Smoke and Mirrors: the Defense thread

[GoBobs]

Our defense is turrible.

Problem # 1 - we give up switches way to easily. There is no point in having Zeller or Biyombo in the game if they are going to end up guarding the other teams guards on the perimeter. We switch them onto these guys as soon as we see the screen roll action coming. It is ok to resist giving up a switch a little bit. Try going under the screen or switching back quickly sometimes. Our bigs need to make more effort to stay on the other teams bigs.

When we give up a bad switch we end up with a blow by that puts us in scramble mode. The end result is usually the other team gets a wide open three point shot. How many open corner 3s did we give up last night. We will never be good if every team has thier career record 3 pt shooting night vs us.

It isn't like our bigs are doing much for us on offense either. Cody is to good an offensive player to just do dribble handoffs and not even turn and look at the basket. If we had Washington in there he could have at least drawn Gobert out of the paint a little bit.

Washington would have a hard time with Gobert in the post, but we are ending up with Miles, Washington, or LaMelo on Gobert in the post anyway because we give up switches so easily. If we just go under the screen or drop our center back a little bit we might give up some dribble pull up 3s, but that is way better than the open corner 3s other teams get on us any time they want.

Problem # 2 - The zone defense is a gimmick that might surprise some teams. It will never work in a playoff series where other teams have times to prepare for it.

[yosemiteben]

Some defensive stats from the NBA stat site:

Our DRTG is right around league average, so it's not like we have a terrible defense. We do allow the 2nd most made 3s per game, and the most 3s attempted per game. Our defensive 3PT% isn't as bad, we allow the 12th highest 3PT%, but combine that with all the attempts and that's a problem.

Unfortunately, it's not like we are sacrificing 3s because we're heavily focused on stopping 2s or controlling the boards - we have the 4th highest 2PT FG% allowed, and the 4th lowest defensive rebound %.

Unpacking that a bit, here is our DFG% allowed by zone:

Restricted area = 7th most attempts, middle of the pack DFG%
Paint = fewest attempts, middle of the pack DFG%
Midrange = fewest attempts, 2nd lowest DFG%
Corner 3 = by far the most attempts, middle of the pack DFG%
Above the Break 3 = 10th most attempts, middle of the pack DFG%

This bears out the idea that our defenders have got to stop cheating off of corner 3 shooters.

[Rich4114]

There are two reasons we're so poor at rebounding. One is obvious. The other is the defensive system we run as GoBobs mentioned above. We cannot continue to hemorrhage open 3 point attempts. This is absolutely a failure on the coach to let this happen to this degree. It's not the right defensive scheme. Whatever this scheme helps us in, is not worth what we give up.

[yosemiteben]

We cannot continue to hemorrhage open 3 point attempts.

Was curious whether this is accurate, so pulled the stats (https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/opponent-shots-closest-defender/?sort=FG3A&dir=1&Season=2020-21&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&CloseDefDistRange=6%2B%20Feet%20-%20Wide%20Open).

We do in fact allow the most wide open 3s by a hefty margin. What is really odd is the significant variation in 3PT% allowed on wide open threes by different teams. NYK allows the 3rd most wide open threes, but opponents only shoot 32.5% on those threes. By contrast MIL allows the 4th most wide open threes, and opponents shoot almost 43% on those. We allow 38.6%.

[James Gatz]

We cannot continue to hemorrhage open 3 point attempts.

Was curious whether this is accurate, so pulled the stats (https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/opponent-shots-closest-defender/?sort=FG3A&dir=1&Season=2020-21&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&CloseDefDistRange=6%2B%20Feet%20-%20Wide%20Open).

We do in fact allow the most wide open 3s by a hefty margin. What is really odd is the significant variation in 3PT% allowed on wide open threes by different teams. NYK allows the 3rd most wide open threes, but opponents only shoot 32.5% on those threes. By contrast MIL allows the 4th most wide open threes, and opponents shoot almost 43% on those. We allow 38.6%.

It'll normalize as the season progresses. Bad news for the Knicks and good news for the Bucks. I believe the average last year on all open 3s was around 40%.

[HornetJail]

This team was never going to be good as constructed. This strategy of just allowing teams to fire away from 3 will let you luck into a few wins here and there when teams go cold, but is hardly a game plan at all. Our interior defense is STILL fairly porous despite all the open threes, so it's not like this strategy is even doing what it is intended to do.

[Soul Rebel]

Would adding an upgrade at center change our approach? Are we using the defensive schemes that we are to cover for a gaping weakness at the 5, thus allowing the 3 ball and perimeter shooting to beat us?

I don't know enough about b-ball systems like I do football, so I'm not sure if Borrego is doing this out of a lack of presence inside or just his overall defensive gameplan. Either way, how is he not adjusting on the fly when what you're drawing up and calling is getting destroyed?

[GoBobs]

Would adding an upgrade at center change our approach? Are we using the defensive schemes that we are to cover for a gaping weakness at the 5, thus allowing the 3 ball and perimeter shooting to beat us?

I don't know enough about b-ball systems like I do football, so I'm not sure if Borrego is doing this out of a lack of presence inside or just his overall defensive gameplan. Either way, how is he not adjusting on the fly when what you're drawing up and calling is getting destroyed?

It kind of depends on the type of center that we add. Right now the biggest problem is our centers getting put in the pick and roll and switching on to guards. We end up with Cody or Biz trying to defend on the edge and a smaller player in the middle trying to rebound vs the other teams center. Both situations require other players to come help and shooters get left open.

If we play Washington at the 5 other teams will instead try to dump it into the post to exploit our lack of size. Again we will have to come help and some shooters will be left. This is still probably better though because at least here the other teams big has to become a passer. Letting other teams guards attack down hill while we are scrambling is all kinds of bad.

The ideal center would be able to guard the edge and the post, think Draymond Green. Rudy really really helps the Jazz. Nobody else on that team can defend anybody.

So a great rim protector like Myles Turner would be huge, or a really mobile versatile guy like Draymond would also be huge.

We could be a lot better by just adjusting our scheme. We need to make teams have to work a little harder to get us to switch pick and rolls that involve Cody or Biz. Have our center jus drop some and try letting our guards go under the screen. Make the other teams prove they can hit some 3s off the dribble before we feel forced to switch into matchups we don’t want.

[DY_nasty]

when memphis, orlando, cleveland, toronto, san antonio, and utah all light you up the exact same way and you haven't changed a thing - its kind of safe to say that our defense is functioning exactly as intended