A non personnel way to improve the defense

[Nowak008]

The is a potential defensive philosophy that we could incorporate into our scheme. I had been wondering if reducing the number of fouls per game would matter. I thought if we fouled less it would limit the number of trips to the penalty for the opposing team. John Hollinger makes a very strong case for limiting the number of fouls.

New Orleans permits only .241 free-throw attempts per field-goal attempt, and the impact is enormous -- relative to the league average, this saves the Hornets about four points per game. Because of this, they're No. 6 in defensive efficiency, even though they're below the league average in both field-goal defense and forcing turnovers.

Now I'm not sure if this is by design by the Hornets or not. Just by limiting the number off fouls committed, they over come below average FG defense and forcing TO's to have the 6th ranked defense. They are a bad shot blocking team as well, 28th in the league.

Even though we are one of the softest teams in the league, maybe we should be a little bit more soft.

What do you guys think?

[paulpressey25]

Those are some confusing stats from NO.

Maybe the answer is that there players are athletically gifted enough to get in people's grills without causing a foul....guys like Paul, West, Chandler......

I don't see the answer for us as getting even more soft than we are.

[Neapolitan Buck]

Those are some confusing stats from NO.

Maybe the answer is that there players are athletically gifted enough to get in people's grills without causing a foul....guys like Paul, West, Chandler......

I don't see the answer for us as getting even more soft than we are.

True, but this offseason we should try to follow them because we are not going to have 7-8 defensively good players next season in our roster. we should try to improve our athletism and toughness to mix the acquisition with the players we are going to keep and try to do something like that, or introducing a defensive system to hide defensive poorness by the single players, or a good zone defense to play in the key moments of games.

[drew881]

I have not seen the hornets play much this season, but I would assume that this stat comes from good teamwork: efficiently switching on pick and roles, covering the weak-side, keeping guard penetration to a minimum, etc.

With bad communication, you will always have guys stepping in late to cover for someone and fouling.

Also, this original post is lacking something huge. Where do the Bucks rank in this category?

[Nowak008]

Those are some confusing stats from NO.

Maybe the answer is that there players are athletically gifted enough to get in people's grills without causing a foul....guys like Paul, West, Chandler......

I don't see the answer for us as getting even more soft than we are.

If that were the case why is their opposing FG still bad? They are more athletic then us, sure. Maybe if we became elite at not fouling we could go from the worst defensive team to mediocre. That would be a huge step from what we have been.

With bad communication, you will always have guys stepping in late to cover for someone and fouling.

Thats a good point. We aren't a vocal team. I think that it shows in our pick n roll defense. The lack of veterans on this team is also huge.

Also, this original post is lacking something huge. Where do the Bucks rank in this category?

24th.

[midranger]

How does the foul and chase factor in? We've played in alot of close games, usually from behind. We've put alot of teams on the line intentionally. The Hornets have a great record, I'd bet that they typically are playing from the front, meaning that they're not giving away free points.

Who knows?

[Nowak008]

How does the foul and chase factor in? We've played in alot of close games, usually from behind. We've put alot of teams on the line intentionally. The Hornets have a great record, I'd bet that they typically are playing from the front, meaning that they're not giving away free points.

Who knows?

Boston and Detroit are in the bottom 5 in that category. So what your saying might not be the case.