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This and That: Butler in DC '22

Ryan Mutombo and Aminu Mohammed converging on Ty Groce while in zone defense.
Ryan Mutombo and Aminu Mohammed converging on Ty Groce while in zone defense. (HoyaReport.com)

Butler (9-6, 2-2) took down Georgetown (6-7, 0-2 in BIG EAST) last night at Capital One Arena. Below are observations and comments central to the game'.


In the Zone

Normally 'the zone' indicates an offensive player being en fuego, a performer than seemingly can't miss shots taken. It's a very desirable place for individual players to be.

There's an alternate meaning relative to Georgetown's 72-58 loss to Butler, Thursday, one having nothing to do with the Hoyas making shots during that home loss. Heck, they shot as a unit 33.9% overall and 18.8% on three pointers, both below pregame season averages of 43% and 38%, respectively. The fact no Hoya shot above 50% other than freshman pivot Ryan Mutombo (eight points, 4-5 shooting) further disabuses any assumption the Hoyas, individually and collectively, were hot offensively.

No, in this instance, 'in the zone' refers to defense. Specifically a 2-3 alignment deployed by acting head/assistant coach Louis Orr and the team's other bench leaders. To be clear, Orr utilized that defense almost exclusively in the first half, which continued into early second stanza work.

In fact, this was the most zone defense G'Town has played since head coach Pat Ewing took control of the program over four years ago. Why did Orr and the other assistants choose to be so zone-centric, a decision that dovetailed with Ewing's absence due to Covid protocol?

"We played more 2-3 zone because we only had one point guard (freshman Tyler Beard) and tried to conserve his energy. And also guarding Butler, the zone could be effective. I thought it slowed them down earlier".

Orr was referencing not having starting point guard Dante Harris (illness) and guard Don Carey (covid) being unavailable.

What about the zone's success?

His Butler counterpart, Levelle Jordan acknowledged the Bulldogs were hindered by the 2-3 zone, noting it was "just about finding a way tonight", accordingly. "Finding enough possession of good opportunities and taking advantage of them".

When confronted with surely not expecting to see so much zone from the previously zone-adverse Hoyas, Jordan admitted "You are dead on with that...Obviously when when we got into seeing who was scratched off the list we said we will probably see see a lot of zone tonight. But we hadn't prepared for that much zone to be honest with you".

His team's shooting percentages per half hint at Butler's struggles against the Blue and Gray's zone: 35.3% vs. 44% (first stanza), 27.8% vs 27.8% from the field and three point land, respectively.

Orr believed "our offense hurt us", when asked to explain why he eschewed the zone noted "Good offense helps your defense". He also cited "turnovers, missed shots" and struggling to score as reasons being man to man focused for most of the second half.

Nevertheless, "We could have stayed with the zone longer" he said. "Maybe it would have made the game a little closer. But it wouldn't have made us win".

Pressuring

Orr clearly thought man to man defense gave his team more of a chance at victory - Georgetown fell behind by 20 with 13:07 to go, only to halve it over 11 minutes later. Enter pressing, particularly a Diamond (1-2-1-1) scheme.

Orr revealed "We needed to put some pressure on them. i thought our pressure helped us. We just couldn't convert enough. Missed some free throws...our defense had moments when it was pretty good".

Vistors

Stephaun Walker, '22 forward, Coolidge HS, WDC

Darren Buchanan, '22 forward, Wilson HS, WDC

For more, including Orr on the play of freshmen Aminu Mohammed and Jallin Billingsley, visit Premium Court!


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