fundamentals, then you aren't helping the kids. Making them competitive in a MS league by going to a zone will not help those kids in HS tryouts. They may win a couple MS games and not get beat as bad and that might be a temporary fix for them, but in the long run it will hurt more than help. Especially if you aren't playing zone defense based on man principles.

 

I'm not knocking every coach, trust me. I get it. But the question asks about playing zone and if we aren't trying to develop MS kids, regardless of records, then we aren't not helping them in the long run. Now I also said, if you just have a group that cannot do it, then their future in bball is probably limited anyway and I wouldn't have an issue with just getting them thru the season without getting their ego hurt too much.

It would be great to work on the fundamentals of man to man but it takes a lot of time. Answer me this question, how do you find time when a lot of schools only practice 1 night a week for an hour and a half? Easier said than done, I can assure you!

 

Only have an hour and half a week is a completely different issue. However, I would say this. Have you tried to get other gyms (maybe you're not allowed). Did you have any practice time prior to your season starting? Could you take 15-30 minutes to go over the principals in one practice and then coach it during the game. Defense is the most difficult part of bball because it takes a lot of work and it's not fun. You have to have heart to play good defense. A lot of Kids don't like it and will do whatever it takes to not have to work that hard. You must demand it or find someone that will. It's not easy to get buy in, but once you do, they'll love it.

Hate it too. I think the reality of the situation is this:

 

1) Man to Man defense has to be "taught". It has to be drilled in practice. It has to be worked on with boring drills.

 

2) A "coach" has to be disciplined to teach proper man to man defense. It takes some time. Too many coaches at this level are more interested in teaching "plays" than fundamentals of the game.

 

3) Coaches yell, "Stop reaching and move your feet", and make some crazy sideways slide on the sidelines, but my guess is that if you asked the coach to "teach" what he just shouted, most would struggle to do so.

 

4) Playing good man to man defense is hard. It requires some degree of foot speed, anticipation, and desire. Everyone has to recognize where the ball is, how to gap the dribbler, how to sag off your man, and be in a "help" position. It is also susceptible to screens when all defenders are not in sync and they don't talk on defense.

 

5) Most part-time school coaches haven't realized that basketball is a contact sport, and playing man to man defense requires contact.

 

6) The way that zones are used in the Middle school games is easy to coach....Stand in this spot, and guard a specific area.

 

 

As the original posted noted, I think a zone allows more of these lesser athletic kids (who are gonna get cut in HS), play at the middle school level.

 

Totally agree with 2. Some kids become "robots" or appear to be "leashed." Running plays all the time is like playing zone all the time. When plays break down many kids don't know what to do, just like when zones break down many kids struggle to understand proper rotations.

 

I personally like sets that allow for multiple options and allow the kids to play the game based on what the defense is doing. Though, I think many coaches are pressed for time for this. If you drill something enough, kids can pick it up, especially on the "almighty" offensive end.

 

There is certainly room for plays, don't get me wrong.... Quick hitters, OOB's, against zone, situational and time dependent, etc. I just see so many back cuts that clog the lane because the kid who's supposed to get the ball, didn't.

 

And, let's not get this wrong, I certainly didn't wanna put this on coaches. I think there is a lot of good MS coaches out there, sometimes the kids don't listen, or try to comprehend what the coach is teaching.

Edited February 6, 201511 yr by NKyBFAST
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