CSNbbs

Updated: March 24, 2005, 1:59 AM ET

<span style='font-size:17pt;line-height:100%'>Louisville riding success of zone defense</span>

By Andy Katz, ESPN.com


ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Rick Pitino is right on schedule for getting
Louisville back to the Sweet 16 and possibly the Final Four.

But the way in which Pitino has the Cardinals here wasn't always
in the cards.


Injuries and lack of depth
forced Rick Pitino to install
the zone, now a defensive
staple.

He planned on having a trapping and pressing team. He tried that
for the first three years, but injuries and illnesses led the Cardinals
to fade in February and March and bounced Louisville out of the
second round two seasons ago, done in round one last year.

So what had to change in Pitino's fourth season for the Cardinals to
reach the Sweet 16 for Thursday night's matchup with No. 1 seed
Washington here at The Pit?

Pitino had to use a 2-3 zone and pull back the press.

So far, it's worked to the tune of 11 straight wins and 20 victories
in the last 21 games.

"Our 2-3 zone has been very effective as you saw versus Georgia Tech,"
Louisville senior forward <a href='http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=1303' target='_blank'>Ellis Myles</a> said. "A lot of people don't understand
that in the past we were a pressing team but now we're playing a 2-3
zone."

Louisville junior guard <a href='http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=11854' target='_blank'>Taquan Dean</a> said because of the depth issue
facing the Cardinals, the switch to the zone was a necessity. The
Cardinals are less likely to be in foul trouble.

"Guys are on the court longer and it's actually limited the injuries," Dean
said. "When you're pressing and you're out there using every muscle in
your body it takes a toll."

Myles said he gets an extra wind later in the game since he's sitting back
in the 2-3 zone.

But Pitino isn't about to give up on the pressing style that made him
famous at Kentucky, the last time he was in the Final Four in 1996.

"We had to change this year but it has changed by weeks," Pitino said.
"Once <a href='http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=5381' target='_blank'>Otis George</a> got healthy we could press but then he got a stress
fracture and Taquan had backs spasms, so we changed back again."

Pitino doesn't buy that the players' legs are fresher but does acknowledge
that the players are playing fewer minutes -- and that could help.

Switching from zone to man to a press could catch teams off guard.

"Coach has been a master at mixing both and it keeps teams off balance
because they don't know if we're going to press, zone, go halfcourt or
trap," said Louisville assistant Vince Taylor.

Regardless, the Cardinals do have the pieces in place to make a Final
Four run by getting past Washington and then Texas Tech or West
Virginia. The Cards have the changing defenses, the scoring lead wing in
<a href='http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=11859' target='_blank'>Francisco Garcia</a>, a shooter in Dean, a surging scorer in <a href='http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=5379' target='_blank'>Larry O'Bannon</a>
(18 points a game in the last seven) and a few role forwards who don't
mind doing the dirty work in <a href='http://sports-att.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=22410' target='_blank'>Juan Palacios</a>, Myles and George.

Pitino isn't one to make excuses. He said Xavier was better than Louisville
last year in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

"When coach Pitino first got here they expected him to win the
championship right away," said Taylor, who was the one holdover from
Denny Crum to Pitino. "It just doesn't happen like that anymore because
of the parity in college basketball."

The Cardinals had to get older and sprinkle in more "Pitino-like" players.
Now, four of the five in the starting lineup are upperclassmen.

"We had a winning record the first year and had a winning record the next
two years and now we've taken it a little further," Pitino said. "This year
we are a much better basketball team than last year. It's all talent
driven."

But Pitino has changed with the talent, too, making sure he maximizes
their abilities by going with the flow and tossing in a zone. It's not classic
Pitino, but he doesn't have to be anymore. His style may be changing, but
the outcome is once again the same -- he's winning big in March.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.

<a href='http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/ncaatourney05/news/story?id=2020297' target='_blank'>ESPN.com.</a>

I told a friend of mine the other day that Pitino going to the zone was the coaching move of the year. BTW, I do believe that it keeps players fresher despite what Pitino says and with UL's depth, having fresher legs this late in the season is only going to be more of a benefit.....