Defense 101: Matchup-zone stymies Tiger foes

For all the attention given to the world-famous "Princeton Offense," the Tigers' unique defensive system will play just as big of a role in determining the fate of the men's basketball team this season.

Once again, Princeton will employ a matchup-zone defense this year. Head coach Joe Scott '87 has spent years refining his version of the scheme, installing Tiger-specific wrinkles based on a set of general principles.

"It's a man defense with zone principles," junior forward Luke Owings said. "It's a lot of switching and a lot of not worrying about who exactly is on the ball, but making sure someone is on the ball and someone is in help and making sure that we're not giving up easy shots."

In a pure man-to-man defense, usually referred to simply as a man defense, each player is responsible for guarding one other player on the opposing team. It's generally a more aggressive form of defending than the alternative, zone defense.

A zone defense, in its purest form, requires each player to guard a specific area of the court rather than a particular opponent. Though it requires seamless coordination to be effective, a zone defense can help a team make up for a particular weaknesses in speed, for example, that some players might have.

By combining the two forms of defense, Princeton is able to have an aggressive and effective defense that allows it to recover from mistakes and deficiencies.

"By making it a team thing and [having] everyone in there helping and everyone switching off, it really puts less pressure on the individual," Owings said, "while at the same time making sure you're in the right place all the time."

"I mean, myself and [sophomore forward Noah Savage] are two of the slowest guys you'll ever meet," he joked, "but we do okay [with the matchup-zone]."

Fundamentally, the Tigers' defensive scheme relies on the ability of each player to see what is happening on the court and respond to different situations.

"It's a lot of trust and faith ... placed in them to try to develop those abilities over their four years so that when they're out there, they're making their own decisions," Scott said.

The somewhat fluid nature of the scheme has three essential elements when put into play that are similar to the basic principles of defense in almost any sport, Scott explained.

First, a player must keep his body in front of his man in order to be an effective defender. But when a player fails to effectively block his man's path to the basket or is otherwise beaten, the other four players on the court must be in good "help-guy" positions — the second key element of the scheme.

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The last building block of the scheme is that players must get rebounds once the other team misses a shot.

Mentioning a few players' names, including freshman forward Alex Okafor, freshman guard Geoff Kestler and sophomore forward Harrison Schaen, Scott explained that once the team had conquered those three basics, the players' individual defending styles could "show up and help us defensively."

But this year's team is young, and Princeton's defensive scheme, which Owings described as sometimes "counterintuitive," takes time to develop and time for the players to cultivate the sort of court vision it requires.

Though the younger players have been picking up the methods quickly, the team has a way to go.

"I wouldn't say we're where we want to be, but we're happy with the progress," Owings said, noting that it is still too early to tell for certain.

Still, the Tigers are already showing signs of promise. Led by senior guard and captain Scott Greenman, the lone senior on the team, and other upperclassmen like Owings, the younger players are developing rapidly.

"They are leading the younger guys, and the younger guys are growing up more quickly because they know they have those guys to look up to," Scott said.

Okafor, Scott anticipated, would be a "very good defender" this season; he also thought that Schaen — who developed into a fierce shot blocker his freshman year — had the potential to be one as well.

These are good signs, because with this season's young team, Princeton will depend on the development of its younger players if the team is going to have an effective defense to complement its much-discussed offense.