Legendary Syracuse zone guru Jim Boeheim explains why Rockets’ system is ‘game changer’ vs. Warriors ...Middle East

HOUSTON – If the 2-3 zone that is currently stifling the Warriors in the first round of the playoffs looks slightly familiar to college hoops fans, there is a good reason for that. 

The Houston Rockets are running a modified version of the defense that legendary former Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim perfected over 47 years and 1,116 victories at the basketball powerhouse.

Boeheim is not surprised that it has been as effective in the pros as it is in the college ranks. 

“I think it’s good as a different look, a game changer, just to change the rhythm for teams,” Boeheim told the Bay Area News Group by phone before Sunday’s Game 7. 

Hundreds, if not thousands, of coaches have used that alignment – with two perimeter defenders in front of three teammates arranged in a flat line behind – over the course of history. 

But nobody is more associated with that style than Boeheim, who has (literally) written the book on how to run it. 

“It can be really effective (in the NBA) because they’re not used to seeing that, and a lot of their plays that aren’t out-of-bounds plays are man-to-man plays,” Boeheim said. “I think it’s a good move, and I think it can work, but some coaches that try it, when the team hits one shot, they get right out of it and don’t have the mentality to stick with it.”

The Rockets are sticking with it, for good reason.

The Warriors are trudging back to Houston for Game 7 after their 3-1 series lead evaporated. Golden State’s consecutive losses in the past two games have many culprits, but the Rockets’ 2-3 zone is the most glaring. 

When the Rockets run out their double- and sometimes triple-big lineup with a combination of Steven Adams, Alperen Sengun, and Jabari Smith Jr., the Warriors’ free-flowing offense has ground to a halt. 

Houston is not running a traditional Syracuse-style zone. Instead, it mans up on the perimeter, especially against Steph Curry, while allowing the low defenders to float. 

“You can focus with your zone on Curry,” Boeheim said. “Yes, you’re going to play zone, but you’re always going to be guarding him.”

The zone’s long-standing strength is not burdening defenders with a singular off-ball responsibility. When it works well, it often leads to long possessions, which is fine with the 30-second shot clock in college but is more of an issue in the NBA game. 

“Cutters don’t bother a zone that much,” Boeheim said. “It’s more about ball movement and screening. And people forget, 24 seconds is not a lot of time. A lot of teams took more than 24 seconds to score on us.”

Of course, no defense is perfect, and there are holes in the 2-3 zone for the Warriors to exploit. Getting the ball to a scorer in the mid-post is one option, and running shooters off screens is another.

“The team can try to screen for the three for the best shooter of all time, and you can’t let that happen,” Boeheim said. “You have to get over the top of it, or the forward can’t come up and he gets that shot.”

But do the Warriors have the personnel to crack the zone if Curry is bottled up? 

Shooting well is the classic way to break the zone, but the Rockets have shown that the Warriors do not have the consistent snipers needed to get Houston to go back to man-to-man.

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The Warriors shot 9 of 33 in non-Curry 3-point attempts in Game 6. Gary Payton II was often left wide open in the corner. 

Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler are phenomenal players, but are not long-range marksmen.

“You don’t want him to get going, you want somebody else to,” Boeheim said. “Every team has one or two bad shooters, and you just don’t guard those guys.”

The Warriors know this and have spent the past few days trying to devise a countermeasure to the Rockets’ defense. 

But just a few hours after Game 6, Curry already knew what the Warriors needed to do against the defense that Boeheim had made famous. 

“You have to resist the temptation to rush and force shots,” Curry said. “Use the attention they’re going to throw at us, whether it’s me running around or Jimmy driving it, to make the defense collapse and swing and find open looks.”

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