Interesting quote from Bill Simmons book on the purpose of Illegal Defense

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[QUOTE]The new wave of coaches made defenses sophisticated enough by 1981 that [B][COLOR="Red"]the league created an

[3ball]

I'm waiting for you don.

That's the amazing thing - as time goes on, our perception of things changes - the idea of what constituted an open lane in the 80's is far different from what we consider an open lane today.

This was considered an open lane in the 80's - this was considered good spacing - if any coach today employed this spacing, they would be summarily fired:

http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/7-30-2015/jkrR_v.gif


Compare that to today's game - I don't even need to post gifs of today's game, and what constitutes an open lane in today's game... Just fire up youtube and watch the first possession of any game - bam - there you go - wide open paint and open lane and crazy spacing.

[3ball]

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Here's the previous era's idea of good spacing.. In today's game, if a coach employed this "spacing", they would be laughed out of the league:











As the gifs above show, previous eras lacked weakside spacing - with no 3-point shooting in the 80's, there was no one spacing the weakside, so all 10 players were bunched up on the strongside and/or in the paint..

This contrasts with today's game, where weakside spacing is a primary aspect of every team's offense, which spreads defenders out over the ENTIRE court - strongside and weakside, as shown here... With defenders spread out further, they must travel a further distance to help - it's not disputable - it's physics.

Also, the nba introduced a new defensive 3 seconds rule in 2005 - this rule requires defenders remaining inside the 16 x 19 foot painted area to stay "within armslength" of their man (about 3 feet).

"Armslength" is the strictest defense possible outside of having the defender stand shoulder-to-shoulder with his man or something ridiculous like that.. ... Yet this is the requirement governing the most important area of the floor - the paint.
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[warriorfan]

op gets his basketball knowledge from Bill Simmons...

/endthread

[GIF REACTION]

An actual NBA referee's take on the situation, or some dude on a forum spamming gifs?

Hmmmm.

[sdot_thadon]

I'm waiting for you don.

Nice.
Bet it's pretty infuriating to spend months even years making a point only to have it obliterated with one paragraph. Congrats.

[DonDadda59]

I'm waiting for you don.

It's possible the lane was more open in the 80s-90s than it had been in the 60s-70s, but what's a definite fact is that the post '01 rule changes opened up the paint much more than it had been in the 80s-90s.

An actual NBA referee's take on the situation, or some dude on a forum spamming gifs?

Hmmmm.

What particularly bothers Motta is that many teams try to get away with zone defenses now, content to only be penalized by a technical foul.[COLOR="Red"] "Our teams are zoning now. Rule or no rule. We're not allowed to use the word `zone' but it's a zone,"[/COLOR] Motta said.

-THE NBA HAS THIS RULE ABOUT ILLEGAL DEFENSE, BUT WHO CAN EXPLAIN IT, AND WILL IT EVER GO AWAY? A TWILIGHT ZONE (LA Daily News April 14, 1996 Scott Wolf)

It didn't take New Jersey coach Dave Wohl five minutes to analyze Albeck's milestone.

"The Bulls played well but they blatantly played illegal defense all night," said Wohl, whose team shot .400 from the floor, "and the officials did a horrible job calling it.

"[COLOR="Red"]I've got the films and I am sending them to the league office. I would like to play zone, too. If the refs can't see it something is wrong. They were basically playing a college zone, not switching and guarding certain areas." [/COLOR]Despite a height disadvantage at every spot, the Bulls outrebounded New Jersey's front line 33-29 and put the game away when Orlando Woolridge came off the bench smoking.

-Bulls get Albeck No. 300 Chicago Sun Times, March 12, 1986 (Mark Vancil)

Jack McCloskey, Detroit general manager: "[COLOR="Red"]The other thing of interest to me is the advent of zone defenses in general.[/COLOR] If the lack of recognition continues, they'll have to give the offenses more time to set up. I know the things we're doing ourselves, and what teams like New York and Los Angeles are doing, and I don't like it. [COLOR="Red"]We are playing a lot of illegal defenses, and the offenses don't have a chance to attack.[/COLOR]

-CLEVELAND LOOKS GOOD FROM INSIDE, Boston Globe/Bob Ryan January 8, 1989

[COLOR="Red"]Of course, Don Nelson plays the best zones that are never called. His Warriors have Chris Mullin, Mitch Richmond and a defense that funnels everything in to Manute Bol when he's in the game.[/COLOR] And Golden State outrebounded Utah by an average of 51-41 in the four games

-The Teams of the '90s Key Up for a Head Start Washington Post/David Aldridge April 27, 1989

Johnson applauded Riley's switch to a trapping defense in the second half after the Suns led 54-50 at halftime Friday night.

The Suns have been hampered by poor outside shooting throughout the series, [COLOR="Red"]and Phoenix coach Cotton Fitzsimmons has complained that the Lakers are playing an illegal zone defense.[/COLOR]

Phoenix has shot 51, 42 and 46 percent in the first three games, compared with 60, 45 and 49 percent for Los Angeles.

Suns guard Jeff Hornacek said, "We've been an outside shooting team all year and we expect our outside shooting to take us through it.[COLOR="Red"] But when you're not hitting outside shots, their zone looks like it works a lot more."[/COLOR]

-Lakers poised to whisk away Suns, Chicago Sun Times May 28, 1989

Both the Lakers and Pistons know what Los Angeles must do to compensate to make this series competitive once more. First, crash the boards. "Keeping them from second shots is probably the key to the series," said Pistons Coach Chuck Daly. [COLOR="Red"]Then, play more (don't tell anybody) zone defense, funneling the little Pistons guards to Abdul-Jabbar.[/COLOR]

-Scott's Injury Has Mates Hamstrung, The Washington Post, June 8, 1989. Thomas Boswell

Despite the injuries, the Lakers were hardly playing like a desperate team. Instead, they were relying on the resurgent offense of Abdul-Jabbar and the explosive moves of James Worthy (26). [COLOR="Red"]Defensively, LA defied the bylaws of the NBA and stuck with a trapping zone defense to minimize Detroit's quickness.[/COLOR]

-PISTONS ROLL TO 3-0 LEAD, Boston Globe Jackie McMullen, June 12, 1989

Sunday's final day of meetings likely will result in minor changes in interpretation of zone rules, with coaches and officials spending time on the court at the nearby College of the Desert.

[COLOR="Red"]During the NBA finals last June, Los Angeles Lakers coaches and players spoke about their understanding of "zone principles" that allowed them to trap teams without being called for a technical foul for playing a zone defense. Phoenix Suns Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons complained long and loud about officials not calling the zone, which frustrated guard Kevin Johnson.[/COLOR]

-PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL; Small Talk Is the Big Thing As NBA Meetings Wind Down, Washington Post, David Aldrige, September 17, 1989

Coach of the Year: Pat Riley, Lakers. Riley's psychological efforts never have been more needed. His team still is playing at an unbelievably high level, and someone other than the players has to keep their interests razor-sharp.[COLOR="Red"] And no team plays better zone defense (oops, can't say that) in the playoffs.[/COLOR] Riley's made a cottage industry out of never being coach of the year. That should change.

-On the NBA's Best-of List: Barkley, Riley, Robinson, Seikaly, Washington Post David Aldridge, April 11, 1990

In a news conference Wednesday morning, a rare opportunity to pick the brain of a game official, [Earl]Strom shared some of his opinions on the state of NBA officiating.

[COLOR="Red"]On zone defenses: "The referees, to a man, would love to see it done away with. They don't like calling it zone defense because they do allow certain zones to be played.[/COLOR] I think they're legislating against teams playing good team defenses, which I think is wrong."

-NOTEBOOK; Pistons' Dumars Delivers a Public Thank You, Washington Post, David Aldridge June 14, 1990

[COLOR="Red"]Pippen's ability to roam puts a spark into the Bulls' effective zone press[/COLOR] that worked so well for the early 1970s Knicks teams that coach Phil Jackson played on. [COLOR="Red"]The zone press forces opponents in a preferred direction, and fans can expect the Bulls to continue picking their spots with the press for the rest of the season.[/COLOR]

-Bulls put pride in defense, Chicago Sun Times, Dave Hoekstra, Feb 25, 1991

Magic dictated the slower pace at one end, [COLOR="Red"]and had the Lakers' defense sagging back in a barely disguised zone to keep Jordan and Pippen from penetrating.[/COLOR] "We underestimated their defense," Grant said. "They sagged and we settled for jump shots."

-Single Hand Can't Top Team Magic, Washington Post, Michael Wilbon June 3, 1991

Watch the Utah Jazz walk the fine line between a legal and an illegal defense. See Mark Eaton dance - as well as a 7-foot-4, 300-pound man can dance - across the lane for 2.9 seconds, just avoiding the zone defense call.

There's John Stockton, not really guarding his man, but getting close to him just in time to escape the whistle. There are double-teams off the ball, which aren't supposed to be legal, but they are just for a fraction of a second, just time enough to throw an offense off stride.

The Jazz is all about Karl Malone running the floor as well as any big man alive, and Stockton finding the open man as well as any guard alive, and Jeff Malone shooting the jumper as pure as anyone in the game. [COLOR="Red"]But they're mainly about zone defense, which is supposed to be illegal in the NBA.[/COLOR]

"We come as close as possible" to playing zone, Eaton acknowledges. "You have to have the ability to help and you have to be able to shut down the middle. And to be able to do that, you have to push it to the edge."

Coach Jerry Sloan, who spent a career knocking opposing guards upside the head in Chicago, says this isn't his ideal, only an appreciation of his personnel.
"I like to run as much as anyone else," he said. "When I was in college we used to score 100 points seven or eight times a year. But with Mark Eaton on the floor, we can't run fast. We can't give them 100 {points}, because we probably won't score more than that. That's who we are and that's who we've been for years."

How do they get away with it? It starts with Eaton, who camps out in the lane as long as possible, shaded toward his man, but gets out just before it's too late. Stockton lingers when the ball goes inside, not quite double-teaming, not quite going back to his man. Thus he's able to help in any direction - inside, against people cutting down the lane and against his own man.

[COLOR="Red"]"We know the rules," burly forward Mike Brown said. "We take advantage of the 2.9 seconds, going down and coming back. And usually, we don't get too many zone defense calls.[/COLOR]

-NOTEBOOK; No Matter What They Call It, Jazz Dials Z for (Illegal) Zone, David Aldridge Washington Post, May 19, 1992

[juju151111]

An actual NBA referee's take on the situation, or some dude on a forum spamming gifs?

Hmmmm.

Julius Ervin averged more in 1980 then 81 and what does this change? They talk about double teams and thats exactly what happened to star players along with physical defense in the 80s 90s

[DonDadda59]

CONT'D:

Auerbach, incidentally, feels that the NBA should do something immediately to end some current tactics. "The games I am watching in the playoffs are too physical," he said. "There is too much clutching and grabbing and holding away from the ball that is not being called. [COLOR="Red"]What some of these teams are getting away with in the name of defense is outrageous. Two guys jump out to double up on one guy and the other three guys play in a zone behind them. That's illegal, but it is not being called.[/COLOR] I know there is a feeling that if everything that is going on is going to be called, it would slow the game down, but I feel the other way. Call all the fouls. Send everyone to the line. It wouldn't take long to stop it. There is no reason for all this hitting and banging. Some of the picks they are setting are more than picks. They are meant to hurt guys, and that is not right."

-Ziegler buyout deal: it's bye and out as NHL leader, Boston Globe May 30, 1992, David McDonough

Specifically, the Bulls will have to do a better job of handling Seattle's pressure defense. They didn't do that in the first meeting, particularly when the Sonics employed half-court and full-court traps.

[COLOR="Red"]"They play a zone; they play a zone defense," Bulls coach Phil Jackson said.[/COLOR]

"They shove you in the corner, they trap you at halfcourt, they run off and double team you."

Aren't zone defenses illegal in the NBA?

[COLOR="Red"]"It's a legal zone in the NBA," Jackson said.[/COLOR]

-Bulls Relish Chance To Erase Bad Taste, John Jackson Chicago Sun Times, January 9, 1996

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Everybody's picking on the Utah Jazz -- even the Jazz themselves.

Coach Jerry Sloan and three of his veterans criticized the team's bench players and youngsters Wednesday at the same time that Seattle SuperSonics coach George Karl was accusing Utah of employing illegal tactics.

[COLOR="Red"]"Utah plays the best zone in basketball. They play a 2-1-2 with five guys with a foot in the paint 90 percent of the time,"[/COLOR] Karl said in Seattle on the second of three consecutive off days in the Western Conference finals.

-HEY, IT'S GANG UP ON UTAH DAY, The Columbian Vancouver (AP), May 23, 1996

[COLOR="Red"]"Nate McMillan (a Sonics reserve guard) wants us to put in a 1-3-1 zone, and that might be the best defense against the Chicago Bulls," Karl said.[/COLOR]

"Playing Chicago man-to-man is going to be awful scary. I believe Michael (Jordan) is going to be much like Hakeem (Olajuwon). So, we're going to go back to playing the way we like to play - and that's double-teamming.

"In this series, we didn't double-team much.[COLOR="Red"] I think we've got to play more Sonic basketball. So, I think we're going to be trapping him a lot."[/COLOR]

-Karl Looking to Be in a Zone vs. Bulls, Chicago Sun Times, Lacy Banks, June 3, 1996

Karl said he will do a lot of double-teaming and triple-teaming, if necessary, to stop Jordan. [COLOR="Red"]He even threatened to try an illegal 1-3-1 zone suggested by McMillan.[/COLOR]

"We're going to give him many looks," Karl said.

And one of those looks eventually will have to be Payton.

"You've got to do a lot of different things against him," Payton said. "You can't just keep one person on him because once he gets on a groove, . . . he'll start going off.

"So you switch him up. You put somebody bigger on him. You put somebody quicker on him. You put somebody with great hands on him. You do a lot of things. You can't just let him have one look because he will get a rhythm to you, start to know the person and wear you down.

-Running From Cover // Top Defender Payton Won't Be Matched Up Against Jordan, Lacey J. Banks, June, 4 1996

Check and Mate. Vaya Con Dios.

[GIF REACTION]

Don't make me bring out the big guns don

[DonDadda59]

Don't make me bring out the big guns don

Proceed, suh. I could use a good laugh you snitch. Don't let your little cheering squad down now.

[Levity]

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Here's the previous era's idea of good spacing.. In today's game, if a coach employed this "spacing", they would be laughed out of the league:

damn. just waiting for someone to take your queue and laugh byron scott out of the league

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These rule changes, though nearly unanimously adopted by the league, are not meeting with unanimous agreement among league followers, especially the elimination of the illegal defense rules. [COLOR="Red"]Players who have made their living beating defenders off one-on-one sets are particularly fearful that their impact will be reduced with zones allowed[/COLOR]. With no increase in the shot clock, there is fear that offenses will be forced into a lot of rushed shots at the end of the clock. - Dean Oliver

Before this rule change was even put in place, there were those around the association expressing their concerns. [COLOR="Red"]Steve Smith, a guard with Portland at the time, said, “You put in zone, you take away stars.”[/COLOR][COLOR="Red"] “I think it’s a huge mistake,” Pat Riley said. [/COLOR]“There’s not going to be anybody able to drive. With these rules, you’re going to be back to the 70s in scoring … Fans like to see Vince Carter play one-on-one outside. That stuff is going to be history. Isolation basketball has been part of the game ever since I’ve been in it.” Rudy Tomjanovich said, “It would change the sport. We should create a situation where great players get a chance to excel. Zones neutralize athletic ability. People want to see guys who can soar to the basket … [COLOR="Red"]People will be coming up with all kinds of crazy defenses.”[/COLOR]

Now, [COLOR="Red"]when you beat that first line of defense, you’ve got four dudes very often sitting, waiting for you on ball-side[/COLOR] … You might have three, four, even five defenders on that ball-side box. That wasn’t the case when Jordan played … You couldn’t go anywhere near a ball-side box back then. [COLOR="Red"]There were great teams like Chuck Daly’s Pistons and Pat Riley’s Lakers that devised “zone,” so to speak, to kind of flood the ball more, but it was nothing, Henry [Abbott of ESPN], like it is today.[/COLOR] The teeth of the defense today is much sharper, and there’s many more teeth then there was back when Jordan played, so I understand a little bit of what he’s saying, but I think ultimately, he’s completely wrong. - David Thorpe

In short: If defenses pack the lane to take away an offense’s first option, that offense better be creative enough to adjust. [COLOR="Red"]“Getting to the hole is getting harder and harder,” says Chicago’s Carlos Boozer[/COLOR], who should know, considering the identity of his coach.

“A lot of the defensive strategies you see now are a natural evolution from rule changes,” says Houston GM Daryl Morey, in reference to the league’s decision a decade ago to abandon illegal defense rules and essentially allow zone defenses. [COLOR="Red"]“First the defense evolved by overloading the strong side, and now the offenses are evolving to beat that.”[/COLOR]

The Heat are the most obvious example of a team that has torn down and rebuilt its entire offense over 18 months to [COLOR="Red"]counter defenses committed to clogging the lane, sending an extra defender toward the ball, and forcing offenses into second, third, and fourth options[/COLOR]. It’s no coincidence Miami plays in the same conference as Boston and Chicago — the two teams most associated, via Tom Thibodeau, with that strangling defense. Thibodeau didn’t invent this system, and he’s loath to take any public credit for it, but coaches, scouts, and executives all over the league agree he was the first coach to stretch the limits of the NBA’s newish defensive three-second rule and flood the strong side with hybrid man/zone defenses. [COLOR="Red"]“Teams that just play on one side of the floor are going to struggle against defenses that load up on that side,” says a Houston assistant. “The league has gotten so different today. You just have to move the ball from one side to the other against the really good defensive teams,” says Jim Boylan. “Predictable offenses just aren’t good enough anymore against elite competition,” says Lowe.[/COLOR] - Zach Lowe

First off, you’ll probably notice that Bill Laimbeer deters Jordan from finishing around the rim about as well as my office’s “no Youtube” policy keeps me from watching KBlaze mixtapes on slow afternoons. But besides Laimbeer’s awful individual effort, there are a number of instances in which the Pistons, as a team, wait for Jordan to make his move before taking action to stop him from scoring. Also, the on-ball defender seems to have no plan for where to push Jordan. Often Dumars et al play him straight, and [lets] Jordan decide where he wants to go. …

Even a cursory examination of these two tapes will prove that the Celtics’ intricate strategy is far superior to the Pistons’ organized thuggery. In the first minutes of the clip above, the Celtics are called for two defensive three-second violations because they are preemptively over-rotating to fill the spaces LeBron would like to use. Bron still managed to have an excellent game, but you can see the foundation of how the Celtics were able to force him out of simply exploding past his defender to the basket.

Although ‘89 Jordan may be able to escape his first defender more easily in today’s game [due to his thoughts on hand-checking], good defensive teams would employ more aggressive and nuanced schemes to keep him from the hoop. [COLOR="Red"]Ultimately, it’s these second and third lines of defense that matter most.[/COLOR] Ray Allen and Paul Pierce are still average defenders at best, but they can apply heavy pressure to quicker offensive players far away from the hoop because the Boston Big Men are ready to aggressively rotate. [COLOR="Red"]Modern defenses force wing scorers like LeBron, Kobe, and Wade to analyze layers of team defense in a way Jordan didn’t.[/COLOR] Add that to the advances in statistics and scouting, and NBA defenses know more than ever about a scorer’s preferences and habits.

The numbers and video don’t lie.[COLOR="Red"] Jordan would have to ball futuristic just to maintain his 1989 scoring levels against the evolved, more sophisticated defenses and slower offensive pace of today’s NBA. - [/COLOR]Beckley Mason

I did some rough-and-ready research and found that teams whose top players play a ton of minutes don’t win NBA titles, not anymore. They used to, but not in recent years. The best theory I heard to explain that came from David Thorpe, who laid the blame on that hustling, switching team defense. [COLOR="Red"]Once upon a time, lots of teams preferred an isolation offense, which meant one player dribbling alone against one defender, while as many as eight guys caught breathers.[/COLOR] On many NBA plays these days, nobody stands around. It’s common to see 10 guys flying all over the court. This is not your daddy’s NBA. It’s great for fans and team play, but it’s much tougher for the players: a minute of play, the theory goes, is now much more work than it used to be, and one result is that more rest is required. - Henry Abbott

[COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"]Be I an angel? Nae. I am but [COLOR="Yellow"]MAN[/COLOR].[/COLOR]


[COLOR="Red"]SLAYED[/COLOR] demon.

[SHAQisGOAT]

It's possible the lane was more open in the 80s-90s than it had been in the 60s-70s, but what's a definite fact is that the post '01 rule changes opened up the paint much more than it had been in the 80s-90s.

What particularly bothers Motta is that many teams try to get away with zone defenses now, content to only be penalized by a technical foul.[COLOR="Red"] "Our teams are zoning now. Rule or no rule. We're not allowed to use the word `zone' but it's a zone,"[/COLOR] Motta said.

-THE NBA HAS THIS RULE ABOUT ILLEGAL DEFENSE, BUT WHO CAN EXPLAIN IT, AND WILL IT EVER GO AWAY? A TWILIGHT ZONE (LA Daily News April 14, 1996 Scott Wolf)

It didn't take New Jersey coach Dave Wohl five minutes to analyze Albeck's milestone.

"The Bulls played well but they blatantly played illegal defense all night," said Wohl, whose team shot .400 from the floor, "and the officials did a horrible job calling it.

"[COLOR="Red"]I've got the films and I am sending them to the league office. I would like to play zone, too. If the refs can't see it something is wrong. They were basically playing a college zone, not switching and guarding certain areas." [/COLOR]Despite a height disadvantage at every spot, the Bulls outrebounded New Jersey's front line 33-29 and put the game away when Orlando Woolridge came off the bench smoking.

-Bulls get Albeck No. 300 Chicago Sun Times, March 12, 1986 (Mark Vancil)

Jack McCloskey, Detroit general manager: "[COLOR="Red"]The other thing of interest to me is the advent of zone defenses in general.[/COLOR] If the lack of recognition continues, they'll have to give the offenses more time to set up. I know the things we're doing ourselves, and what teams like New York and Los Angeles are doing, and I don't like it. [COLOR="Red"]We are playing a lot of illegal defenses, and the offenses don't have a chance to attack.[/COLOR]

-CLEVELAND LOOKS GOOD FROM INSIDE, Boston Globe/Bob Ryan January 8, 1989

[COLOR="Red"]Of course, Don Nelson plays the best zones that are never called. His Warriors have Chris Mullin, Mitch Richmond and a defense that funnels everything in to Manute Bol when he's in the game.[/COLOR] And Golden State outrebounded Utah by an average of 51-41 in the four games

-The Teams of the '90s Key Up for a Head Start Washington Post/David Aldridge April 27, 1989

Johnson applauded Riley's switch to a trapping defense in the second half after the Suns led 54-50 at halftime Friday night.

The Suns have been hampered by poor outside shooting throughout the series, [COLOR="Red"]and Phoenix coach Cotton Fitzsimmons has complained that the Lakers are playing an illegal zone defense.[/COLOR]

Phoenix has shot 51, 42 and 46 percent in the first three games, compared with 60, 45 and 49 percent for Los Angeles.

Suns guard Jeff Hornacek said, "We've been an outside shooting team all year and we expect our outside shooting to take us through it.[COLOR="Red"] But when you're not hitting outside shots, their zone looks like it works a lot more."[/COLOR]

-Lakers poised to whisk away Suns, Chicago Sun Times May 28, 1989

Both the Lakers and Pistons know what Los Angeles must do to compensate to make this series competitive once more. First, crash the boards. "Keeping them from second shots is probably the key to the series," said Pistons Coach Chuck Daly. [COLOR="Red"]Then, play more (don't tell anybody) zone defense, funneling the little Pistons guards to Abdul-Jabbar.[/COLOR]

-Scott's Injury Has Mates Hamstrung, The Washington Post, June 8, 1989. Thomas Boswell

Despite the injuries, the Lakers were hardly playing like a desperate team. Instead, they were relying on the resurgent offense of Abdul-Jabbar and the explosive moves of James Worthy (26). [COLOR="Red"]Defensively, LA defied the bylaws of the NBA and stuck with a trapping zone defense to minimize Detroit's quickness.[/COLOR]

-PISTONS ROLL TO 3-0 LEAD, Boston Globe Jackie McMullen, June 12, 1989

Sunday's final day of meetings likely will result in minor changes in interpretation of zone rules, with coaches and officials spending time on the court at the nearby College of the Desert.

[COLOR="Red"]During the NBA finals last June, Los Angeles Lakers coaches and players spoke about their understanding of "zone principles" that allowed them to trap teams without being called for a technical foul for playing a zone defense. Phoenix Suns Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons complained long and loud about officials not calling the zone, which frustrated guard Kevin Johnson.[/COLOR]

-PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL; Small Talk Is the Big Thing As NBA Meetings Wind Down, Washington Post, David Aldrige, September 17, 1989

Coach of the Year: Pat Riley, Lakers. Riley's psychological efforts never have been more needed. His team still is playing at an unbelievably high level, and someone other than the players has to keep their interests razor-sharp.[COLOR="Red"] And no team plays better zone defense (oops, can't say that) in the playoffs.[/COLOR] Riley's made a cottage industry out of never being coach of the year. That should change.

-On the NBA's Best-of List: Barkley, Riley, Robinson, Seikaly, Washington Post David Aldridge, April 11, 1990

In a news conference Wednesday morning, a rare opportunity to pick the brain of a game official, [Earl]Strom shared some of his opinions on the state of NBA officiating.

[COLOR="Red"]On zone defenses: "The referees, to a man, would love to see it done away with. They don't like calling it zone defense because they do allow certain zones to be played.[/COLOR] I think they're legislating against teams playing good team defenses, which I think is wrong."

-NOTEBOOK; Pistons' Dumars Delivers a Public Thank You, Washington Post, David Aldridge June 14, 1990

[COLOR="Red"]Pippen's ability to roam puts a spark into the Bulls' effective zone press[/COLOR] that worked so well for the early 1970s Knicks teams that coach Phil Jackson played on. [COLOR="Red"]The zone press forces opponents in a preferred direction, and fans can expect the Bulls to continue picking their spots with the press for the rest of the season.[/COLOR]

-Bulls put pride in defense, Chicago Sun Times, Dave Hoekstra, Feb 25, 1991

Magic dictated the slower pace at one end, [COLOR="Red"]and had the Lakers' defense sagging back in a barely disguised zone to keep Jordan and Pippen from penetrating.[/COLOR] "We underestimated their defense," Grant said. "They sagged and we settled for jump shots."

-Single Hand Can't Top Team Magic, Washington Post, Michael Wilbon June 3, 1991

Watch the Utah Jazz walk the fine line between a legal and an illegal defense. See Mark Eaton dance - as well as a 7-foot-4, 300-pound man can dance - across the lane for 2.9 seconds, just avoiding the zone defense call.

There's John Stockton, not really guarding his man, but getting close to him just in time to escape the whistle. There are double-teams off the ball, which aren't supposed to be legal, but they are just for a fraction of a second, just time enough to throw an offense off stride.

The Jazz is all about Karl Malone running the floor as well as any big man alive, and Stockton finding the open man as well as any guard alive, and Jeff Malone shooting the jumper as pure as anyone in the game. [COLOR="Red"]But they're mainly about zone defense, which is supposed to be illegal in the NBA.[/COLOR]

"We come as close as possible" to playing zone, Eaton acknowledges. "You have to have the ability to help and you have to be able to shut down the middle. And to be able to do that, you have to push it to the edge."

Coach Jerry Sloan, who spent a career knocking opposing guards upside the head in Chicago, says this isn't his ideal, only an appreciation of his personnel.
"I like to run as much as anyone else," he said. "When I was in college we used to score 100 points seven or eight times a year. But with Mark Eaton on the floor, we can't run fast. We can't give them 100 {points}, because we probably won't score more than that. That's who we are and that's who we've been for years."

How do they get away with it? It starts with Eaton, who camps out in the lane as long as possible, shaded toward his man, but gets out just before it's too late. Stockton lingers when the ball goes inside, not quite double-teaming, not quite going back to his man. Thus he's able to help in any direction - inside, against people cutting down the lane and against his own man.

[COLOR="Red"]"We know the rules," burly forward Mike Brown said. "We take advantage of the 2.9 seconds, going down and coming back. And usually, we don't get too many zone defense calls.[/COLOR]

-NOTEBOOK; No Matter What They Call It, Jazz Dials Z for (Illegal) Zone, David Aldridge Washington Post, May 19, 1992

Killing those fools since god knows when...

[warriorfan]

[quote="GIF REACTION"]"Now, when you beat that first line of defense, you