So this whole post was inspired by the Thinking Basketball video on the NBA's YouTube channel regarding the defense of the '04 pistons, particularly during the finals against the Lakers...and I feel like I'm actually insane. Like somehow my YouTube got a different version of the video than everyone else's.
The more I watched the more I realize that Detroit had such a great defense because they were executing what are considered basic defensive actions today. Switching, pre-rotating, sagging off bad shooters, trapping PnRs, doubling and rotating, big men coming up to the level of the screen ECT. These actions happen hundreds of times in today's NBA, and modern players get lampooned when they don't execute them properly. Yet the world famous, historical Kobe-Shaq Lakers couldn't handle it.
First of all, there was no spacing. It was hilarious to watch the Pistons sag off the perimeter players so much that they were essentially executing a box-and-one for most possessions. Gary Payton passed on multiple open threes, and like lazily passed on them too. He just kept the ball moving seemingly without intent or urgency, which gave Detroit plenty of time to rotate. There were multiple examples of Lakers defenders, including Kobe (who was all-defense first team that year) getting beat badly off the dribble on the perimeter by Chauncey, Rip and even Tayshaun. Oh and there was barely any help behind them. Sometimes the defenders in the paint would take a step in and think about contesting the shot, but usually they just got open layups...in game three of the finals.
Shaq was an absolute joke defending the PnR. It almost looked like he already knew he couldn't defend in space so he didn't even bother trying. This is the Shaq that gets paid millions of dollars to talk about rangz™ and on modern players on TV? Correct me if I'm wrong but Chauncey isn't some once in a generation athlete, and all he needed was one screen to make Shaq look like me at the Y.
I think the Monty Williams Pistons had a more complex offensive system than the Lakers in the video I watched. Seriously, the would take ten seconds to execute one simple play and if that didn't work they gave the ball to Shaq or Kobe and stood around for the rest of the possession. The sheer lack of movement and intensity was astonishing. No wonder players got injured so much less back then, they spent half the game not moving.
There was one play where number 3 on the Lakers (Devin George? I don't care) passed to Karl in the post from the corner then immediately cuts to the rim. Karl passes him the ball back, and George went in for the layup. The problem was he drove directly into Rasheed Wallace who, having just been guarding Karl in the post, needed to literally take one step over to block the shot.
There was another play where Kobe gets the ball in the corner and gets around Tayshaun. The problem is the Lakers spacing is so bad that the other four pistons are literally each standing in one of the corners of the paint. There are three wide open Lakers, including first ballot hall of famers Gary Payton and creepy uncle Karl, just standing around twenty feet from the hoop. Chauncey doesn't have to move to help on the Kobe drive, Kobe tries to force a pass to Shaq (literally his only teammate that isn't open) and it practically hits Ben Wallace in the face and goes out of bounds.
Finally (I could sit here for hours and dissect the Lakers offense possession by possession, but I'm capping myself at three examples) there was a play where George gets doubled at half court as he's bringing the ball up. I should put doubled in sarcastic quotations because it was the slowest double I've ever seen. There are two Detroit defenders, each about seven feet away from George, and they're about to double him. George has a full three seconds to hold the ball and think before he dribbles directly into the double team. Pistons swarm, ball gets knocked out of bounds. A starter on the lauded 03-04 Lakers team was so discombobulated by the idea of a trap at half court that he takes a deep breath, checks the wind, then tries to dribble through it instead of pass to the two other Lakers who were with him in the backcourt. It's truly unbelievable.
What's really upsetting is the comments are absolutely orgasming to this footage. Literally people talking about how this Pistons defense is a work of art and how modern teams (who execute this type of defense practically every day) could never compare to this kind of basketball. Somebody literally said the 05 Pistons and the 05 Spurs that went to the finals the following year were the best defensive teams ever. He actually emphasized the ever. I couldn't believe we were watching the same footage. It's unfathomable.
But most upsetting was knowing I was watching the legends of the sport. "Mamba Mentality" "12 time all defense" Kobe getting beaten so badly on the perimeter that he's barely moved his feet before the guy is passed him. Shaq and Karl repeatedly just jogging back on defense, often allowing open shots in the process. Karl and Payton just standing around in offense on multiple occasions. Nobody, and I do mean nobody, rotating to help defend the rim even though the spacing was so bad they were already in the paint. The Lakers not actually starting their offense until 14 seconds left on the shot clock, and completely panicking when the first action doesn't work.
These are the legends that I keep hearing about? These are the guys that go on TV and on the modern game constantly? These are the heroes of the modern players in the league that I love now? These are the players that were winning awards every year? This is how they play in one of the biggest games of their time? It's embarrassing. Idk how anyone can watch that and try to tell me with a straight face that it's better basketball.
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