That the Charlotte Hornets play lots of zone defense this season? No huge surprise.
The shocker is they play zone nearly twice as much as any other NBA team. They use this tactic to hover around the top-10 in defensive efficiency.
The Hornets have been solid defensively in a 6-8 start. They are currently 11th in points allowed per opponent possession, at 1.053, and that’s virtually a tie with Milwaukee and Indiana for ninth-best. By coach James Borrego’s description, when the Hornets avoid cheap transition baskets off turnovers, they’re one of the five best defenses in the NBA.
Some of that success comes off a wrinkle — playing about 21 defensive possessions per game in a zone (typically a 2-3), which Borrego calls “disruptive,” so long as it’s used selectively.
“I want to keep teams guessing, I want to keep them off-balance,” Borrego said of the zone. “I want to throw the change-up, I want to throw the curveball ...
“We have some different coverages, and I think overall it’s just making our half-court (defense) better.”
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Zones aren’t a staple of NBA defense. For decades, zone was outlawed under an “illegal defense” rule. That was modified to what’s called “defensive three-seconds,” where a defender must actively guard a player within that span of time.
Some NBA teams just don’t use zones, which are seen by some coaches as passive and concede too many open jump shots.
The gap between the Hornets and every other team in zone use this season is huge. According to Synergy Sports’ research, Charlotte plays zone 22.7% of defensive possessions. Next-closest among NBA teams: The Cleveland Cavaliers at 13.2%. Only five of 30 teams use it 9% or more of possessions.
Understand that zone isn’t the Hornets’ base defense. In fact, it’s common for them to switch from zone to man-to-man within a defensive possession, based on a read of what action the opponent runs.
Zone is a trade-off: On a team without great size, and missing a starting center (Cody Zeller’s fractured hand), it means Charlotte’s big man (typically either Bismack Biyombo or P.J. Washington) doesn’t have to leave the lane as much to chase after an opponent.
However, zones typically give up a lot of open looks on jump shots and leave defenders out of position to box out for rebounds. That’s because defenders are more guarding areas of the floor than specific players.
The 3-point percentage hasn’t been a big issue so far: Charlotte’s opponents currently shoot the 6th-worst percentage from 3 at 34.5%. However, the last two games were troubling; in back-to-back losses to Toronto, the Raptors made 41 total 3s on 41% shooting from deep.
The rebounding is a major concern. The Hornets are last in the NBA in defensive-rebound percentage, just as they were last season. That’s largely personnel, partially due to the Hornets playing small-ball with Washington at center and Miles Bridges at power forward. But a consistent complaint about zones is defenders are out of position to rebound.
“The zone allows us to protect the paint,” Borrego said. “The challenge is rebounding out of it and contesting 3s.
“What I like about this is we have our big at home for the most part — back at the rim. I don’t think we’re hurt (rebounding) as much as I anticipated on the boards.”
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Playing so much zone and switching between zone and man-to-man within opponent possessions has been an adjustment on the fly for Charlotte’s players. Cody Martin, who Borrego has called this team’s best pound-for-pound defender, had virtually no experience in zone defenses in college.
“It can put you in sometimes a vulnerable position for rebounding, but I don’t think there are too many (other) minuses,” Martin described. “My mentality has shifted; figuring out how to incorporate what I do into a zone.”
For guard-forward Martin, the challenge is closing out 3-point shooters and a heightened responsibility for communication.
“What is your area and what is not your area? There’s a lot of gray area” playing zone, Martin said. “But you can cancel a lot of that with good communication and I think that’s something our team does a good job of.”
Ten-season veteran Biyombo said that’s a strength of this team: Strong communication and an open-minded approach to trying something different.
Different was necessary. Borrego searched for a fresh approach to a roster that lacks a great rim-protector or dominant rebounder.
“We had to scramble so much defensively with our personnel,” Borrego said of his first two seasons in Charlotte. “It forced our bigs out of their area, and it left smalls against their bigs ...
“We’ll continue to mix it up (defensively). Keep them guessing.”
