On Walt Bellamy's biggest weakness (edited [again])....I was watching a bit of the following game from the '71 season the other day......
.....mostly scrutinizing Bellamy on the defensive end, and watching for any other noteworthy tendencies.
I want to point out some plays, but first a preface: bear in mind this isn't even prime Walt Bellamy; this is Bellamy at age 31 and on the down-slope of his career, in his 10th season----having missed just 5 games in the 9+ seasons to this point (which he more than made up for playing 6 extra games in '69, the season of 88 rs games)----while averaging about 38 mpg in his career. jsia: 31 years, and a lotta miles on those legs, and we're looking at a post-prime version (though he would go on to have a somewhat rejuvenated [statistically] season in '72).
Few things I noted just based on this game.....
1) He seems like a very good outlet passer. Not sure if this was the case his whole career, or something he picked up on a later, but it's partially on display in the very first Hawk possession: PHX wins the tip and has a semi-transition opportunity. Bellamy snares the rebound and
immediately sees Maravich cherry-pickin', throws a nice outlet catching Pete in stride at half-court.
He has another superb outlet on the defensive rebound at 11:47.
This appears consistent throughout the game (even when he begins to look fatigued); even if he doesn't have an outlet to throw, you see him swivel his head around to look after each and every defensive rebound.
EDIT (again!): He also makes one really nice assist from the high-post to a cutting teammate (Bridges, iirc; early in the 3rd quarter, I think) on the baseline. It's one of those narrow window plays where if he doesn't make the pass quickly [and on the money] the defense will have time to recover and either bat the pass away or at least be able to smother and make difficult the lay-up attempt. But Bellamy hits him square immediately, leading to a minimally contested lay-up.
2) Rebounding -- He boxes out.....
fairly consistently. I like that in a big. I don't like the ones who chase the rebounding angles/bounces, potentially just poaching a rebound from a teammate while leaving their man without a body on him. Bellamy's boxing out pretty consistently in the first half; a little less consistently in the second half.
3) Defensively -- I'm not happy with the quality of his post defense on display in this game: he never really bumps as his man comes across the lane or otherwise pushes him off his spot. Granted, they don't seem to allow as much off-ball contact to my eye as they do today, so he may be trying to avoid the whistle. That said, on games I've scouted of Willis Reed, I see Reed fairly consistently pushing guys off their spot. Bellamy more or less lets Neal Walk set up where ever he wants. He's then not quite as physical bodying up as I'd like once Walk receives the pass either. I've not looked at H2H data, but I'd not be surprised to find many centers did better against Bellamy than they did against the rest of the field.
However, his help defense is often pretty good in this game. Some examples:
2:54 - Bellamy sees the play developing, rotates at the ideal moment and blocks the shot on the help D, keeping it in play and igniting the fast break===>in which he hustles down the court on the break (showing pretty good foot-speed for a 31-yr-old high-mileage big man who's supposedly "eaten his way to mediocrity")
beating most of the field downcourt and being the recipient of the fast-break pass (gets fouled, goes to line, though misses both iirc).
4:59 - So-so help on Dick Van Arsdale (Pete's man--->Pete does not look good defensively, fwiw; his man is frequently breaking free, scored on the previous play, in fact); could have been better, but does force him into a difficult behind-the-backboard reverse along the baseline, and appears ready to have swatted a more "conventional" shot attempt on the strong-side.
5:20 - OK, he didn't box out well on the first shot----although to be fair, is it necessarily a good idea to box a guy out 9 feet from the rim (someone else can easily slip inside your boxout when you're that far from the rim)----and Connie Hawkins gets the offensive rebound for PHX. But then Bellamy swats the lay-up attempt away (again keeping it in play: PHX recovers), challenges and severely effects the follow-up shot, and secures the defensive rebound. And then again note he's
immediately looking up-court (with the ball above his head, ready to whip an outlet pass if available; they actually do get sort of a semi-transition opportunity, ultimately).
6:48 - Does a good job cutting off the drive by Dick Van Arsdale. Cuts off a second drive by Arsdale a few second later. And though he seems a little slow to recover and contest his man (who receives the pass from DVA), the play really makes Bill Bridges look bad: Bridges has Neal Walk in his field of vision as the play develops but makes no move at all to rotate; he's just sort of standing there defending no one.
8:50 - shades the drive decently on the help.
9:50 - a bit slow/inattentive on the transition D (certainly are a few merely "average" defensive possessions, but this was the first truly "poor" defensive possession I noted in this game).
Anyway, I'll stop there with the detailed reporting. I will admit that his defense seems to slide a little bit later in the game (fatigue becoming a factor???).....just some instances where he's a little slow on the rotation and whatnot. He still does make some nice plays later in the game, though: is one instance early in the 3rd quarter where he anticipates and picks off the entry pass to Walk.
There's another instance (approx middle of the 3rd quarter) where he rotates and makes a good contest on a driving Dick Van Arsdale (*who had burned Maravich again), forcing a miss; Bellamy's man (Walk) then gets the put-back, but you can't put that on Bellamy: if he'd not rotated, DVA would have had an
utterly uncontested lay-up.
*Side-note: I know it's just his rookie season, but Pete Maravich is putrid defensively in this game.
By halfway thru the 3rd quarter, I've lost count of the number of times (it is literally 7-8 times minimum)
that Pete has either lost his man off-ball or been burned on the dribble leading to his man getting a clean look, a foul, or otherwise forcing a defensive break-down like the one described above. It's almost shockingly bad, the kind of defense that would make James Harden look like a defensive stud. Bellamy (or anyone else in Bellamy's shoes) has his plate pretty full trying to cover/erase Maravich's errors.Anyway, small sample reported here, but the ratio of good to bad plays here doesn't well-fit the narrative of a guy who is categorically bad defensively (at least not Enes Kanter bad), even if his post defense does look soft. His help defense appears respectable, and his overall performance in this game is adequate. And again: defense is the single biggest criticism of him as a player.
"The fact that a proposition is absurd has never hindered those who wish to believe it." -Edward Rutherfurd
"Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire
