In the NBA, teams like to use zone defense to switch things up from time to time, especially if a team gets going offensively.  Coaches like to throw a zone out there for a possession or two, just to break up the rhythm of the offense (the offense now has to react, realize the zone is being played, and then attack it.  Slows things down considerably).

However, zones in the NBA look a lot different when compared to zones you see in college and what you see in the international game.  Zones in the NBA have a lot more flow and movement to them (that is, defenders are moving more than you would see in say Syracuse’s zone), and the primary reason is the defensive three second rule that is in the NBA (as defined by NBA.com’s rule page):

a. The count starts when the offensive team is in control of the ball in the front-court.
b. Any defensive player, who is positioned in the 16-foot lane or the area extending 4 feet past the lane endline, must be actively guarding an opponent within three seconds. Actively guarding means being within arms length of an offensive player and in a guarding position.
c. Any defensive player may play any offensive player. The defenders may double-team any player.
d. The defensive three-second count is suspended when: (1) there is a field goal attempt, (2) there is a loss of team control, (3) the defender is actively guarding an opponent or (4) the defender completely clears the 16-foot lane.
e. If the defender is guarding the player with the ball, he may be located in the 16-foot lane. This defender is not required to be in an actively guarding/arms dis-tance position. If another defender actively guards the player with the ball, the original defender must actively guard an opponent or exit the 16-foot lane. Once the offensive player passes the ball, the defender must actively guard an opponent or exit the 16-foot lane.

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With three of the top ten players in the NBA, the Miami Heat might end up seeing a lot of zone defense this year.  This seems logical because teams have trouble defending guys like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh when they were the lone All-Stars on their team, and now they are playing together.  Few teams (if any) have three high quality individual defenders good enough to stop these guys one on one, so the zone is the next best option.  So how will the 2-3 zone work against a team like the Heat next year?

Since the Heat haven’t played any games yet, I figured we could look at Team USA’s performance in the 2008 Olympics.  Now I know that the two players that are going to be playing with James, Wade, and Bosh on the Heat won’t be Olympic quality, I know that the teams playing against them are better than Australia, Greece, and Argentina, and I know that the Heat’s coaching staff won’t have two Hall of Fame college coaches to help break down the zone for NBA guys.  However, this is the closest we can get to seeing how a high-quality team operates against a zone defense, and what I took away from watching Team USA’s Olympic performance is that the zone will work against the Heat, but only in stretches.

Why It Will Work

When the zone worked against Team USA in the Olympics, it was because it got them to stand around and just pass the ball around the perimeter.  Here, Team USA is just going through the motions on offense, making pass after pass after pass, just allowing for the Spanish zone to rotate and stay in front of their man.  There are no penetrating or attacking dribbles, and that is exactly what Spain wants.  They want to see the ball being passed around like this rather than having a LeBron James or a Dwyane Wade taking their man to the basket and either finishing or kicking it out to an open teammate.

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