Friday, July 3, 2009

Singler: Duke may use zone in 2009-10

DURHAM – Junior forward Kyle Singler floated a possibility that seems to make sense for Duke’s unusually configured 2009-10 basketball team.

“What we’ve been talking about. . .is we might be playing a little more zone this year than in years past,” Singler said during an exclusive interview Thursday. “That might not be the way Coach (Mike Krzyzewski) wants to do it, but with the personnel that we have, we are a big team.”

Krzyzewski is known to disdain zone defenses and prefer a high-pressure man-to-man. But over the last three years or so, since he became involved with the U.S. Olympic team, Krzyzewski has softened his stance.

In 2007-08, Duke dabbled in a matchup zone Krzyzewski called “Orange” in honor of his close friend, Jim Boeheim. At Syracuse, Boeheim often uses a matchup zone to keep opponents out of the lane.

Last season, the Blue Devils experimented with a zone trap briefly at Georgia Tech and for a longer sequence at Boston College in a loss when they were struggling to defend opposing point guards.

Over the past few seasons, Krzyzewski also has taken pride in his willingness to change strategy to fit his personnel. In 2009-10, Duke’s personnel might be suited to a zone.

Now that guard Elliot Williams has transferred to Memphis, the Blue Devils have few options in terms of players who can pressure the ball. Kyle Singler’s move to small forward at 6-foot-9 means Duke will have a big lineup that will be difficult for opponents to shoot over if the Blue Devils play a zone.

“When you see big guys in that zone with their hands up, it takes a lot of space,” Singler said. “Teams, you don’t practice against it because you don’t have the size. It’s something teams don’t see day in and day out.”

Singler said Krzyzewski has discussed the idea with the team. During his yearly summer news conference on Tuesday, Krzyzewski mentioned that the Blue Devils will have to change the way they defend, but didn’t specifically talk about playing zone.

“You adjust to the people you have,” Krzyzewski said. “So I don’t see us picking up full-court man and dogging somebody with Kyle on a 5-11 guy. We’re not going to do that. You just figure out a little bit different way of playing your defense.”

Playing a lot of zone would certainly be different for Krzyzewski. Singler said it’s a good idea. With just two true guards – Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith – on a roster that includes a wealth of forwards, Krzyzewski is going to have to be creative.
That might mean playing some defenses that wouldn’t ordinarily be his favorite options.

Ken Tysiac

For more on Kyle Singler and his new role with Duke, read The Charlotte Observer or the Raleigh News & Observer on Monday.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

GO, DUKE!!!

Anonymous said...

They still will lose to Carolina!

Kelly said...

As a Carolina fan, I will be pulling for them against Duke. That said, it will be interesting to see how Drew handles the press of teams like Duke and Clemson. Drew has long arms, but he is inexperienced, and there is potential for trouble.

charlieboy said...

Drew will be fine and Carolina will be cutting down the nets again

Anonymous said...

ACC is gonna be so weak this year.

Wake is done
Caroline is down
Duke is resorting to a zone since they are such a mess.

Kansas and KY are going to be beasts this year....look out!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Singler is a great great player, too bad he has no help.

Look for the bobcats to take him soon.

Anonymous said...

Duke is so bad this year, Paulus could probably start if he was still eligible.....but he had a good 8 yrs there.

Anonymous said...

Carolina is down? We'll see how down we are when the season cranks back up. With a front line of Ed Davis, Deon Thompson, Tyler Zeller and backups John Henson and the Wear Twins, noone will be able to get the ball down low. Not to mention Ginyard coming back. Larry Drew will be much improved and I didn't even mention Dexter Strickland and Leslie McDonald. Keep telling yourself that the Heels will be down this year. That's what we want, b/c at the end of the year when we have won another ACC Title and make another Final Four we will be laughing at your sorry excuse of a basketball fan!!!

Go Heels!!

Anonymous said...

Carolina is down? We'll see how down we are when the season cranks back up. With a front line of Ed Davis, Deon Thompson, Tyler Zeller and backups John Henson and the Wear Twins, noone will be able to get the ball down low. Not to mention Ginyard coming back. Larry Drew will be much improved and I didn't even mention Dexter Strickland and Leslie McDonald. Keep telling yourself that the Heels will be down this year. That's what we want, b/c at the end of the year when we have won another ACC Title and make another Final Four we will be laughing at your sorry excuse of a basketball fan!!!

Go Heels!!