Artis Gilmore journey - defensive breakdown

[70sFan]

It would have been a blocking foul on 99+% of the players in the league in 1977 - that wasn't a charge in 1977.

I don't think it's true, charges were called much differently back then. I mentioned similar example in my latest post here - Gilmore also drew the charge in similar way.

That was not a charge in 1977; it wouldnt have been called a charge in a college game, and college ball had more charges called than the pros. The biggest change in charge calls is that they would have charges called 3 feet from the basket that you dont have now.

The difference is much bigger than that and I can share countless examples for that if you wish. Gilmore charge alone is basically identical and it's not even drastic example.

Charges were called much stricter in the 1970s and rightfully so.

[MyUniBroDavis]

I don't think it's true, charges were called much differently back then. I mentioned similar example in my latest post here - Gilmore also drew the charge in similar way.

That was not a charge in 1977; it wouldnt have been called a charge in a college game, and college ball had more charges called than the pros. The biggest change in charge calls is that they would have charges called 3 feet from the basket that you dont have now.

The difference is much bigger than that and I can share countless examples for that if you wish. Gilmore charge alone is basically identical and it's not even drastic example.

Charges were called much stricter in the 1970s and rightfully so.

If they change that Literally zions entire gameplan dissapears lmfao

[70sFan]

That was not a charge in 1977; it wouldnt have been called a charge in a college game, and college ball had more charges called than the pros. The biggest change in charge calls is that they would have charges called 3 feet from the basket that you dont have now.

The difference is much bigger than that and I can share countless examples for that if you wish. Gilmore charge alone is basically identical and it's not even drastic example.

Charges were called much stricter in the 1970s and rightfully so.

If they change that Literally zions entire gameplan dissapears lmfao

It would make Zion more skilled player though It's not like Gilmore was liability because of that, although he'd fit better in the early 2000s with more contact allowed.

[DQuinn1575]

I don't think it's true, charges were called much differently back then. I mentioned similar example in my latest post here - Gilmore also drew the charge in similar way.

That was not a charge in 1977; it wouldnt have been called a charge in a college game, and college ball had more charges called than the pros. The biggest change in charge calls is that they would have charges called 3 feet from the basket that you dont have now.

The difference is much bigger than that and I can share countless examples for that if you wish. Gilmore charge alone is basically identical and it's not even drastic example.

Charges were called much stricter in the 1970s and rightfully so.

I watched it again slower and it was a closer call than I first thought, but he that would usually be a blocking call in the 70s, but is probably more 60/40 or 70/30 block vs charge.

[70sFan]

I found time to break down 1978 game

First P&R of the game, Gilmore switched into Thompson and showed decent laterall movement but David exploited the switch with excellent pass. I won't call this play positive or negative, but it shows Gilmore's willingness to go outside.

Another P&R and another switch, this time Gilmore's partner showed poor awareness but fortunately the help was there.

Strong boxout - something I criticize Gilmore before. It's important thing to look at plays like that to understand Gilmore's tendencies.

Another good boxout.

Gilmore lost track after Issel's pass and he left him wide open. It's tricky play because Gilmore was supposed to protect the paint, not chase around Issel on perimeter but he could give stronger effort here.

I'll call it netural play - he was in the right position to help against the drive, but he went up for a block too early which gave Thompson small opening. Most players wouldn't exploit it though, Thompson was just terrific finisher.

He might have tried to contest Issel's shot, but this time leaving him wide open was a right choice. Thompson cooked Bulls perimeter defenders.

Gilmore went for Issel fake and didn't recover well. The foul was before the shot, Issel didn't get the basket.

Unlike most big centers from that era, Gilmore was willing to go outside and contest shots and passes. This is not significant play, but it shows Gilmore's tendency.

Gilmore's size intimidated Issel inside, forced him for traveling violation.

Gilmore should have read this breakdown earlier and help under the basket. Instead he did nothing and Nuggets scored on questionable call.

Much better defense on Issel than before. He stayed low, didn't go for the fake and kept Dan in front of himself. Issel scored contested midrange shot but it was good defensive possession from Artis.

I'm not sure how to judge possessions like this one. On one hand, Gilmore should have stayed closer to Issel and tried to contest his shot. On the other hand, he should have stayed inside (like he did) and his teammate should have switched on Issel (which he didn't do). Let me know what you think.

Thompson got the ball inside after terrible defense from Bulls but he didn't even think for a moment to challenge Gilmore. This is typical when you watch 1970s Gilmore - players rarely challenged him inside because he was so big and could get up very fast.

Issel challenged Gilmore this time, but Artis showed nice quickness and rejected his attempt. Refs called it a goaltending, but it was a bad call, which can be seen in slow motion reply.

Another switch on P&R and another solid perimeter defense. Gilmore didn't look much slower than in his ABA years in that game.

Thompson beat his man again and Gilmore had to help, David kicked out to Issel but this time Gilmore made a solid contest (even though Issel made the shot). I praised Gilmore for positive play here because he didn't always tried to recover in such situations.

Issel tried to beat Gilmore off the dribble again, but Gilmore stayed close to him and forced him to turn the ball over.

This is vintage ABA Gilmore with high apex block. Outstanding defensive play.

Excellent P&R defense and good boxout lead to defensive rebound.

Not a huge breakdown, but Gilmore was too focused on Issel and didn't see the threat behind him. That's a bad habit I've seen from older Gilmore, but he didn't make many errors like that in these two games I broke down so far.

Weak effort, Gilmore was inside but he didn't even think about helping on a drive this time.

Bad boxout by Gilmore

Good post defense, steal from behind without overcommiting.

Good help defense, Thompson made another tough shot. There is one small nitpick - Gilmore usually used his left hand to block shots - he could have blocked that one with right hand.

This might be a bit too harsh, but smarter defenders would realize the breakdown earlier and prevent from possible dunk here.

It's the first Thompson P&R that Gilmore didn't switch and he did nothing basically. I don't know why, maybe he was tired at the end of the game?

Good post defense, Issel missed contested turnaround badly.

Gilmore didn't box out Issel, but in fairness, his teammate decided to do that for him and he lost the battle inside. I'd call it a neutral play.


Conclusion:

The goods:

- Gilmore was willing to defend players outside the paint and he showed very nice mobility in P&R situations and against Issel,
- he was still intimidating inside, players avoided him and he could still get up very high,
- Gilmore gave Issel a lot of problems inside due to his length and he usually didn't go for his pump fakes,
- he didn't foul much, which is a plus,
- he boxed out better in that game than in 1976.

The bads:

- again, awareness could be his problem compared to other elite defenders, sometimes he was too slow in rotations or missed breakdowns,
- again, he was fairly quick for his size but he was a giant so you could catch him in awkward position.
- possible problems with motor, he played 37 mpg in that game so it's not like Bulls relied too much on him and he seemed to be tired at the end of the game (despite having a solid rest in the 4th quarter),
- he didn't contest as many shots inside as he did in the ABA, but to be fair he defended Issel for almost whole game who tried everything to keep Gilmore out of the paint,
- he was at times too passive when he should have helped his teammates more.

I think a lot of differences between Bulls game and Kentucky game is not about Gilmore though. Bulls perimeter players were horrible defensively in that game. They went for fakes, they were easy to blow by, they didn't box out at all and they didn't try to tunnel players into Gilmore. Artis was put into many tough situations and Denver scored a lot of easy points that were not related to his defense. Outside of old van Lier, no guard in this team even seemed to be average on defense, let alone good.

I will watch 1978 game against Blazers next to get a bigger sample, but so far I don't see Bulls problems on defense as a knock on Artis. His motor got worse and he had some lazy moments, but throughout the game he still did most things well and he didn't make a lot of errors. I'm sure that with decent perimeter defenders he'd be capable of anchoring very strong defense even in 1978, but instead he played with bunch of clueless guards.

[sansterre]

70F, these are amazing.

[70sFan]

70F, these are amazing.

Thank you!

If you have the time, you can watch clips I created and tell if you disagree with some of my conclusions. Evaluating defense is the hardest part of basketball analysis and I'm sure some people can come up with different conclusions than I did.

[sansterre]

70F, these are amazing.

Thank you!

If you have the time, you can watch clips I created and tell if you disagree with some of my conclusions. Evaluating defense is the hardest part of basketball analysis and I'm sure some people can come up with different conclusions than I did.

In-game assessment is by far the weakest element of my analytical game. I'm much more at home with my spreadsheets. I would be incredibly cautious about disagreeing with any of you guys on the significance of on-court action.

But I sure as hell will remember that this exists. And sometime down the road when I need to speak intelligently about Artis Gilmore (as it seems likely that will happen at some point) I will come to these articles, because they're probably as good Artis content as can be found much of anywhere.

I shudder to think of how much time those articles took.

[70sFan]

Let's move to the next 1978 game - this time against MVP Bill Walton!

Gross blew the layup and Gilmore came back to defense and erased inside shot with ease. Not sure what the guard thought with this attempt.

Sound post defense, Walton got no positional advantage which led to turnover.

Good P&R defense, Gilmore didn't switch this time but he did a soft hedge which allowed Megelt to recover after good Walton screen.

Another strong post defense on Walton, forced him to contested fadeaway.

Another miss from Walton, Gilmore gave him a lot of problems with his lenght early in the game.

Gilmore stopped 3 on 1 fastbreak with physical foul, but I view this as a good defensive play. He forced ball-handler to pass and didn't give finisher any chance to get the basket, almost blocking him.

Gilmore had to help his teammate due to defensive breakdown which made Walton wide open under the basket, but Artis made a great use of his length and blocked the dunk in last possible moment.

Gilmore didn't box out Walton this time, which led to offensive rebound and a basket. On a related note, look how poor Bulls guards defensive effort is on that possession.

It's not really a bad possession, but he could have tried to contest this shot.

Walton made a very nice hookshot, but it was another excellent post defense from Artis. Walton didn't get a single easy shot so far.

This time Walton tried to beat Gilmore off the dribble, but Artis forced him to another contested fadeaway that he missed badly.

This time Gilmore was a bit too late with his help, but it was still a good read and decent effort. Gilmore looks more engaged defensively so far than in Nuggets game.

Walton finally made an uncontested basket against Gilmore, but it's not a bad defense from A-Train.

Gilmore contested Walton's outside attempt nicely here.

Gilmore got faked by Walton which led to awkward footwork, but he was long enough to contest Bill's shot and force him to miss anyway. Neutral play on my ranking.

Gilmore stayed close to Walton on perimeter, trying to shut down passing opportunities. Then he secured the glass after outside shot. Good activity from Gilmore.

This is not positive or negative play from Gilmore, but I want to show how hard it was to fight in the post for offensive players back then. Walton did nothing extraoridinary and got called for offensive foul.

Good effort from Artis throughout the possession, he drew another charge at the end of the possession.

Gilmore did not go for Walton's fake this time and forced him to travel. Walton had very rouugh time against Gilmore in this game.

Gilmore missed Walton for a second which led to points. It wasn't a huge breakdown by any means, but he got caught on ball watching this time and someone as good as Walton could make him pay for that.

Good boxout from Artis.

Small nitpick, but he should have either contest Walton's shot or help under the board more. Instead, he did neither and Blazers got an offensive rebound off Walton's miss.

Gilmore blocked Walton's shot in transition, let's just say that Walton had very rough night...

Good boxout and defensive rebound.

Gilmore kept guarding Walton outside giving him no space to operate. Then he secured the glass again.

Another nice contest from Gilmore, Walton was almost scoreless on him in that game.

The weakest post defense on Walton in this game, Bill made a nice jumphook but Gilmore didn't try to push him away or contest shot.

Gilmore gave up this shot, weak defensive possession from Artis.

After two questionable defensive possessions, Gilmore made an outstanding block on Walton's fadeaway jumpshot. Not many players could block 7 feet tall Walton and made it look so easy.

Walton made outside shot, but I wouldn't call it a Gilmore's fault. Neutral play to me, he could have contested it better.

Gilmore stayed close on Walton on perimeter, didn't go for fakes and almost forced a shotclock violation.

Conclusion:

The goods:

- Gilmore made Walton feel really uncomfortable in this game, he forced Bill to many contested shots and bad misses,
- Gilmore didn't have boxout problems in this game outside of few possessions I tracked,
- Gilmore didn't foul a lot, he used his length in smart way,
- Blazers players shot a lot of shots from outside the paint because of Gilmore's pressence,
- he stayed fresh throughout the game and was far more active than in Nuggets game.

The bads:

- a few times when his footwork was a bit clumsy on perimeter, but it didn't happen often,
- few "blindness" moments, but less than in Nuggets game.

Overall, it was fantastic defensive performance by Gilmore. I think that playing next to Bill Walton made him try harder than usuall and it (almost) paid off. Walton had good all-around game, but he really struggled against Gilmore's defense and he fouled him a lot (including 6th foul late in the game). Outplaying MVP is quite an accomplishement and I think you can say that he outplayed him.