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Watching the Nets play defense last year was as painful as getting wisdom teeth removed. More specifically their PNR defense, the big man sagged off in the paint instead of a hedge (soft or hard). I hate analytics so I know the coaches want players shooting mid range jumpers but I know they don't want it to be that easy. Faried, RHJ and possibly Ed Davis should be able to switch onto guards and not get totally cooked. Looking at the defense played in the conference finals showed me I rather have guards hitting tough 3's over centers rather than open mid ranges.

i doubt they will change their approach... will stress playing harder mroe discipline within the same system.

I think that they need to switch on everything personally. how many games have we lost to watching the opposing ball handler pull up for uncontested mid range J's?

Kenny's defensive philosophy is a failed experiment. Analytics are cool and all but we're on the cusp of just outright stubbornness. this team's defensive approach is garbage and it needs to change.

I'd rather lose games forcing an NBA PG attempting a fade away mid range J over a 7 footer's hand in his face over what we're doing now.

Kenny doesn't strike me as the type of guy who says my way works, the only issue was execution. With Allen anchoring the defense, I think we start playing the PNR a lot more aggressive. He has the speed and smarts to step up a bit and still protect the rim. With RHJ it's a no brainier that we should start switching and trapping more. Our team is long and capable at basically every position. No excuse to be a bad defensive team.

MrDollarBills wrote:I think that they need to switch on everything personally. how many games have we lost to watching the opposing ball handler pull up for uncontested mid range J's?

Kenny's defensive philosophy is a failed experiment. Analytics are cool and all but we're on the cusp of just outright stubbornness. this team's defensive approach is garbage and it needs to change.

I'd rather lose games forcing an NBA PG attempting a fade away mid range J over a 7 footer's hand in his face over what we're doing now.

we have too many trash defenders to switch. our guys are bad striaght up, switch on mis-matches its an automatic bucket. getting someones best player switched off of RHJ and on to russell is not a good idea to me

id rather they take long twos, which hopefully we give a bit less room for this year

MGrand15 wrote:Kenny doesn't strike me as the type of guy who says my way works, the only issue was execution. With Allen anchoring the defense, I think we start playing the PNR a lot more aggressive. He has the speed and smarts to step up a bit and still protect the rim. With RHJ it's a no brainier that we should start switching and trapping more. Our team is long and capable at basically every position. No excuse to be a bad defensive team.

i tnink we have a good excuse to be a bad team. we have a roster full of horrid defenders.

Russell, dinwidie, levert are all poor defenders. crabbe improveed but is still below average. allen shows some glimpses but overall was at best average. carroll givs good effort but was below average. harris was below avg to poor.

outside of RHJ and maybe davis, we dont have a plus defender

Prokorov wrote:

MGrand15 wrote:Kenny doesn't strike me as the type of guy who says my way works, the only issue was execution. With Allen anchoring the defense, I think we start playing the PNR a lot more aggressive. He has the speed and smarts to step up a bit and still protect the rim. With RHJ it's a no brainier that we should start switching and trapping more. Our team is long and capable at basically every position. No excuse to be a bad defensive team.

i tnink we have a good excuse to be a bad team. we have a roster full of horrid defenders.

Russell, dinwidie, levert are all poor defenders. crabbe improveed but is still below average. allen shows some glimpses but overall was at best average. carroll givs good effort but was below average. harris was below avg to poor.

outside of RHJ and maybe davis, we dont have a plus defender

Your opinion is fine. I don't think many around the league would agree that Dinwiddie and LeVert are poor defenders. At the very worst, with a year of experience under their belt, they should be average to good. Both of them have the athleticism, length, instincts, and motor to be really good. Only issue last year was experience.

Allen already put up very good rim protection stats as a rookie. Playing with the starters more + a year of experience should equal a jump.

Either way, the anchors of defense are the bigs. RHJ/Allen/Davis. Surrounded by plenty of length, athletes, and effort guys. You always say that guard defense doesn't matter. Sounds like our good defenders are at the right position.

Agreed we suck defensively but I can live with "Good D, better O" type shots rather than PG's hitting uncontested 15 footers. I just need to see some type of hedge. I doubt it Allen will get more embarrassed sticking Kemba than DLO or Crabbe would.

defense has already improved with the additions of ed davis , faried, graham and napier. those guys are better defenders than what we had. ed davis and faried are shotblockers.

Prokorov wrote:

MGrand15 wrote:Kenny doesn't strike me as the type of guy who says my way works, the only issue was execution. With Allen anchoring the defense, I think we start playing the PNR a lot more aggressive. He has the speed and smarts to step up a bit and still protect the rim. With RHJ it's a no brainier that we should start switching and trapping more. Our team is long and capable at basically every position. No excuse to be a bad defensive team.

i tnink we have a good excuse to be a bad team. we have a roster full of horrid defenders.

Russell, dinwidie, levert are all poor defenders. crabbe improveed but is still below average. allen shows some glimpses but overall was at best average. carroll givs good effort but was below average. harris was below avg to poor.

outside of RHJ and maybe davis, we dont have a plus defender

I don't think LeVert is a poor defender, I think he plays the passing lanes well but just like Russell and Dinwiddie he does not handle getting over the screens well.

LeVert's DRAPM was +1.1531 this past season. I was kind of shocked at that.

I think adding Napier and Davis should help overall since those guys are plus defenders.

While I agree with switching and leaving Russell in an impossible situation, I don't think we can keep doing what we're doing. Maybe we need to start trapping more?

I mean its just too easy. you know we're going to lose close games because the PG will get screened and then its a practice jumper from there on out. I still remember that game versus Washington when we had them on the ropes and all it took was one or two pick and pull up plays with John Wall to finish us off.

i thought Nets defense improved once they gave up that frenetic pace.... Din, RHJ, Carroll, Crabbe, Allen, LeVert are all solid, Harris is better than what his reputation says...they always give efforts... I can see they will keep improving... just keep drilling, communicating on the court, they will be fine.....

^^Dinwiddie and LeVert struggle versus the screen and roll, they have a hard time getting over it to contest the primary ball handler.

Crabbe, Carroll, RHJ and Allen I don't worry about at all. Crabbe gives 100% effort defensively and his long arms help with the passing lane, being disruptive and also on the defensive glass.

MrDollarBills wrote:

Prokorov wrote:

MGrand15 wrote:Kenny doesn't strike me as the type of guy who says my way works, the only issue was execution. With Allen anchoring the defense, I think we start playing the PNR a lot more aggressive. He has the speed and smarts to step up a bit and still protect the rim. With RHJ it's a no brainier that we should start switching and trapping more. Our team is long and capable at basically every position. No excuse to be a bad defensive team.

i tnink we have a good excuse to be a bad team. we have a roster full of horrid defenders.

Russell, dinwidie, levert are all poor defenders. crabbe improveed but is still below average. allen shows some glimpses but overall was at best average. carroll givs good effort but was below average. harris was below avg to poor.

outside of RHJ and maybe davis, we dont have a plus defender

I don't think LeVert is a poor defender, I think he plays the passing lanes well but just like Russell and Dinwiddie he does not handle getting over the screens well.

LeVert's DRAPM was +1.1531 this past season. I was kind of shocked at that.

I think adding Napier and Davis should help overall since those guys are plus defenders.

While I agree with switching and leaving Russell in an impossible situation, I don't think we can keep doing what we're doing. Maybe we need to start trapping more?

I mean its just too easy. you know we're going to lose close games because the PG will get screened and then its a practice jumper from there on out. I still remember that game versus Washington when we had them on the ropes and all it took was one or two pick and pull up plays with John Wall to finish us off.

Levert isnt awful and is good gambling/darting lanes for steals. but beyond creating turnovers, he is a poor defender. not awful, not skil/bogs bad by any means, but he really struggles. id put him just above Dlo and on par with dinwiddie defensively

^^that's fair. I don't think Spencer is awful or as bad as Russell per say either, but definitely not reliable defensively either.

I have bad memories from our 2nd OKC game last year when LeVert got eaten alive in PnR defense and fat Ray Felton singlehandedly brought the Thunder back into the game in the 4th quarter. Ouch.

On the switch-all-screens and hedge-hard points, I agree wholeheartedly.

I think that there is a bigger question to answer in our defensive woes: WHO IS GOING TO CHECK 1'S?

It is clear that D'Angelo Russell is better defending SGs than PGs, and advanced metrics back up this assertion. He is a tall PG, but not especially fast, long or strong. Even with contract-year effort on that end, he'll always struggle against strong and quick guards.

Similarly, Crabbe is better at defending SFs than SGs, even though he has a prototypical SG build. This is what made him so effective as a SF next to McCollum and the-#6-pick-in-the-2012-draft-that-should-have-been-ours-instead-of-a-3-month-rental-of-UFA-Gerald-Wallace, bka Damian Lillard.

Rondae is our only hope at having a defense that isn't fundamentally flawed. He has the versatility IMO to be a plus-defender at every position except C. If he can guard opposing PG's effectively each night, we can be competitive. If we can show that, along with our very star-friendly offensive scheme, we can be a viable FA destination next summer.