Re: How did our Defense Fall So Far?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
HarlemHeat37
Duncan is a positional defender, a lot of people seem to not understand this..yes, he's been a shot blocker and he still blocks around 2 a game, but his defense is based on positioning and not vertical ability..he's obviously not as quick as he once was, so you won't see him making quick rotations like he used to..he's still a reliable defender though..his man rarely beats him in 1 on 1 situations, Bynum was the only guy this season to beat Duncan in more than a few 1 on 1 possessions..
Our 2nd bigs are often exploited defensively since they have no ability to protect the paint..they're also beat in 1 on 1 situations fairly often..
Opposing teams are often taking advantage of Duncan going to help on either the guy attacking the rim or helping up top on the pick and roll and screens..the other team will always roll to the basket and take advantage of Duncan helping against the first guy that takes the shot..
Our perimeter D is also very poor, especially Jefferson, Mason, Finley and Bogans(he's not a bad 1 on 1 defender though)..they overplay all the time and can't recover to their man because they aren't athletic enough, often putting our interior defenders in vulnerable situations..this is supposed to be the strategy, but they have no idea how to properly funnel their man into Duncan..
Hill and Manu are the only perimeter defenders that knows how to play D with Duncan IMO..they often help when their man throws his body into Duncan, and Hill funnels his man into Duncan very well when he's playing at SG IMO..I don't like Hill's D against PGs, but he plays well vs. SGs defensively IMO..
It also hurts that we play extended small ball minutes..
Lack of IQ on the perimeter + lack of athletes overall + lack of size on the interior + poor coaching rotations = average defense..
Agree 100%. I've been saying this almost half the season. The expectation I believe was that RJ was going to be a better defender than what he's been doing. And that McDyess was going to be able to provide the weak side help on the interior.
Neither have come to fruition up to this point. And I don't have much confidence in either to improve if they haven't gotten it by now.
But...Hopefully...To their defense...it's taken other quality players during their first year on this team time to become what was expected of them. Hopefully they will improve before the season is over just enough to help the Spurs make it to the playoffs.
Just making the playoffs seems to be the most important goal now much less thinking how far they would go if they make it.
