Rose has never wanted to play zone, but learned too when we could not defend longer and more athletic teams - primarily SDSU and UNLV. He also did it to protect Jimmer from foul trouble. A zone is the defense you use to defend longer and more athletic teams, but you need to be active on the zone - ie, use as much energy as when playing man - or it is not effective. Zones are ineffective against outside shooting teams.

The best solution is to mix it up if you can.