Just watched Zona fall to Butler, and have some thoughts.
Outside of Markkanen, Zona's bigs don't terrify me offensively. They rely on the Big Fin to play the high-low, with him at the elbow and dumping to his fellow bigs. He can stretch to the 3-point line. But Commanche and Ristic aren't overly assertive.
The wings are athletic freaks, though. Alkins and Simmons are freshmen, but can get to the rim at will. It took Butler throwing out a match-up zone to slow them down. Kadeem Allen steadies them. But you can tell they miss Trier and Ray Smith. Ferguson skipping college hurts, too. Miller is basically down three five-star guards.
The bench? Well, Zona played just seven dudes. As Butler showed: Attack Markkanen when he hedges out on ball screens. The officials will call any contact on him. It changes how he plays. He moves away from the bucket and plays the feeder position from the nail/elbow. Russ can body up Comanche and Ristic. Heck, you might be able to throw Smith out there for 10 minutes.
If you get Markkanen on the bench, they play through Alkins and Allen on ball screens and forcing your bigs into a bind on switches. Butler did a nice job gapping and working in help and recover in the half court, so Miller flipped to a zone press to speed up Butler, force TOs and get them into transition or scramble situations.
My takeaway: You zone Zona, and don't hesitate to do it, especially if Markkanen isn't out there. The other bigs aren't as good if you get it to them in the middle. And you at least pack the paint enough to take away straight-line drives.
That being said: We just don't have the same talent. I weep for Cullen if he gets put in iso situations. (Again, a zone may be necessary.) KJ and Willie might be the best athletes we have, and this is a game where we'd love to have Barnett. I know Frankie has a quick trigger finger, but that's what Zona wants. Long jumpers. Long rebounds. And running in the open floor. Our bigs need to take all their vitamins to compete on the glass. Their buddies in the backcourt need to join in.
At the end of the day, Mizzou likely gets run. But there are opportunities to keep it closer.
Outside of Markkanen, Zona's bigs don't terrify me offensively. They rely on the Big Fin to play the high-low, with him at the elbow and dumping to his fellow bigs. He can stretch to the 3-point line. But Commanche and Ristic aren't overly assertive.
The wings are athletic freaks, though. Alkins and Simmons are freshmen, but can get to the rim at will. It took Butler throwing out a match-up zone to slow them down. Kadeem Allen steadies them. But you can tell they miss Trier and Ray Smith. Ferguson skipping college hurts, too. Miller is basically down three five-star guards.
The bench? Well, Zona played just seven dudes. As Butler showed: Attack Markkanen when he hedges out on ball screens. The officials will call any contact on him. It changes how he plays. He moves away from the bucket and plays the feeder position from the nail/elbow. Russ can body up Comanche and Ristic. Heck, you might be able to throw Smith out there for 10 minutes.
If you get Markkanen on the bench, they play through Alkins and Allen on ball screens and forcing your bigs into a bind on switches. Butler did a nice job gapping and working in help and recover in the half court, so Miller flipped to a zone press to speed up Butler, force TOs and get them into transition or scramble situations.
My takeaway: You zone Zona, and don't hesitate to do it, especially if Markkanen isn't out there. The other bigs aren't as good if you get it to them in the middle. And you at least pack the paint enough to take away straight-line drives.
That being said: We just don't have the same talent. I weep for Cullen if he gets put in iso situations. (Again, a zone may be necessary.) KJ and Willie might be the best athletes we have, and this is a game where we'd love to have Barnett. I know Frankie has a quick trigger finger, but that's what Zona wants. Long jumpers. Long rebounds. And running in the open floor. Our bigs need to take all their vitamins to compete on the glass. Their buddies in the backcourt need to join in.
At the end of the day, Mizzou likely gets run. But there are opportunities to keep it closer.
