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Gobbler Guru
Joined: 11/02/1999
Posts: 5,100
Likes: 5,768
Gobbler Guru
Founder

That is a wildly hyperbolic statement.

Teaching and playing zone defense is NOT rocket science. It is no more difficult than man-to-man, it just has different strengths and weaknesses. Only in Blacksburg, and specifically only in certain corners of this board, do people twist themselves into intellectual knots trying to convince others that one of the most basic defenses in all of basketball, one that the vast majority of teams both practice and at least occasionally play, is some kind of exotic, gimmicky scheme that only deep hoops savants can master. Truly incredible.
Posted: 03/28/2026 at 10:05 PM ET
(In response to this post by GCHokie34)

Thread Replies (86)

Full Thread →
I will duck when I say this but the Duke game changed when they went into
millmtnhokie • 03/28/26 12:40 PM ET
Foster was the real game-changer.**
David CunninghamAdmin • 03/29/26 11:02 AM ET
Cayden Boozer was getting overwhelmed by the pressure
millmtnhokie • 03/29/26 12:57 PM ET
So what has changed....
2hhoop3 • 03/29/26 10:02 AM ET
The skill level of offenses changed...
GCHokie34 • 03/29/26 11:15 AM ET
Thanks for the reply....
2hhoop3 • 03/29/26 11:45 AM ET
Very true on all fronts...
GCHokie34 • 03/29/26 03:14 PM ET
WHAT ? UNHEARD OF. How could the 4 letter word be anything but ineffective
uber hokie • 03/28/26 07:41 PM ET
playing zone does not necessarily make players be better at zone than m2m
VTCALS72 • 03/28/26 07:58 PM ET
That depends on how much natural ability a person has and how fast a
Hokie1992 • 03/29/26 07:51 AM ET
Could be true as we missed the NCAA tourney. Maybe we would have made it
VTCALS72 • 03/29/26 12:32 PM ET
Middle school and high school basketball work well switching to a zone
GCHokie34 • 03/29/26 10:43 AM ET
No amount of reasoning is going to help...
GCHokie34 • 03/28/26 08:43 PM ET
They missed key FTs so there's still room for improvement
WildTurkE • 03/28/26 03:36 PM ET
Should be a great game between Duke and UConn**
OrlandoHokie • 03/28/26 01:16 PM ET
UCONN by 20+**
DGHOKIE • 03/28/26 07:32 PM ET
I agree and FWIW I didn’t say what I said as a shot to CMY.
millmtnhokie • 03/28/26 02:31 PM ET
Those Dookies are so smart they can learn multiple defensive schemes. **
40ozDistrict • 03/28/26 12:55 PM ET
Yes but it takes longer for Hokies to learn zone that to get a BS in Chem
uber hokie • 03/28/26 07:44 PM ET
I promise you there are people who read this board...
GCHokie34 • 03/28/26 08:46 PM ET
That is a wildly hyperbolic statement. ◄
Gobbler Guru • 03/28/26 10:05 PM ET
GG, exceedingly few coaches, players, and experts earn THIS designation
Vippie1 • 03/29/26 08:48 AM ET
Players have to be able to play MTM well in order to play zone
Moseley Hokie • 03/28/26 11:17 PM ET
Has VT mastered man to man?
GCHokie34 • 03/28/26 10:07 PM ET
That's an even more bizarre perspective.
Gobbler Guru • 03/29/26 11:02 AM ET
Agree 100%...typical GC!**
NativeBurger • 03/29/26 11:21 AM ET
That's not even close to an equivalence...
GCHokie34 • 03/29/26 11:04 AM ET
Imagine being a dude who claims a different persona on this board versus
DDhokie31 • 03/28/26 09:56 PM ET
Imagine being someone who would never say that to me in person**
GCHokie34 • 03/28/26 10:01 PM ET
.
DDhokie31 • 03/28/26 10:04 PM ET
Seriously?**
HokiesACC2004 • 03/29/26 02:56 AM ET
And that will do, what, exactly?**
GCHokie34 • 03/28/26 10:06 PM ET
Say it to you in person **
DDhokie31 • 03/28/26 10:07 PM ET
Hit me up...
GCHokie34 • 03/28/26 10:08 PM ET
LOL**
DDhokie31 • 03/28/26 11:10 PM ET
....and still no email...
GCHokie34 • 03/28/26 11:15 PM ET
How long were you in charlottesville? **
SHPHOKIE • 03/29/26 09:23 AM ET
Ive not been in Charlottesville for over a decade...?**
GCHokie34 • 03/29/26 10:46 AM ET
Now we know it takes more than a decade for the obnoxiousness to wear off**
SHPHOKIE • 03/29/26 10:57 AM ET
Lmao...what?**
GCHokie34 • 03/29/26 11:03 AM ET
"What " you post. You mean you didn't understand that? In that case
Blueboy • 03/29/26 10:31 PM ET
Should we get a🥤 and 🍿 to enjoy this show? Will it be PPV?**
HokieNL • 03/29/26 08:42 AM ET
Sorry, many of us left middle school years ago. **
Stork • 03/29/26 09:07 AM ET
Or maybe Duke’s coach can think outside of his “system”?**
marcbvtgm • 03/28/26 02:46 PM ET
All it will take is recruiting 8 draft picks...
GCHokie34 • 03/28/26 01:08 PM ET
GC, obviously, mo betta dudes (Duke) give mo betta options...
HokieNL • 03/28/26 05:13 PM ET
He literally ran zone at the end of the year...
GCHokie34 • 03/28/26 07:38 PM ET
Would it have been better, with a little more repetition?**
HokieNL • 03/28/26 08:26 PM ET
Thats...kind of the whole point
GCHokie34 • 03/28/26 08:41 PM ET
I don't think anyone is advocating 50-50. Maybe 90-10, 95-5.
HokieNL • 03/28/26 08:49 PM ET
VT ran man to man 99% of the time this past season...
GCHokie34 • 03/28/26 08:56 PM ET
So if a player “ masters” M2M I guess his man never scores ? No one masters
uber hokie • 03/31/26 05:43 AM ET
Theres a large gap between mastering man to man and being 72nd in defense
GCHokie34 • 03/31/26 08:38 AM ET
Shaq could have practiced 10k FTs a day but he was never going to be a good
uber hokie • 03/31/26 03:21 PM ET
By that logic practice is futile...
GCHokie34 • 03/31/26 03:39 PM ET
Allen Iverson would disagree These kids have been playing defense for
uber hokie • 03/31/26 07:40 PM ET
Wow. Insulting someone's intelligence. Please hand GC the chill pill...
HokieNL • 03/28/26 09:08 PM ET
VT finished in the mid-70s in adjusted defensive efficiency...
GCHokie34 • 03/28/26 09:23 PM ET
This one thing from your post, is very telling...
HokieNL • 03/28/26 09:35 PM ET
If MY believed in a zone defense so much
GCHokie34 • 03/28/26 09:57 PM ET
Yet a number of teams switched to a zone briefly vs VT this yr & it worked
marcbvtgm • 03/29/26 10:05 AM ET
Except it didn't work against VT...**
GCHokie34 • 03/29/26 10:14 AM ET
You never run out of BS to double down with.**
marcbvtgm • 03/30/26 04:29 PM ET
Very nice explanation. Thank you.
HokieNL • 03/29/26 08:14 AM ET
I would tweak your summation slightly to say...
GCHokie34 • 03/29/26 11:03 AM ET
Kind of a 'Moneyball' approach, when you don't have more resources?**
HokieNL • 03/29/26 04:03 PM ET
There goes that (all knowing) critical eye of GC**
NativeBurger • 03/28/26 04:23 PM ET
There you go again making stuff up. You need help dude. Temperament!!**
40ozDistrict • 03/28/26 01:13 PM ET
Please name anything Ive made up...
GCHokie34 • 03/28/26 01:18 PM ET
Oooh, triggered again. How about this "lets just do what Duke does" ?
40ozDistrict • 03/28/26 07:06 PM ET
The first post is saying "lets just do what Duke does"
GCHokie34 • 03/28/26 07:11 PM ET
Not me. I'll keep talking BTW. But heck, Duke is a program to emulate.
40ozDistrict • 03/28/26 08:18 PM ET
Riiiiiight**
GCHokie34 • 03/28/26 08:40 PM ET
How about pretending to know something about basketball. **
SHPHOKIE • 03/28/26 03:29 PM ET
Sick burn, bro...**
GCHokie34 • 03/28/26 07:12 PM ET
Very prolific AH.**
Blueboy • 03/28/26 08:52 PM ET
Neo being a first round draft pick**
fakehokiestolenvalor • 03/28/26 02:54 PM ET
You'd do well to learn how to Google or buy a dictionary...your choice**
GCHokie34 • 03/28/26 07:12 PM ET
100 % correct
Midwestguy • 03/28/26 12:53 PM ET
MY actually played some possessions of zone this season...
GCHokie34 • 03/28/26 07:22 PM ET
I understand.
Midwestguy • 03/28/26 09:01 PM ET
Can’t compare Duke bb to vt bb
VT757to276 • 03/28/26 01:56 PM ET
?
Midwestguy • 03/28/26 04:07 PM ET
Duke won the ACC football championship 4 months ago. **
marcbvtgm • 03/28/26 02:47 PM ET
1 year is not a trend/sustainable
VT757to276 • 03/28/26 03:03 PM ET
I have no idea what your point is.
marcbvtgm • 03/30/26 04:27 PM ET
There’s 4 NBA level defenders on that team
SC_Hokie • 03/28/26 01:05 PM ET