Pacers Defense explained, packline

[notque]

General Principles/Ideas:
-Ball side defense makes your D tough, Help-side defense makes it successful.
-Run (push the break) on turnovers
-Complete the play on defense before going on the break (box out, get the ball, etc.)
-Pick up (stop the ball), as soon as possible depending on personnel

8 Keys to the Defense
1. Anticipate-have a gambling attitude on defense. Don’t react, anticipate.
2. Convert (his term for getting all five players back on defense as fast as possible)
3. Extreme Ball Pressure-The most important part of his defense.
4. Early Help-You can never help too early, only too late.
5. No ball reverse-Keep the ball out of the middle, and keep it on one side of the court.
6. Dead front-Dead front the post once the ball gets lower then the free throw line extended.
7. Fill and sink-sink to the level of the ball, never be playing D above the ball.
8. All sink-collapse on post or when ball is in the key.

General points of emphasis:
• Everything is gear to stopping the ball ASAP. If you have the personnel, pick up full court, if not meet at half court.
-Make them start their offense far away from the spot where they want to start it.
• All out sprint back on defense every time. If people are jogging back, they are sitting down.
• Do not play a retreating defense, must get the D set and stop the ball
• Pressure the hell out of the ball, rely on help defense
• Must take away outside shot first, and give them no easy looks to dump it into the post.
• When ball is at middle (top of the key) play straight up, don’t force one way or the other, it is too easy to give up the middle (the worst thing)
• On the line up the line when in defensive help, includes the post too, as long as the ball is not below free throw line extended, then you dead front
• Forcing sideline allows you to deny (on the line up the line)

(So people understand what type of players we need to draft, what matters to our defense, why we give up jumpers so easily)

[notque]

So to explain easily.

Contest ball handler. Everyone else stays close to the paint.

On a pass, the guy from the paint goes to his man.

if the ball goes inside, everyone collapses. all 5 players go to the paint.

gamble gamble gamble, get in passing lanes. one on one defense is less important, because you're going to collapse.

If you're beaten on a drive, 4 players are there to meet you.

You will give up jumpers. uncontested, and contested. It will happen.

The goal is, make them shoot.

And foul them often in the paint. Foul them 40 times, because only 20 will get called. steal steal steal.

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

Everyone collapsing was a huge reason our defense sucked last year, I remember guys hitting like 6 wide open 3's against us. Theres a difference between giving up a jumper or two and leaving a guy whos made five 3 pointers, wide open for 3 more shots. It was insane last year.

We need defenders, you can't have a good defense without good defenders and its that simple. Ford and Dunleavy will get destroyed night in and night out and now we don't have JO to scare them away from the paint. If we don't draft Hibbert we will have the worst defense in the NBA next year.

[PR07]

Right now, it appears we'll have two "rocks" that we can count on defensively in Foster and Granger. I'd at least like to see us add a third.

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

Right now, it appears we'll have two "rocks" that we can count on defensively in Foster and Granger. I'd at least like to see us add a third.

I have a itchy feeling that we will trade for Kyle Lowry.

I don't know why, but I just have a feeling. He wouldn't start but he is a pretty good defender no? We would still have to add another defender, but just something I want to try to predict(along with Grang33r - man he needs to get out of my head).

[notque]

Even though you don't like the defense, we're running it next year if you like it or not. It's Harter's defense.

We could trade for the best defender on the planet, and he's still going to be in the paint looking to triple team entry passes while his man stays alone on the 3 point line.

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

I don't mind them not always guarding the 3 point line, but its insane to leave someone whos made five 3's wide open for 3 more. Thats what pissed me off.

[blaha112]

i went to the pistons game last year and saw rip hit like 5 open threes from the exact same damn corner spot. i would like the defense to change...

[PR07]

Kapono absolutely has a field day when he plays us.

[notque]

It improved our defense a ton. Yes. Some nights you get burned badly, but overall our defense improved.

And you have leaving guys wide open to thank. It's a defense that is unorthodox, but works if you get to the right spots

[PR07]

It still helps to have strong individual defenders. The Celtics run a similar style, and they have strong individual defenders in Garnett, Pierce, Rondo, Allen (at times), Posey, Perkins, PJ Brown, etc.

[notque]

Of course individual defenders matter, just not as much. You can get away with ford and dunleavy really well, since ford is a pest.

It's actually a big improvement just having a fast short guy that's annoying out there. If a man blows by him, it's not a big deal in our system.

[PR07]

I still think we'll eventually have to do better than Dunleavy and Ford in the defensive department if we ever want to do anything serious. We may end up scoring more point and winning more games in the regular season, but I don't see us stopping anyone come playoff time.

[notque]

The packline doesn't stop working just because of the playoffs.

I know it's scary to watch guys shoot open shots, but really. That's the point. Better that than the alternative, shooting high percentage shots down low.

[PR07]

It stops working because uptempo ball doesn't work in the playoffs because teams actually start playing defense and play much more of a half-court style of play. In the regular season, the Pacers could trick a lot of teams into playing their uptempo style of play with them. Playoff teams are largely in part to smart to do that. More of a half-court game means more of an exploitation of our mediocre defensive backcourt.

I'm not ripping on our defensive scheme, I like it a lot, but it's like Tony Dungy's Cover 2 before he actually got the right players. Nothing was wrong with the scheme, it worked, but he didn't have good enough personnel. I don't see how anyone can be in good spirits about our backcourt defensively next season. I guess it will be better than Diener and Dunleavy though.

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

I really don't understand why you are so happy with our defense when we had one of the worst defense's last year.