3499 wrote:I have been involved in junior high basketball for a few years now and it still annoys me when teams play zone. I personally believe it does not teach kids the fundamentals of basketball. i understand that in Junior high all around the state, you are gonna find different rules when it comes to press and zone defense. i just don't see the point in taking five kids and clogging the lane. It doesn't teach the defense anything as far as positioning and stance. It doesn't help the opponents (offense) who then have to have kids shoot 20 foot 3 pointers, when the kid doesn't have enough strength to shoot a 12 to 15 foot jumper. What are your opinions on this?
3499 wrote:I have been involved in junior high basketball for a few years now and it still annoys me when teams play zone. I personally believe it does not teach kids the fundamentals of basketball. i understand that in Junior high all around the state, you are gonna find different rules when it comes to press and zone defense. i just don't see the point in taking five kids and clogging the lane. It doesn't teach the defense anything as far as positioning and stance. It doesn't help the opponents (offense) who then have to have kids shoot 20 foot 3 pointers, when the kid doesn't have enough strength to shoot a 12 to 15 foot jumper. What are your opinions on this?
3499 wrote:I have been involved in junior high basketball for a few years now and it still annoys me when teams play zone. I personally believe it does not teach kids the fundamentals of basketball. i understand that in Junior high all around the state, you are gonna find different rules when it comes to press and zone defense. i just don't see the point in taking five kids and clogging the lane. It doesn't teach the defense anything as far as positioning and stance. It doesn't help the opponents (offense) who then have to have kids shoot 20 foot 3 pointers, when the kid doesn't have enough strength to shoot a 12 to 15 foot jumper. What are your opinions on this?
If they had said 3 year olds cant learn how to play Golf then we wouldn't have ever had a Tiger Woods.....You cant recognize gifted if you treat them all the same....thats dictating an Athlete's future, and there's way to much of that going on in ND.
irisheel wrote:If they had said 3 year olds cant learn how to play Golf then we wouldn't have ever had a Tiger Woods.....You cant recognize gifted if you treat them all the same....thats dictating an Athlete's future, and there's way to much of that going on in ND.
Are you teaching Tiger Woods to try and drive the green at 3 years old?? Or are you having him chip and putt?? I think this is the same thing as kids playing zone defense at the JH level. I don't think zone defense is a fundamental skill that JH kids need to learn and MOST don't get the concept, IMO.
Actually when he (Tiger) made his debut on the Johnny Carson Show (at 3 years old) He was showing off his Drive....which is a Key component to the game of Golf....
so you take a 12,13,14 year old Kid and say NOPE!, you cant play zone even though it is a key component of Basketball....and now they have never played a zone since they were 5,6,7, years old and they have only 4 years of basket ball left.
Believe me Just because you have played 7 years of Man to Man (if everyone follows the no zone concept through the grade years ) does not mean your ready and able to play a good tight Zone for your next 4 years in JV and V if asked to.
Hinsa wrote:I've been coaching Junior High BB for quite a few years, and my opinion on zones has changed.
District 3 currently does not allow zones or double teams. You can hedge on ball screens. You can press, man-to-man, if the game is within 10 points either way. You can play help defense and double the ball in the post.
You might ask why can't a team press if they are down more than 10 and the answer to that is we've had guys start pressing when the scrubs were playing for the team that is ahead. This lead to coaches being hesitant to put their scrubs in which defeats the purpose of all kids learning and improving.
We've also had unscrupulous coaches abuse the no double-team rule. A while back there was one team that had 2 players and 3 guys who could walk and chew gum but that's about it. So the coach would put the 3 poor players way on one side of the court and go two on two on the other side of the court. When my defensive players would try to help out on the 2 good players when they went to the basket, I was told I was not following the no double team rule. That certainly lead to some lengthy discussion at the district meeting to stop that kind of nonsense.
I used to believe in the philosphy of no zones in junior high, but I have changed on that. Here's why. These kids, especially the 8th graders, are one year away from playing JV or even varsity ball where they need to know how to play a zone and a zone press. They get to be freshmen and they have no clue how to do it. Also, it is difficult to administer the no double-team rule when you play help defense inside and hedge on screens.
I would just as soon let the kids start to learn zone principles on defense and learn how to attack it on offense. If you get good ball movement you really don't have to settle for 3-pointers. You can find good shots against a zone just as much as you can a man-to-man. As far as zones not teaching kids how to play defense, a zone where kids don't hustle and move and guard people is a crappy zone. If they are going to play a good zone they are learning good defensive principles.
That's an old guy's take on this issue.
winner-within wrote:exactly...its also nice to set up in a half court trap press and fold back to a 2/3 zone thats what I do!!
It was and eye opener, or it wouldn't have been a big deal???
ndfan wrote:winner-within wrote:exactly...its also nice to set up in a half court trap press and fold back to a 2/3 zone thats what I do!!
It was and eye opener, or it wouldn't have been a big deal???
They let you coach in Cavalier??? What has the world come to?? I kid, I kid.
Why can't zone defenses just be shown in practice every once in a while at that age, so when they do get to high school they have A idea whats going on? I would think if you were a high school coach you would love the younger kids to come up and be more fundamentally sound then to know how to run a zone defense. If the kids are fundamentally sound then thats less time the head coach has to spend on fundamental drills and he can work more on his offensive and defensive sets in practice. (Just my opinion)
Hinsa wrote:Winner, I have no doubt you can run faster and jump higher than me. But older.....let's just say I get mail from AARP on a regular basis and I can use the senior menu in some places.
Anywho, I wouldn't force anyone to play a zone defense, but if a coach has kids who can handle more, let them learn more and help prepare them for the next level. If a coach is putting in a zone just because he has one big kid who can clog the lane and have the rest of the kids stand around, then I wholeheartedly agree that playing zone in that situation is a disservice to the kids.
sportsking wrote:As a coach in JH I believe that if the kids are talented enough, it is correct. You can teach them more. My problem is, kids coming from 5th and 6th grade have not been worked with enough on the basics. I also believe that it should be a decision of the AD, jh coach, and jv, varsity coaches on what the program would like to cover. I have worked close with the jv, varsity coaches on what is lacking, and what direction they are headed. I also have had it were the 8th grade is way above what the 7th grade is. The 1 thing I would like to see, is games, more games, a Why do AD's not get together with each other and create more for the jh levels? I have A group of 8th graders that would love to play 28 games like the varsity.nd set it up for district tourney's for these kids. Just having 10 to 12 games and done is not enough. They can play zone, but prefer man to man. Also, the fast break is nice, but try to tell them to set an offense up and learn to work it that way once in awhile.
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