Wooden's UCLA and the Zone Press
1964 to 1975. An undersized team presses its way to a dynasty
In the 1963 to 1964 season, John Wooden's UCLA team was small and quick, with no tall star. Assistant coach Jerry Norman persuaded Wooden to try something UCLA had never used: a zone press. A press means defending all the way up the court, trapping the ball handler to force turnovers before the offense can set up.
The press sped up the game and rattled opponents. UCLA went 30 and 0 and beat Duke 98 to 83 in the national final on 21 March 1964. Gail Goodrich scored 27 points, Kenny Washington, a reserve, added 26, and Walt Hazzard was named the tournament's most outstanding player. UCLA won the title again in 1965.
It was the start of the most dominant run in college basketball. Combining the press with a high-post offense, Wooden's UCLA won 10 national titles in 12 years, including 88 games in a row at one stage. Wooden retired straight after the 1975 title.
What changed
UCLA showed that a small, quick team could make bigger opponents play at its speed. Pressure all the way up the court turned defense into a way to create easy baskets, not just a way to stop them.