Hoops X's & O's with Tad Boyle: Discussing man vs. zone defenses

Entering his 12th year at the helm of Colorado men's basketball, Tad Boyle has built up a reputation as a defensive-minded coach, valuing aggressive rebounding and stingy play around the perimeter.

Known for his aversion to playing zone defense, Boyle indicated that his appreciation for the man-on-man approach was instilled in him long ago by two coaching mentors.

Boyle, a native of Greeley, enjoyed a storied preps career at Greeley Central High that culminated with a state championship in 1981 as a senior.

Individually, Boyle won Colorado State Player of the Year honors.

As his high school days came to an end and a collegiate career at the University of Kansas began, Boyle's jersey was retired by the Greeley Central Wildcats.

During his career in Lawrence from 1981-1985, Boyle appeared in 88 games for the Jayhawks, starting 24.

By the conclusion of this upcoming 2021-2022 campaign, Boyle will have served as head coach for 16 seasons, the first four coming at Northern Colorado from 2006-2010.

With a coaching career that began at the preps level (Greeley West High School) in 1988 and having served as an assistant at such programs as Oregon, Tennessee, Jacksonville State and Wichita State, Boyle still points back to his pre-coaching days in identifying exactly where his appreciation for playing man defense began.

“It probably comes from two people: Larry Hicks, my high school coach, and Larry Brown, my college coach for the last two years," Boyle said. "Those two guys preached hardcore man-to-man, fundamental defense. I was well-schooled by both of them, so that’s where I get it from.”

Regardless of whether it's zone or man, Boyle has concluded from experience that the part of the game in which incoming players to his system most often require fine tuning is on defense.

For freshman center Lawson Lovering, that has meant learning how to defend a player like 6-foot-8, 262-pound senior Evan Battey, the kind of opponent that was nonexistent in Lovering's old high school stomping grounds of Cheyenne, Wyo.

In the case of a player like freshman guard K.J. Simpson, that entails accepting that he's not the best perimeter player on the court anymore, as it may well have been before arriving to college.

“It’s an adjustment because of the emphasis that’s put on it and the habits you have to create to be a good defender," he said. "I’ve always said it — whether you’re going from high school or AAU basketball to Division I, the biggest jump is on the defensive end. It’s not offense."

"These guys have grown up their whole lives working on shooting, ball-handling and passing. Offensively, they’re pretty adept at coming in and making the transition....(The) adjustment is not on the offensive end, it’s on the defensive end without a doubt."

In terms of strict practicality, Boyle's preference for playing man defense stems in part from a belief that it's easier to do damage control in the event of busted assignments.

“I think it comes down to accountability," he said. "As a coach, you want to hold your team accountable. You want your teammates to hold themselves accountable. We’ve played some zone — more than I have at any time in my career — but every time a zone breaks down, it’s usually a grey area."

"There’s more grey areas in a zone than definitive responsibilities. Zone guys have responsibilities, as well, don’t get me wrong, but there’s grey areas (and) there’s bumps."

Boyle also articulated that in man coverage, the ability to pick and choose individual matchups gives him more control when it comes to exploiting individual matchups.

In other words, Boyle enjoys being able to identify an opponent's offensive playmakers and ensure that the Buffs' most adept defenders are assigned to them.

"I think to be a great zone team, you have to be a great team defender," he said. "The same is true man-to-man, but you’ve also got that guy that you’re looking to shut down. So, a guy like Eli (Parquet) or a guy like McKinley (Wright IV) or Evan (Battey) or whomever you’re talking about on your team, if the other team has a top two or three guys, you can put your top two or three guys to match up with them."

"Whereas in a zone, you don’t have the ability to do that. They can pick who they want the matchups to be, offensively, against your zone. I like to have the ability to put our best defenders on their best players.”