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The majority of people on Buzzerbeater avoid 2-3 defense like the plague.

Is the 2-3 defense simply "broken" in the game engine, as in it is not working as intended? Or are teams simply not acquiring the proper personnel to successfully run it?

This second question brings me to my next question: from your experience, what is needed in terms of personnel and skills to successfully play a 2-3 defense against an inside oriented offense?

People usually don't have the players to run a successful 2-3. I don't like to use 2-3 a whole lot, due to weird rotations, match-ups on jumpers, and a higher risk of an opposing big that can shoot jumpers to torch my defense, especially my PFs/Cs. What I would want on my guards are more ID/SB than usual. This will cause them to defend better against drives and inside shots. For bigs, you would need OD of course. Some SB can't hurt, either. Just my 2 cents.

Think if you are back in high school playing basketball in PE and in a zone. You would 99% of the time play a 2/3 zone because no-one can shoot outside and you want to clog the key. What sort of SF do you want best for that zone? The typical SG playing SF that most teams have? No way. You want another C/PF type that can rebound, block shots and play inside defence.

Think if you are back in high school playing basketball in PE and in a zone.

LOL I am in high school, and we don't play zone, only M2M. But yes, you do want all that. I forgot about SF.

Last edited by Big Dogs at 6/23/2012 8:02:11 PM

2-3 zone is not broken at all. The problem is that every team that runs it, doesn't have the appropriate personnel. Its ironic though that everyone thinks shot blocking is useless in the game as well, but in fact the two work together to provide a very effective 2-3 zone.

Guards-At the guard positions you are going to need a lot of OD. Reason being, they will be defending the majority of outside shots but not much inside. They will however guard some driving layups, not many, but some so you will want SB to disrupt the layups. The guards arent the problem on most teams since a lot of teams have good OD on their guards anyways.

Forwards- These may be the most crucial in having an effective 2-3. You will need not only good ID, but you will need good OD as well. Reason being they will be defending quite a few jumpshots themselves from the players who attack the 2-3 zone effectively. This is where many teams fail at because they have the good ID but fail to pair the OD with it. Usually SFs can get by on most teams, but many teams dont have that PF that can defend the outside like you will need in a 2-3. Also, you will need good SB on them as well. They will be defending quite a few driving layups themselves so SB will disrupt that and alter the layups leading to less conversion rate.

Center- This is where teams are just flat out unprepared. SB is useful for a reason and not many people believe that. The center position defends the majority of driving layups in the defense so you will need high ID and SB. Reason why many people believe 2-3 doesnt work is the lack of SB

I was trying to use 2-3 in an effective way in my last league game... but less than 4 mins in the guy I had at SF got injured.

I'm at D. V but the 2 guards had 8 OD 5 SB
the SF had 7OD 8ID 8 SB, the PF 7OD 7ID 8 SB, and the center (still trying to win games. my PL one would be switched with a diff guy with better D). Center is 1 OD 6 ID 6 SB

The first 4 minutes were VERY effective

yoda explanation is imho correct, if i read your post i couldn't play it.

Yes 15 SB would be good. The problem is that most teams don't have that. They have SB of like 8 or 9