Another ACC game, another lead of at least 20 points, and another victory. This year’s Virginia men’s basketball team capped off a scintillating January with a comfortable 68-53 win at Notre Dame. The Double Bonus dives into another round of analysis.

Going Zorro On The Zone

In the Virginia Tech Double Bonus article linked here, I suggested that seeing a 2-3 zone from Virginia Tech was a good thing because UVa would get that look from Notre Dame too. I wrote that “the Hoos use a variety of looks against a zone including double high post players and a baseline runner for example” so it was interesting to watch the Cavaliers slice through the Irish’s 2-3 zone like Zorro. (Of note, it did take a few possessions to get dialed in because I tracked three turnovers in the first three trips against the zone.)

“They threw in some zone. I thought at times we handled the zone pretty well, got some baskets by the rim,” UVa coach Tony Bennett said. “Not too many teams have mixed up the zone and man like they did so that was new for us.”

As expected, the Hoos broke down the zone with multiple plans of attack. Let’s look at three examples of what they did to get good shots against the 2-3 zone. They used a double low post look, an on-ball screen look, and a double high post look with success at different times. The screen shots to the right show all three things being discussed. The first frame is a double post alignment. The second frame is an on-ball screen set. The third and fourth frames are alternate looks at double high post formation.

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