Chris Harry's description of Gator basketball's new defensive principles. A New Defensive Mindset - Florida Gators
I can’t wait to see how they look on that end. With 5 returnees who played a lot of ball last year for us, we finally have some continuity on the offensive end. That alone gives us freedom to commit more time defensively. Add in all the new arrivals, and I think we are much better than Golden’s first year on defense. We have length up front, experience and versatility on the perimeter, and solid athleticism across the board.
lots of length, a bulldog in Martin, and (hopefully) a leftover bitter taste from the NCAA tournament last season...
Note that this article indicates that our new defensive mind set will include some zone defense, something Coach Golden has not used in his two previous years.
Right. We'll see how much of it we use. I personally hate it, but can be effective in certain stints, either to protect certain matchups or to throw off an offense.
He’s not a zone fan, but when I asked Todd about when they were practicing it, he told me, “I want to have it in my pocket, if we need it.” Won’t show up a lot. Maybe to steal a possession here or there.
That's its purpose: to knock a team out of rhythm if they found it 3-4 possessions then back to man. Glad to hear he's thinking of it. It's also good for the O to practice against a zone a bit as teams like doing it to us a few times a game.
That was BD's dagger when he had the 2000 team with the depth to run-run-run. When the oppo started to put their hands on their shorts and gasp for breath 3/4s the way through the 2nd half, he'd suddenly switch to zone and watch them start short-arming their shots. Worked brilliantly.
