Looking for zone defense success

[sheilnaik]

Anyone have success using a 2-3 or 3-2 zone against teams in 2K11? I'm playing as the Hornets in Association and I tried switching to a 2-3 to help against bigs like Tim Duncan, but I always find myself getting caught in a kick-out to a guard for an open three-pointer.

I watched some videos on YouTube to get a better idea of how I'm supposed to play the 2-3 zone, but I also wanted to see what others on this forum thought about using it in the game. Anyone have success with it?

[ffpp]

Re: Looking for zone defense success

One thing that real basket ball players do is to close out on shooters while the pass to the shooter is still in the air.
I think you can't rely on your AI-teammates to do so in this game. This is why you need to keep the whole court in view when playing zone D and switch to the appropriate defender slightly ahead of time.
Makes playing zone a bit more difficult and requires more concentration than man to man but is sometimes worth it, imo.

[Phins86]

Re: Looking for zone defense success

One thing that real basket ball players do is to close out on shooters while the pass to the shooter is still in the air.
I think you can't rely on your AI-teammates to do so in this game. This is why you need to keep the whole court in view when playing zone D and switch to the appropriate defender slightly ahead of time.
Makes playing zone a bit more difficult and requires more concentration than man to man but is sometimes worth it, imo.

Exactly. Have your icons up so you can quickly switch to the man in the zone who's near an open shooter so that you can get a good contest. I've also had some success running the 2-3 and controlling the center, using him to roam around and cover open shooters. Also in the 1-3-1 I've had success controlling the PF and again, using him as a floater to contest open jumpers.

[Arven]

Re: Looking for zone defense success

Playing zone in 2K11 is difficult.

2-3 you can play if you get beat a lot on the offensive rebound, but if the opposing team has capable gunners, you are inviting desaster. Also excellent penetrators like Kobe are likely to take it apart and just drive by 3 players to the hoop.

The zone defense I have used to good effect is the 1-3-1, with players good at stealing on the wings (Kirilenko, Miles, Bell and Hayward for me). You have good coverage on the first pass to any wing player and will gain quite a few balls that way. Once the ball passes the free throw line you may be in trouble though.

[sheilnaik]

Re: Looking for zone defense success

One thing that real basket ball players do is to close out on shooters while the pass to the shooter is still in the air.
I think you can't rely on your AI-teammates to do so in this game.

I agree completely.

[nbr1gamer]

Re: Looking for zone defense success

certain players will make almost any shot in, its a bit ridiculous. Kobe shoots Open jumpers that are not contested and they fail to go in consistently, but eddie house easily dumps 3 3's in a row with man to man coverage and a hand in his face every time.

[ffpp]

Re: Looking for zone defense success

What also helps is to know the weak spots of your type of zone. Like the corners in a 1-3-1. Shooters often are able to sneak in there and get an open shot with defenders having a hard time to close out on them in time.

So, depending of the type of zone I use, I have some kind of priority of which player to use because he is near one of those weaker spots. That makes it a bit easier sometimes.

[Threes_Co.]

Re: Looking for zone defense success

Zones don't work in the NBA. Unless you're playing a subpar online opponent or on a low difficulty level, you will not have success playing a zone defense

[ffpp]

Re: Looking for zone defense success

You don't play zone all the time but if your opponents have a run dumping the ball down low all the time you can play zone for a few possessions and try to make them think about their offensive approach.

But in the real NBA there is also something like a seemingless transition from zone to man-to-man sometimes. In 2k11 it is very much a fixed strategy with clear limitations.

[Hova57]

Re: Looking for zone defense success

You don't play zone all the time but if your opponents have a run dumping the ball down low all the time you can play zone for a few possessions and try to make them think about their offensive approach.

But in the real NBA there is also something like a seemingless transition from zone to man-to-man sometimes. In 2k11 it is very much a fixed strategy with clear limitations.

I feel like 2k11 does this sometime i know last couple games i played 2-3 zone, but somehow after a couple of possesson it turned into man

[Threes_Co.]

Re: Looking for zone defense success

I feel like 2k11 does this sometime i know last couple games i played 2-3 zone, but somehow after a couple of possesson it turned into man

That's not what he meant.