Paul Millsap Wants NBA Teams to ‘Man Up’ and Stop Playing Zone Defense

Paul Millsap has no respect for NBA teams who play zone defense, a tactic that proven to be increasingly effective. From the Deseret News: “The Utah Jazz offense struggled against Toronto’s zone Wednesday, and Paul Millsap didn’t hide his feelings for that strategy. ‘I think zone defense are for college teams, high school,’ the Jazz power forward said, laughing. With a smile, he added, ‘Man up. Play mano y mano.’ Funny he should mention school. Professor Tyrone Corbin gave his team an upper-level zone refresher course at Thursday’s practice. ‘We’ve just got to prepare for it,’ the Jazz coach said, ‘and not let it throw our rhythm off.’ The Raptors thrived defensively in their 111-106 double-OT win by clogging up the inside while Utah struggled outside (4-for-18). Corbin wants more movement, cutting and in-rhythm shots when teams zone his squad that hasn’t been successful from zone-busting range. […] Millsap conceded that his team needs to respond better. ‘It’s something we’ve got to work on because teams can’t really match up with us,’ Millsap said. ‘They’re going to go into the zone, so we’ve got to be more efficient in it.'”