Zone Defense in the 80s and 90s

[DonDadda59]

I found a cache of articles from the 80s-90s detailing the extensive use of zone defense (ie: illegal D). There is a common misconception that these schemes (which teams use 3% of the time according to Synergy Sports) had never been used before the rule changes in '01. The truth is, there was what was termed 'outright proliferation' of zone in the league in the late 80s that the NBA rule committee attempted to curb, unsuccessfully. The Lakers, Sonics, Jazz, Knicks, and even the Bulls were teams that were known to employ Zone schemes extensively.

A major reason for the NBA doing away with the illegal defense call was it being hard for officials to enforce. It was about as consistent as travelling/palming violations in today's game ie: Not called anywhere remotely as much as actual violations occurred.

Anyway, enough from me. Let History speak for itself:

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

[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

[Im so nba'd out]

Your a boring lover thinking your to good to eat that snatch

[juju151111]

I found a cache of articles from the 80s-90s detailing the extensive use of zone defense (ie: illegal D). There is a common misconception that these schemes (which teams use 3% of the time according to Synergy Sports) had never been used before the rule changes in '01. The truth is, there was what was termed 'outright proliferation' of zone in the league in the late 80s that the NBA rule committee attempted to curb, unsuccessfully. The Lakers, Sonics, Jazz, Knicks, and even the Bulls were teams that were known to employ Zone schemes extensively.

A major reason for the NBA doing away with the illegal defense call was it being hard for officials to enforce. It was about as consistent as travelling/palming violations in today's game ie: Not called anywhere remotely as much as actual violations occurred.

Anyway, enough from me. Let History speak for itself:

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

[DonDadda59]

Your a boring lover thinking your to good to eat that snatch

Have another red bar, on the house

[Trollsmasher]

did not read, pauk

there was no D played in the '80s

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

Good stuff

I watched perimeter players in the early 90′s (when I started watching ball) deal with strong side zones, match-up zones, and man defenses where they would load up the strong side of a play against great perimeter ball handlers. When you had great post players, teams would load up on the post player, and I remember watching guys like Barkley, Malone, Hakeem, etc get triple teamed with 2 guys trapping them and one guy sagging off into a pass lane. Strong side zones have existed since the 1950′s (srs).

There

[Natureland]

Why were zones ever illegal in the first place? Some league philosophy? Fear it would hinder offenses too much?

[SHAQisGOAT]

And at fools thinking that today's teams run a "clear" zone for more than 15% of the game(s) or something... Can't even be a "real" zone D most of the time because of the defensive 3-seconds rule (that wasn't applied back in the day).
also at fools thinking that back in the day players had to be glued to their man on defense, or that traps couldn't be applied, or double-teams (man with the ball you could even put anyone on him). Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLv2F33snCE

[Kblaze8855]

One team I remember clearly using zone was the Bucks towards the late 80s. Nobody seemed to care.

[DonDadda59]

Why were zones ever illegal in the first place? Some league philosophy? Fear it would hinder offenses too much?

Yup, pretty much. They were afraid it would slow down offenses too much like in the college ranks. But teams ended up skirting the rules and got away with it anyway and the illegal D rules were futile in curtailing it. The Knicks, Jazz, Sonics in the 90s were notorious for employing zone schemes extensively in the 90s.

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

And at fools thinking that today's teams run a "clear" zone for more than 15% of the game(s) or something... Can't even be a "real" zone D most of the time because of the defensive 3-seconds rule (that wasn't applied back in the day).
also at fools thinking that back in the day players had to be glued to their man on defense, or that traps couldn't be applied, or double-teams (man with the ball you could even put anyone on him). Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLv2F33snCE

Yep. When asked about zone defense on a post game show last year, I specifically remember Thibodeau saying that zones are merely a defense that you use for a change of pace, and he doesn’t run them. Thibodeau has always talked about, even when he was still in Boston, being committed to “man to man principles”. Wherever you have read that crap, don’t go back. Any individual claiming that the Bulls run “strong side zones” is an idiot.

[juju151111]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s9_GKFNL9E basically explains everything in this thread Rapes Kobe/LJ fans souls too.

[Calabis]

This will be ignored and guys like NumberSix, will continue to talk about zone defenses like they are Berlin Walls.

[G-train]

Defense has completely changed since the late 80's.

These quotes are about long or shot instances in games, where illegal true zone defences were applied.

In the current NBA it is legal, and subsequently applied at every possession, to guard areas and to also stand in the key, for up to 3 seconds.

Not only that, advanced analytics are applied to defensive strategy, to reinforce the application of these rules in certain scenarios against certain players and teams.

I have never claimed that it is now harder to score, or easier to score.

However it is now different.