Jazz Defense
Posted: Wed Feb 9, 2011 8:26 pm
The Jazz defense is about average for the NBA. Some games obviously it is better than in other games.
Previously I posted my observations on the slow feet, and possibly slow reaction time, of Jefferson and Milsap when it comes to help defense against the pick and roll. The bigs have to come up quickly to stop the penetration off screens until the defender regains position, and then the bigs have to move back into position to defend the low post.
Another issue I've been looking at is the communication problems. A couple of the Jazz players mentioned it, but at the time I didn't pay much attention. Communication is almost always a problem anyway. So it always gets talked about. Lately I've been looking closer at what is going on.
It's been a few years since I sat courtside at games. There's a big difference in sitting courtside because there I can hear what's being said or not being said. Without that advantage, I'm only guessing, but I think there's an issue with Milsap and Jefferson not letting the front three know what's going on. At least one of the bigs from the post position has to communicate loudly and frequently on defense because they can see the court clearly and how the play is developing in front of them. Obviously they have to move with their opponent on man to man and of course offenses are designed to bring the ball into the post or clear the post defenders for penetration, so the bigs aren't always in the center of the court, but they can still see often better than those out front.
Neither Milsap nor Jefferson is much for talking anytime. I don't think either one of them is particularly comfortable making conversation, and it may even be somewhat difficult for them from a personality perspective. Not everyone likes to talk or can form quick verbal responses mentally.
Communication isn't as big an issue if there's a dominate defensive center in the game like a Mark Eaton. He often stayed in the middle and pickup cutters going into the paint. He didn't go outside to defend often. With him in the middle, it made up for a lot of small mistakes from the other four players on the defensive end.
For the Jazz to be a mid 55 game team, they need to score approximately 4 more pts per game on average than they give up defensively, which they aren't doing this year. Regardless of their defensive ability, when they score more than their opponents by that 4pt avg margin, they have a strong record.
So the Jazz need to improve the defense to hold opponents to about 4 pts less per game or improve the offense to score an average of 4 pts more per game. Either one will move them up significantly. Better communication can get them the defensive 4pts or a stronger scoring SG or a more consistent 6th man would probably do it on offense. However, if I’m right about where the communication problem is coming from, I don’t know how you coach guys to talk more when they don’t like to talk, especially when they’re all wearing mouth pieces, which adds to the problem.
Nothing else more radical than that is needed to move them into a good playoff spot yearly. To win a title, they would need a really good 7 foot guy at center.
Previously I posted my observations on the slow feet, and possibly slow reaction time, of Jefferson and Milsap when it comes to help defense against the pick and roll. The bigs have to come up quickly to stop the penetration off screens until the defender regains position, and then the bigs have to move back into position to defend the low post.
Another issue I've been looking at is the communication problems. A couple of the Jazz players mentioned it, but at the time I didn't pay much attention. Communication is almost always a problem anyway. So it always gets talked about. Lately I've been looking closer at what is going on.
It's been a few years since I sat courtside at games. There's a big difference in sitting courtside because there I can hear what's being said or not being said. Without that advantage, I'm only guessing, but I think there's an issue with Milsap and Jefferson not letting the front three know what's going on. At least one of the bigs from the post position has to communicate loudly and frequently on defense because they can see the court clearly and how the play is developing in front of them. Obviously they have to move with their opponent on man to man and of course offenses are designed to bring the ball into the post or clear the post defenders for penetration, so the bigs aren't always in the center of the court, but they can still see often better than those out front.
Neither Milsap nor Jefferson is much for talking anytime. I don't think either one of them is particularly comfortable making conversation, and it may even be somewhat difficult for them from a personality perspective. Not everyone likes to talk or can form quick verbal responses mentally.
Communication isn't as big an issue if there's a dominate defensive center in the game like a Mark Eaton. He often stayed in the middle and pickup cutters going into the paint. He didn't go outside to defend often. With him in the middle, it made up for a lot of small mistakes from the other four players on the defensive end.
For the Jazz to be a mid 55 game team, they need to score approximately 4 more pts per game on average than they give up defensively, which they aren't doing this year. Regardless of their defensive ability, when they score more than their opponents by that 4pt avg margin, they have a strong record.
So the Jazz need to improve the defense to hold opponents to about 4 pts less per game or improve the offense to score an average of 4 pts more per game. Either one will move them up significantly. Better communication can get them the defensive 4pts or a stronger scoring SG or a more consistent 6th man would probably do it on offense. However, if I’m right about where the communication problem is coming from, I don’t know how you coach guys to talk more when they don’t like to talk, especially when they’re all wearing mouth pieces, which adds to the problem.
Nothing else more radical than that is needed to move them into a good playoff spot yearly. To win a title, they would need a really good 7 foot guy at center.
