HEAT Struggling Against Zone Defenses?
But mostly the Hawks beat the Heat with their scouting report. That left the Heat with more than just a loss but with a headache. Like a hitter who can’t lay off the curve in the dirt, the Heat know they’re probably about to face a steady diet of what finally beat them for the first time in six games.
The season is now a little more than a week old and the book on the Heat has started to get around. The advance scouts have filed their reports. The assistant coaches have a catalog of games to watch to make suggestions. Head coaches have a huge bullet point for their game plan.
Right now, the Heat have a problem with zone defense and the whole league is about to realize it.
The Dallas Mavericks used it effectively in the Finals against them last June, though the champs seemed to forget that strategy in the Christmas Day opener. But the Boston Celtics, a team that virtually never goes to zone, nearly pulled off a second-half comeback last week using it until they were upended by an unexpected shooting performance by Heat rookie Norris Cole.
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