The Magic's Defense broken down by ft away from the basket

[Mad Guru]

Data from "In the Zone" an article on Yahoo

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/zone-part- ... --nba.html

0-5 feet - the most crucial area for being a good defensive team

The 10 most lenient teams in this zone (giving up the most points) are: Timberwolves, Nets, Pelicans, Celtics, Suns, Lakers, 76ers, Jazz, Kings, Cavaliers

The 10 stingiest teams (yielding the fewest points) are: Warriors, Wizards, Pacers, Knicks, Mavericks, Clippers, Trail Blazers, Pistons, Nuggets, Grizzlies

Breakdown - There are no elite teams in the bad zone of this area, the most surprising team is the Pellicans, who should be better with the supposedly elite Anthony Davis defending the rim. The Cavs defensive struggles are well known by now.

Magic Breakdown - not good or bad at defending the paint. Vucevic is never going to be an elite rim protector, but it is encouraging to see that the Magic defense isn't a sieve at the rim, and with KOQ getting back, that defense should improve.

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5-9 feet

The 10 most lenient teams in this zone are: Celtics, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, Rockets, Nuggets, Kings, Suns, Raptors, Warriors, Jazz

The 10 stingiest teams in this zone are: Thunder, Mavericks, Wizards, Bucks, Nets, Grizzlies, Pelicans, Bulls, Hawks, Magic

Breakdown - The area just beyond the rim, You see a lot of teams with length at the PF/C (Ibaka, Chandler, Gortat, Sanders, Gasol, Davis, Gibson/Noah) spot doing well defending here, while you have the PG/SG (Rondo, Lillard, Harden, Lawson, Collison, Dragic/Bledsoe/Thomas, Lowry, Curry/Thompson) oriented teams doing bad here. You also see a mix of successful teams and unsuccessful teams on both sides of the seesaw here, doing well in this area of defense does not seem to predicate team success one way or the other.

Magic Breakdown - It's interesting to see the Magic as a good defensive team here. They have clearly put a maxim on pushing teams away from the rim. While this area doesn't necessarily translate into team success, the teams that are good at defending this zone are by and large above .500 teams with long athletic defenders at the Center or PF spot, which surprisingly the Magic have neither of. Something to keep an eye on defensively.
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10-14 feet

The 10 most lenient teams in this zone are: Bulls, Warriors, Spurs, Trail Blazers, Magic, Pacers, Celtics, Clippers, Cavaliers, Pistons

The 10 stingiest teams in this zone are: Suns, Timberwolves, Rockets, Nets, Knicks, 76ers, Hawks, Heat, Kings, Pelicans

Breakdown - It's good to bad at defending from 10-14 feet. You want teams taking long 2's. Unfortunately this isn't quite long enough, as 10-14 feet is still only half way to the three point line. Anywhere you see the 76ers, Timberwolves, and Knicks good at defending, you want to be the opposite, because it means teams are taking more shots from here, even if they are making them. Teams who do well here have long perimeter and wing defenders (Butler, Thompson, Leonard, Batum, Rondo, Oladipo/Payton/Gordon, Lebron, J-Smoove) while teams who are bad here have bad defenders on the wings.

Magic Breakdown - The Magic have obviously made it a mission for teams to take long twos. Unfortunately they are making a lot of them. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as the longer the year goes on, the more it will benefit the Magic as the percentages should skew in their favor. This is where the Magic's length and priority on acquiring tenacious athletic defenders should start to become evident. However, this is also where elite PG's are taking the Magic's lunch money, they penetrate the perimeter defense and feast right here. It's a problem, but a manageable one.

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15-19 feet

The 10 most lenient teams in this zone are: Hornets, Warriors, Pacers, Cavaliers, Pistons, Bucks, Hawks, Magic, Jazz, Clippers

The 10 stingiest teams in this zone are: Lakers, Raptors, Celtics, Kings, Rockets, Thunder, 76ers, Knicks, Heat, Suns

Breakdown - Being good at defending in this zone does not equal success, being bad at this zone doesn't equal anything either. This is the zone that the superstars feast in. Elite PG's break the perimeter defense and pull up with lethal efficiency, elite PF's step out and crush souls. Teams that have bad team defense do great here, because teams are getting whatever they want elsewhere. The only players that are elite at converting from here are the best of the best at getting their own shot. If you get burned from here you live with it.

Magic Breakdown - Another indication that the Magic just can't handle superstar talent. They can stop the role players, but can't stop the superstars. Superstars break the Magic down and get wide open shots within the perimeter. Basically the Magic are giving up everything from 10-19 feet. Perhaps a good team defensive strategy, but one that isn't paying off so far.

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20-24 feet

The 10 most lenient teams in this zone are: Mavericks, Timberwolves, Lakers, Thunder, Hawks, Heat, Raptors, Nuggets, Trail Blazers, 76ers

The 10 stingiest teams in this zone are: Clippers, Spurs, Pacers, Magic, Hornets, Wizards, Pelicans, Rockets, Grizzlies, Bucks

Breakdown - This is just inside the 3 point arc and the corner three, the least efficient shot in the NBA and the most efficient shot in the NBA. Good defensive teams are thriving at defending this area, while bad teams are terrible at defending this area. You want to have good defense here. This goes back to PG defense. Long perimeter defenders will still be able to keep up with players just inside the arc, while bad defensive teams will let anyone step in and fire away wide open and give up the corner three.

Magic Breakdown - Of all the areas, this is the most promising to see the Magic good at. Good perimeter defense, forcing teams into bad shots. Good defensive teams defend this area well, and the Magic are looking like they might be just that. Clearly a point of emphasis for the team, they seem to be succeeding.

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25-29 feet

The 10 most lenient teams in this zone are: Clippers, Wizards, Knicks, Pacers, Magic, Lakers, 76ers, Grizzlies, Celtics, Hawks

The 10 stingiest teams in this zone are: Trail Blazers, Raptors, Rockets, Thunder, Mavericks, Warriors, Heat, Suns, Pelicans, Timberwolves

Breakdown - You don't want to be bad here. This is the top of the key three, and seems to indicate that you are getting burned by perimeter shooters. This is where good offensive teams eat their lunch these days. While some good defensive teams are bad out here, the worst teams in the league are bad here too. If you are a bad defensive team, you give up the key and wing three at an unacceptable rate.

Magic Breakdown - This is the area that the Magic MUST improve on. They are daring teams to take this shot, and they are getting burned. Good teams are generally good at defending this area, and unless you are an elite team that slows the game down like the Grizzlies then you can't afford to be bad here. This is on guys like Fournier and Oladipo to crack down on, and until they do, performances like what happened against the Warriors are going to keep happening.




In Conclusion: The Magic are doing the right things. They are keeping teams out of the paint, forcing them to take long jumpers, and defending the corners well. Unfortunately, they are really bad at defending those long jumpers they are forcing teams to take, and can't defend the longer threes. This makes things rather simple though, and should lead to improvement as the season goes on.

[Mad Guru]

The other area is FT's of which the Magic are neither good or bad at preventing or giving up. Bad defensive teams give up a lot of FT's, and good defensive teams give up less in general, the Magic are a middle of the road team here.

[damo[23]]

Really interesting breakdown.

Its good to see where ALL the teams stack up in these metrics. Next few games I'll watch I'll definitely reference this to see it in action (no matter what team I am watching).

[Orium]

It's usually Dipo missing a rotation or Frye failing to give a crap when teams make the top of the key 3s. Everyone else does an acceptable job in my opinion.

[OrlDave]

Interesting breakdown. Thanks Guru!

[OrlandO]

It's usually Dipo missing a rotation or Frye failing to give a crap when teams make the top of the key 3s. Everyone else does an acceptable job in my opinion.

Payton is also doing a very poor job on the perimeter, but we can attribute some of that to being a rookie.

[Mad Guru]

The wing three defense is a problem

[cedric76]

The wing three defense is a problem

How can it be?,we have our best defensive player there (green)




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