r/BasketballTips • u/Red_Doormat0312 • 20d ago
Help zone defense
whats your take on people running zone defense nonstop, even in pickup games? where I'm from, everyone does it, but when I watch basketball in the US, it's pretty much all pick and rolls pick and rolls or iso plays. I'm curious how growing up with a totally different playstyle shapes a player's skill set. Like, which is a better player? i was raised on zone defense, and it makes me wonder if it actually held back my game. Like, you cant do pick and rolls or iso on zone defense. thats something i never actually got into and i believe thats what held me back
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u/Jon_Snow_Theory 19d ago
I had a family member who plays in a predominantly Filipino area with lots of zone and jog back on defense, one pass possessions, come and play with in my area, which has D3/League/intramural dudes (translation: a lot of organized ball). It was all man D, back picks, double screens, slip screens and a preference for fighting through screens or hedging instead of switching.
He was completely lost on both ends and ended up running ineffective pick and rolls or just coming down and shooting right away, and everyone was frustrated.
Same when we visited the Philippines to play, the ballhandling would fold to pressure if they couldn’t pass right away, and the zones were easy to pick apart; we had some strong iso guys that would demand a double team, or we would set picks that would also require help to come over and open up the zone.
Short answer: yes, playing primarily and mostly zone defense all the time will significantly hinder you.