Deron's defense

[bastillon]

hi Jazz fans, I have some questions about Deron's defense. I know he's not very popular now and obviously he's with NJN but I feel like you're the most knowledgeable people on this subject.

I'm playing in an all time league on another board and my opp has a backcourt with KJ and Ray Allen. my questions are: how does Deron chase players around screens off the ball ? how does he play D against quick PGs ? who do you think I should put him on ?

from what I've heard and know, Deron does well against SGs and bigger points (and Chris Paul ) but is liability against quick points and off ball SGs. is this true ?

[Jazzfan12]

He does really well against Steph Curry, Raymond Felton, and Chris Paul. He does poorly against Steve Nash.

[Ming Kong!]

I don't think he fared very well on defense this season, but in years past, opposing PG's struggled against him, for the most part. He clearly struggles against the quick point guards, like Parker, but who doesn't. Outside of a handful of terrible matchups for him, he's a pretty good defender. If you're expecting The Glove, well you're gong to be disappointed.

[The59Sound]

HUGE liability against quick guards and those working off screens.

[Ming Kong!]

He does really well against Steph Curry, Raymond Felton, and Chris Paul. He does poorly against Steve Nash.

+1. Curry enters the twilight zone against Deron.

[bastillon]

oh, btw I also have Hakeem, Artis Gilmore and Grant (on the bench) as my bigs... bring the ball inside

The Glove

what about him ? he's doesn't have a quick first step and relies on post-up a lot. Deron is strong and tall PG, he shouldn't get abused in the post by anyone.

I don't think he fared very well on defense this season, but in years past, opposing PG's struggled against him, for the most part. He clearly struggles against the quick point guards, like Parker, but who doesn't.

2008-2009 version of Deron.

who would he guard better, KJ or Ray Allen ?

[Luigi]

First, Deron can play defense when he's motivated. Give him a matchup that people will be watching, or put him on national TV in a close game, and he'll play like he should. In college, he was known for good defense.

Williams can handle fast point guards, as long as they don't have much size. Chris Paul is much faster, but Williams uses his length and bulk to cause him problems. You'd think he could do the same to Nash, but Nash's unlimited offensive tools cause him problems. Fast guards who are big enough (Rose, Westbrooke) have been causing him trouble lately.

I don't think I ever noticed a problem with him running under screens. He'd get around them and chase down his man more often than not.

Overall, I think he's more committed to breaking down his man on offense so they are worn out on the other side. His cross and pick play is strong enough that his defender must spend a lot of energy to keep out of the paint, when is when he starts hitting important threes on you. A lot of his defenders can't go at him 100% on the other end when Williams is defending them.

As for his reputation for defending shooting guards, I think that comes from a small sample size of him in nationally televised games. He has a chip on his shoulder and the right tools to defend a scoring 2 for a few plays, but I don't think he could keep it up for more than a few games. Oh, and he chip-on-shoulder thing may be the biggest factor in his success guarding Paul.

I don't think he's going to make an all-defensive team in the NBA, but he's at least going to play average defense for you and then beat his man on the other side for the net gain.

[bastillon]

thanks guys that helped
how do you think he'd fare against Kevin Johnson ?

[idajazz]

Hmmm, I was never impressed with his defense, especially when teamed up with Boozer.
It seemed like lay up drills for quick point guards.
Parker especially abused him, and he is Currys/Westbrooks bitch.
He seemed to do pretty well on bigger 2's

[Fido]

Rose especially makes Deron look bad.