11-01-2022, 07:23 AM
The very best teams, like South Carolina, are going to think they match up and consequently won't play zone. Many many lesser teams will play zone and hope that we get unlucky from three. That is how it has been for 10 years.
Iriafan's mid to long range jumper, Demetre's midrange jumper, Jump's treys and perhaps the emergence of Emma-Nnopu or Nivar on offense plus the possibility of Prechtel from range should all be enough to defeat the zone. Jones made a three and certainly has a good mid range shot.
However, the dirty little secret of jump shooting is that both makes and misses are infectious. There are days when everyone shoots very well and they feed off of each other, and days when no one shoots well and the misses seem to feed off of each other. So long range shooting can be unreliable as a group even when we have lots of weapons, and opposing coaches know this and figure they might as well roll the dice and play zone. But the best teams won't roll the dice, but attempt to contest everything. And it is the best teams we have to worry about most.
Iriafan's mid to long range jumper, Demetre's midrange jumper, Jump's treys and perhaps the emergence of Emma-Nnopu or Nivar on offense plus the possibility of Prechtel from range should all be enough to defeat the zone. Jones made a three and certainly has a good mid range shot.
However, the dirty little secret of jump shooting is that both makes and misses are infectious. There are days when everyone shoots very well and they feed off of each other, and days when no one shoots well and the misses seem to feed off of each other. So long range shooting can be unreliable as a group even when we have lots of weapons, and opposing coaches know this and figure they might as well roll the dice and play zone. But the best teams won't roll the dice, but attempt to contest everything. And it is the best teams we have to worry about most.