I’m going to have to write a long post about this, but I kind of take the view that a matchup zone is not necessarily the position to adapt. If our team had the defensive IQ to do it, like Detroit and Saunders’ Minnesota teams did, then it’d be great, but it seemed that one key to our very marginal defensive improvement last year was that Randy Ayers simplified things rather than making them more complex. He played a little zone, sure, but there were fewer complicated schemes than with the decrepit Bill Berry 2007 defense.

I think the theory of protecting the paint is fine because long rebounds lead to more fast break opportunities in theory. We just need to improve our ability to close out on shooters and our tendency to double-team at all costs. Perhaps more matchup zone schemes fix those problems, but I’d rather tinker with our foundation than change it significantly.