Why is our Defense that Good?

[pistontr]

I've only watched first two games and like Drummonds development on defense.
What is your opinion?

[whitehops]

it looks like SVG's quest to add length this offseason has really helped. passing lanes are harder to come by and pretty much everyone is mobile which helps on rotations.

i also paid some extra attention to how we were defending the pick and roll against phoenix, and our bigs are hedging well. they are stepping up enough so the ball handler can't pull up and they are hanging back enough to stick with the roll man.

i don't think we are doing anything particularly special, just playing fundamental defense with effort. it helps when we have guys (mainly KCP) that don't get straight beaten often. getting beaten one on one to allow penetration is the biggest ingredient in the recipe for disaster.

[Billl]

We have guys who can physically handle their matchup on D. That's a good start. After that, we are actually playing together as a team. It's been years since we could say that. If someone gets beat, a teammate is rotating to help and another teammate is falling back to help on a the second rotation. The athleticism has obviously improved, so those rotations are physically faster and with better length, but it's 90% mental.

[Maker_84]

We have good size and length in the starting lineup but not much off the bench so its definitely not that. Probably just good fundamental defense

[pistontr]

http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/team/_/stat/defense-per-game/sort/avgFreeThrowsAttemptedOpponent

we do not foul that much. opponents use free throws 17.4 times per game.

[Brapman]

Interesting point about us not fouling much. I hadn't paid much attention to that, but that's a huge deal.

The other things to note are Drummond not picking up as many stupid reaching fouls, the addition of quality NBA players at their positions (Morris, Ilyasova and Tolliver each work hard and do their jobs, and have enough length to hold their own at their positions), Jackson's improvement - he's been much better at not getting beaten too quickly off the dribble and his effort has been way better, KCP is just a really good hardworking defender, and Stanley's come in and mostly shown he can defend several positions - including fast guards. SJ's really an impressive defender. I didn't expect that.

The other other thing, is the team is way tougher than we've seen in many years. Teams can't dominate us with smashmouth BB anymore.

Frankly, all of this is coming together nicely - and it starts with the defensive anchor in the middle.

[Todd3]

I've only watched first two games and like Drummonds development on defense.
What is your opinion?

Its amazing how much better a C looks defensively when guards don't have a free run at the rim, huh? He was unfairly blamed for our guards horrid on ball defense the last few years.

We are doing a good job of keeping ball handlers in front and forcing contested jumpshots this year, which gives the backline more time to better position themselves to help at the rim or draw charges when they do get beat (and less times they have to do so). And our bigs our doing a good job contesting at the rim w/o fouling when they do.

We are not allowing clean looks from 3 (8th in opp 3pt %), keeping teams off the foul line (2nd in opp FTA), and limiting scoring at the rim (10th in opp points in paint).

We are essentially applying the analytics model of offense (3s, FTs, and Layups) to the defense. Which is basically just good fundamental defense ie protect the paint, contest all jumpshots, and don't foul.

We are also limiting teams ball movement (4th in opp APG) and forcing them into a lot of 1v1 iso ball, which isn't conducive to sustained success offensively. And it all goes back to limiting penetration, which is how most teams get their ball movement going today with the drive & kick game. If you can keep the ball handler in front and make him dribble east/west instead of north/south, you limit his passing options and he is more likely to settle for a contested jumpshot as the clock gets low.

[zeebneeb]

I don't know exactly (I chalk it up to insane athleticism on the part of Pope and drummond) but I love it. When a game makes you want to gouge your eyes out because it's slows down to the pace of sludge, chalk up another win.

[Redeemed]

There's a combination of things going on. Our guards are successfully fighting through picks as opposed to passively allowing themselves to be taken out of the plays. Guys our communicating on D. You see KCP barking out directions on switches. Drummond barking out warnings to alert the perimeter players of the picks. Drummond looking really engaged. There's containment and controlled aggressiveness. Guys are closing out on the 3 point shooters and rotating to protect the paint on the one way and occasionally shooting the gap to go for steals (emphasis on occasionally).

[zeebneeb]

There's a combination of things going on. Our guards are successfully fighting through picks as opposed to passively allowing themselves to be taken out of the plays. Guys our communicating on D. You see KCP barking out directions on switches. Drummond barking out warnings to alert the perimeter players of the picks. Drummond looking really engaged. There's containment and controlled aggressiveness. Guys are closing out on the 3 point shooters and rotating to protect the paint on the one way and occasionally shooting the gap to go for steals (emphasis on occasionally).

BAM! Last night we played a very handsy gambling team and it cost them.

Hardnosed stay at home defense is a hell of alot tougher then the gimmick defense Phoenix runs. Oir defense frustrates teams into turning the ball over and taking poor shots which is as good as a turnover.

On occasion going for the steal is fine as it won't consistently break your defense when you miss like Phoenix did last night. Hornacek while an awesome player is not a good coach and the dumb as hell two pg system he runs encourages the cheating defense.

Our defense is stout like it should be.

[whitehops]

Honestly, our defense has been great all-around in the first five games. We aren't letting teams get deep into the paint very often (which helps not to commit fouls), we are closing off passing lanes yet staying home and not gambling, if we give up jumpers they're often contested, and to boot we are finishing plays by rebounding the ball. I don't know if we can quite keep this up all season but it is definitely good to see. We have two good tests coming up with Portland and especially golden state...

[JD43320]

Why are we better on defense? Let us count the ways.

1. We don't have Josh Smith doing whatever he wants on defense.
2. We don't have a center guarding stretch 4's.
3. We've replaced Tay the Crypt Keeper Prince, Caron "Embalming fluid" Butler, and the laughable Kyle Singler with small forwards that actually have a pulse.
4. We don't have Jennings gambling on every play.
5. While our 4's aren't perfect they hustle defensively and draw charges instead of Monroe's ole defense.
6. Returning players have had a full year under SVG's system.
7. Our offense while sloppy is not as dysfunctional as last year which helps the defense.
8. We only have one player (Blake) that has been bad defensively as opposed to all but 2 or 3 players last year being terrible.

I'm sure there is more but that's enough to explain the difference.

[Pugz]

one thing i dont like seeing is how many times per possession we get screened on defense. thats a lack of help. no one calls out a screen or steps up to help fast enough, or they fail to fall back fast enough.

[DET_Athletics]

it looks like SVG's quest to add length this offseason has really helped. passing lanes are harder to come by and pretty much everyone is mobile which helps on rotations.

i also paid some extra attention to how we were defending the pick and roll against phoenix, and our bigs are hedging well. they are stepping up enough so the ball handler can't pull up and they are hanging back enough to stick with the roll man.

i don't think we are doing anything particularly special, just playing fundamental defense with effort. it helps when we have guys (mainly KCP) that don't get straight beaten often. getting beaten one on one to allow penetration is the biggest ingredient in the recipe for disaster.

everyone except illyasova.

[DETermination]

Because we form walls

[Spider156]

Defense is coachable. That's why I was so excited when we got SVG. I knew our defense was going to get better. Offense on the other hand is not as coachable. That's when talent comes into place and why most teams draft based on the player's talent. Defense is a team thing, communication, fundamentals, what you say to switch or go over or under a screen, rebounding the ball, that's all team basketball. The only coaching you need for offense is ball movement and off the ball movement. Otherwise players have to be able to make passes and make shots and that doesn't come to someone easily (see the tunnel vision of Stuckey and Knight vs Jackson and Jennings post-Smith era). But I think Stuckey and Knight show you that just because you can score doesn't mean you know how to pass and run an offense. It's not easy and Jackson is clearly the better guard.

It takes some momentum to run an offense because after all the shots still have to be made. On the other hand, defense takes effort and it pays off. You can tell what Stan has been emphasizing more and why we're 4-1.

[tmorgan]

What's really interesting is that the whole team is playing Dennis Rodman-esque defense. We're near the bottom of the NBA in steals and blocks, and yet the defense is awesome because we're contesting almost everything, not fouling, and simply making the opposition work hard. It's not sexy, but it's effective.

[pistontr]

http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/team/_/stat/miscellaneous-per-game/sort/avgAssistsOpponent

we have forced opponents to play one on one. they have only 19 assists per game. we are 6th in this category.

[pistontr]

point touch points: drummond is 4th, he has 7.3 points per game.
http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/player/pullup/?sort=PAINT_TOUCH_PTS&dir=1


post touch points: drummond is 2nd, he has 9.0 points per game. wow.
http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/player/pullup/?sort=POST_TOUCH_PTS&dir=1

drive points. jackson is 1st, he has 11.7 points per game.
http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/player/pullup/?sort=DRIVE_PTS&dir=1

[Notanoob]

Another year of coaching, better effort since we aren't starting the season with Josh Smith and are in the hunt for the playoffs, and replacing our SF rotation with two guys who can move and will compete on defense. They've got some chemistry on defense now and only Ilyasova is a real minus defender in the starting lineup.

Good offense also makes for good defense, since it limits transition opportunities, and the offense has looked real nice.