Back in the days of USSR dominance, an idea was reputed to come out of Czechoslovakia to counter the powerful Russians. The name of the plan was called the left wing lock. It was an effective form of a zone defence that slowed down play and kept scores lower. It was a system that enabled less talented teams to hang around.
The NHL employed it through out the ages with its highlight coming with Bowman's Red Wings teams of the 90's. Detroit won several season team point titles with it. In the playoffs, under a best of seven series a team could make the necessary adjustments to find the flaws of the system. After a few notable playoff flops and a few rule changes, the system has faded from the forefront.

Fast forward to the possibility of the strike shortened season NBA starting soon. Conditioning will be off and players will struggle to get their sea legs going. As a result the flaw most of the modern NBA players have will be more exposed than normal. That flaw is the mid range jumper.

IMO the best way for the less talented teams to hang in and win games in this enigma of an NBA season is to play zone D. Pack three men in deep with two chasers set near the three point line. Harrass the edges...three point land and the paint. Let all the other real estate open. Rusty NBA players with bad fundamentals will struggle to hit those mid range jumpers more than they would normally do. Pack it in...collect the rebound...walk it back up.


Early bettors should pick more dogs with large spreads then they should. Team win totals for teams that have coaches that play zone should be bet on the higher side. Strike when the iron is hot...the zone is the way to go this NBA regular season.

Hoping the strike gets settled for a 50 something game season