R.Brewer is NOT a good defender

[dr0welf]

That's a good example

Thanks Hawaiianjazzfan!!!

[carrottop12]

Troy, here is something you need to understand.

If you watched the finals this year you saw great defense from a combination of 3 people on one player.

That was Pierce, Allen and Rondo on Kobe Bryant.

Now not one of those guys shut down Kobe by himself, but the combination of the three of them giving Kobe different looks from the power defense from Pierce, to the speed defense from Allen, to the quick hands version from Rondo, they did a very good job on Kobe.

Ronnie Brewer fits in perfectly with this kind of combination. The thing is however he is also quick, and has nice long arms which do help to slow players down.

Another thing Try you really aren't looking at which is where his defense is especially good, is his ability to deny the post from going into the lane. He by far had the most steals from the low post pass this year, there were quite a few times when he straight stole the pass going into the paint which if you have ever played basketball is extremely difficult. What that does is it makes teams hesitant to throw the ball into the post where easy baskets are had against our terrible defense.

And he is only going to get better, and when his reputation starts to follow him as a good defender he will jump to being one of the best in the league with the refs helping him.

[erudite23]

When are you guys going to figure out that talking to Troy is like trying to beat Ronnie off the dribble: impossible.



Anyway, I think the only problem with this thread is the superlatives being thrown around. Ronnis is a pretty good defender right now, and that's it.

I think the problem that he has with staying in front of people is his lack of confidence and knowledge on that end of the floor. He has the quickness, you just don't see him using it very often in 1-on-1 situations to keep himself between his opponent and the hoop. He was miles better this year than last (when he WAS a bad defender), and I expect a similar improvement next year and the year after. In two years, we will look back on this debate and laugh our asses off.

But by all means, chicken little, don't let me get in the way of your drama mongering.

[troy]

I may have change my mind with Brewer.
I've been watching the Lakers series again , in slow motion (while playing poker at the same time) and i gotta say that Brewer did a good job in game 6. It still wasn't enough but at least he wasn't as pathetic as in game 5 where he was truly a liability (in the words of Jerry Sloan : "Without a doubt he struggled," said Sloan when asked about Brewer's defense in Game 5. "We had to change that matchup around and go another way" )

I still do not think he is better than Korver who has great fundamentals defensively (that video somebody posted about the Dirk game winner is a typical example of that , unlike what the sheik said you first have to STOP THE BALL in transition !) but he does have the potential to be a nice defensive player (thus better than Korver).

Anyway i'm still not sold with him :
- He lacks concentration and gambles too much . As an example i will give you the game against Boston at the beginning of the year. It's one of the few times Sloan asked him to step up defensively in the 4th (AK was injured and Korver wasn't active yet).
Sloan put him on Pierce on a key possession in the last minute.
At some point Brewer tried to strip the ball from Pierce , which allow #34 to drive to the baseline and get to the line. It was a really stupid mistake to make against an elite offensive player at a such important time. I still can't understand how he could do that.
I gotta admit that Brewer didn't gamble as much during the playoffs still his mental mistakes are still frequent. I can remember a game vs Houston in the first round where he lost his man totally in transition and this guy was able to get a WIDE open three pointer.
- More than anything , in my mind he doesn't have the heart of a true defensive ace. Korver plays with intensity defensively , he just lacks the athleticism. Price has the mentality of a great defender , you can see he likes to defend . Deron is like that too. He is not afraid of any one and you could see him defending Bryant agressively when he had to cover him on a switch during the series.
I do not see that with Brewer. Doesn't look to me like he likes to defend. They say about him that he apologized himself after fouling Kobe once during the regular season , what kind of mindset is that !?
- And i stay put on the physical aspect. Ray Allen did a terrific job on Kobe during the finals , but he wasn't as effective as Posey and Pierce because those two has an advantage in size and strenght over Kobe which Allen doesn't have. Kobe couldn't post those player , and it's always harder to get a clean look against a stronger/taller opponent. You just can't push them off you.

Brewer has superior quickness but he is completely average at his position in terms of size or strenght.He may play one day Finals' Ray Allen defense , but not James Posey defense.
I agree that it's still good enough and even at his current level he is not as big a defensive liability as Boozer.

[LjJazzman]

Brewer is extremely frustrating because he is so hit or miss with his defense. I think he gambles a bit too much, and really backs down from physical players. He has all the assets to be an amazing defender but hasn't shown it very consistently. He seems to give up a lot out there, especially if he misses and assignment and Jerry, AK, or Deron get on his ass about it.

With the kobe issue. Most probably disagree but I thought the single best defender on Kobe was Matt because he was so physical. Thats how Pual and Posey played Kobe the only difference was they didnt get the ticky tac fouls that happrings was getting. Kobe would get way flustered and frustrated when Matt was on him even if matt was fouling him and they were being called. However when Brewer was on him he looked very confident and easy going.

[troy]

With the kobe issue. Most probably disagree but I thought the single best defender on Kobe was Matt because he was so physical. Thats how Pual and Posey played Kobe the only difference was they didnt get the ticky tac fouls that happrings was getting. Kobe would get way flustered and frustrated when Matt was on him even if matt was fouling him and they were being called. However when Brewer was on him he looked very confident and easy going.

You know what , i agree with you but i was ashamed of saying that because it does sounds a little bit weird saying Harp is our best defender on Kobe.

Actually i do not completely agree with you. AK was our best defender on Kobe. he did a more than decent job against him during the fourth quarters of each game.

But Harpring was more effective than Korver or Brewer on Kobe. The problem with Harp is that he often try to help off somebody and everytime he can't recover after that because he is too damn slow. He gives up a lot of open shots (or layup when the player will fake him and then drive) because of that and that's why he is terrible defensively for us.
But when he stays at home he does a good job usually even if he will get blown by from time to time.
That was the case against Kobe who he bothered a lot.
Kobe is not agressive enough offensively and he can go in jump shooting mode quite easily.

[The Sheik]

I can see how you both feel that way. Matt can be an effective defender if they allow him to be. He gets on peoples skin as much as JC does to big men. The problem is he needs the refs to let him get away with a bump so he can stay with the defender, or else everyone blows past him or he is called for a blocking foul.

I think we can all agree that we have wing players that have talent and potential:

Korver as a help defender
Brewer as an on ball defender
CJ as an on ball defender
AK as a swiss army knife
Harprings strength

I think its really up to sloan to try and find combinations within these players that make for an effective D. Otherwise we are gonna see more of the same. Its also up to Brewer, Miles and Almond to work at getting better.