How good will our defense be?

[ElNono]

I'll tell you in February...

[Ginnoobbllee]

Overall, improved. Though we will now lack the lock-down defender on the perimeter elite scorers i.e. Bowen vs. Kobe, we have added depth to our front line, that now allows us to defend around the rim.

Last year, inside around the bucket was wide open, with only Tim to defend. Bonner could not defend inside. With, Dice and Mahimini, we now at least have shot blocking ability, and along with Blair, box out presence in the paint. Hence, more offensive and defensive rebounds, plus added scoring, that should more than makeup for the loss of perimeter defense.

[SonOfAGun]

Since Duncan is not the only Spurs big with balls on this team anymore, it should be better. Blair and Ian didn't look that impressive on defense in SL though.

G Hill one step closer DPOY.

[ILoveOranges]

if Mason's minutes go down to about 20

I'm not sure if I remember correctly, but wasn't Mason a pretty good defender back in Washington? I remember reading that the Spurs brought him in in part because they liked his defense.

[longlivefinley4]

We will have a top 5 Defense this year by the end of the season when it matters

[Russ]

Replacing Bonner's minutes with the raft of new bigs (McDyess, Blair, Mahinmi, Haislip) should reshape the defense for the better. RJ should help shore up the perimeter D, too (as could Hairston and Bowen, should he return).

Hopefully, the Spurs added offense and also improved their defense.

[angelbelow]

Top tier.

[Solid D]

No way to know until the Spurs have played 25 games but since you want to guess before the roster is completely filled in, I'm going to guess:
Top 5 Pts Diff (+/-)
Top 7 Opp FG%
Top 2 Opp PPG
Top 1 Opp APG
Top 12 Opp 3-Pt%

[coyotes_geek]

Compared to the rest of the league the Spurs will be one of the best. Compared to previous Spurs teams, the defense this year won't be as good as it was between 03 to 07.

The big benefit to the Spurs this year is that there is way more offensive firepower amongst the guys Pop will be counting on defensively. Last year against the really good teams in the league the Spurs kept getting caught having to choose between a defensive unit that couldn't score enough points and an offensive unit that was porous defensively. Bowen and Kurt were great defensively, but couldn't do much offensively. Mason and Bonner were the opposite. There were too many guys who could only contribute on one side of the floor. Jefferson and McDyess fix that. Blair's rebounding will help too.

[Manu-of-steel]

i agree that in the beginning of the season, we have to expect a not-so-good defense from the spurs because of new players. Although blair, mcdyess, mahinmi, are quicker compared to oberto, thomas, and bonner, it would take some time for these players to gel defensively. We know the spurs have many defensive plays for them to learn. But i'm expecting them to improve drastically towards the end of the season. If we're number 5 last season defensively, the improvement in our line up means we're gonna be at the top 3 at least this season.

The loss of Bowen, who still defended well the likes of ray allen, cp3, and derrick rose may be felt. But as Hill develops into a solid dfensive player,it may off-set this loss of Bowen.

Also, it's obvious that our defensive rebounding will be better. If Pop would allow McDyess and Blair occasional forays into the lane for offensive rebounding, that would be a big plus.

But the spurs' success still depends largely on the health of Timmy. If he's healthy- i'm looking forward to a very good season for the spurs.

[SouthTexasRancher]

By playoff time we'll be kicking ass and taking names, Social Security #'s, checking account #'s, and credit card #'s.

Pop will have this group in Championship form...especially if we can pick up a good shot blocker to spell our front line from time to time. Can you say Camby!

[mystargtr34]

Too early to tell..it'll depend on Jefferson, Mahinmi, and Hairston..

The thing people ignore is that we finished 5th defensively last year, despite playing many old guys and unathletic guys..also despite clear chemistry issues, due to the high number of injuries to the team..

defensively..

McDyess=Thomas..Kurt was a much better post defender, but 'Dice is more mobile..
Jefferson>>>Finley..as our stopper..
Jefferson<Bowen..but this is kind of irrelevant, since Bruce didn't play much last year..
Hairston>>Udoka..just based on tools..Ime was bad last year defensively, couldn't move..
Mahinmi>Oberto..if he plays like his potential shows, he'll be much, much better..his tools make him better than Fab, pretty much by default..
Blair>Gooden..pretty much by default, since Gooden might be the worst defensive big man in the NBA..
Bonner=Bonner..
Finley=Finley..

having a defensive "stopper" is overrated..you just need a good one, not a great one IMO..team defense is always the key, and we have plenty of guys that can play good individual defense, and compliment one another..

there's also a few extra differences between these teams..

a healthy Manu is still one of our best perimeter defenders..while he has taken a step back in individual defense, he's still one of our best at creating turnovers, and he's still a pest..

Hill getting the expected increase in minutes, taking some of Mason and Finley's, will be huge for our defense..his ability to play solid 1 on 1 D, while having the ability to create turnovers..

the most important part to me..if Duncan's healthy, that's an automatic improvement right there..but more importantly, Duncan's role on offense is going to change significantly this season..this team has enough offense that he won't have to put in his usual amount of work..this season, his focus should be on the defensive end, similar to what happened with KG in Boston..Duncan focusing more on defense than offense is still a top 3 anchor in the game, and that will make a huge difference IMO..

obviously the rebounding is huge, as everybody else mentioned..

This is without the potential part..we have some guys that might be able to play a lot better defensively by the end of the season..

Good post, but a better comparison would be McDyess >>> Bonner defensively, since he will be the guy largely replacing Bonner's minutes.

Then if you throw in the athleticism and defensive potential of Haislip and Mahinmi, the rebounding of Blair, and like HH said, the increase in minutes for George Hill, you see that the team has ALOT of potential growth defensively.

Again, like you say - when you consider the team still finished 5th in Defensive Efficiency last season, this season's team has the potential to be a pretty darn good defensive team.

But... the biggest difference makes will be on offense. Spurs finished 13th in the league in points per 100 possessions.

McDyess >> Bonner
Jefferson >>> Finley
Manu >>> Mason

The you have the young guys like Blair, Ian, Malik and George Hill taking minutes and shots from Thomas, Oberto and Udoka.

[BuzzerBeater]

Initially through lots of hustle the D will be great to watch but then it'll downward slope to a more realistic level around Dec. Then after evaluations Jan.-Feb. games will show how well the defense solidifies to a high level. That's when all the prognosticators will begin attending the church of Blair.

[Chieflion]

We were like top 8 in points scored per 100 posessions last season for defense so we should do fine next season with the upgrades.

[mingus]

i don't think the front office is done just yet. i can't imagine Pop being comfortable without a defender for Kobe Bryant. i don't think he'd want to go to war with LA without a player that can do that. unless he feels Jefferson or Hill can provide that, i would imagine they'll try and trade for or sign someone. if a guys like Raja Bell or Sefelosha (sp?) can't be had, then i hope the Spurs bring back Bowen. as he showed against Dallas, he can still play great defense.

i think if they get a someone mentioned above they'll be a a top 3 defensive team.

[raspsa]

The team has the potential to be better efensively than last year. Still don't know much about Haislip's defense. Big Mac and RJ should get the idea right away. Hill should be better and more confident. I think Hairston can help. Mahinmi can change shots in the middle and hopefully he becomes more corrdinated and balanced in his moves. Don't know yet about Blair's lateral quickness but those long arms will help and big body can clog the lane.

[Danny.Zhu]

No better at all.

Tim09<Tim08
Dyess09=Kurt08
RJ09=Bruce08
Manu09<Manu08
TP09>TP08

[anakha]

Tim09<=Tim08
Dyess09!=Kurt08
RJ09>>>>>Finley08
Manu09<Manu08
TP09>TP08

Fixed.

[Rogue]

We were like top 8 in points scored per 100 posessions last season for defense so we should do fine next season with the upgrades.

I don't see Jefferson being an upgrade at defensive end, dude has never been considered defensively good as he could have been with his awesome athleticism and smartness, the upgrades he brings to the other end of floor are quite obviously though. The entire defensive work mainly depends on the improvements of the shorter fences like Mason and Bonner, and Tim's health is also a necessary element to keep our defense great.

[Chieflion]

I don't see Jefferson being an upgrade at defensive end, dude has never been considered defensively good as he could have been with his awesome athleticism and smartness, the upgrades he brings to the other end of floor are quite obviously though. The entire defensive work mainly depends on the improvements of the shorter fences like Mason and Bonner, and Tim's health is also a necessary element to keep our defense great.

Still a closet Spurs fan.

[Rogue]

No better at all.

Tim09<Tim08
Dyess09=Kurt08
RJ09=Bruce08
Manu09<Manu08
TP09>TP08

Dyess is absolutely a better player than Kurt on both ends, and the defense at spot 2 will also get upgraded if Fin plays back here. Tony Longoria won't show any big change defensively next season but he is already nice enough for the defensive job as long as he works well at the offensive end. Spurs bench are badly lacking in defensive specialist compared to the starting five, that's why Bruce Bowen will be signed back as an insurance for defense.

[galvatron3000]

Overall, the Spurs perimeter defense will suffer with the loss of Bowen. However, the addition of McDyess and Jefferson, as well as the prospects for a young, athletic, energetic bench (Blair, Hill, Hairston, Ian) will help offset that loss. Those additions will mean the Spurs potentially will field a squad that will be longer and quicker than last year. So long as both Finley and Bonner's minutes are kept to an absolute minimum, their overall team defense should be better.

Bowen didn't play much last year and we added a good defender with younger legs in RJ so compared to last season I would guess this year it would atleast be better. The interior D will depend on how healthy and mobile Tim will be but I think the young guys are going to play a larger role than most think during the regular season. If Matt Bonner is going to be the first center or pf off the bench then don't expect much from the interior D. Ian and Blair have to eat those minutes and I expect Pop to allow them to if for nothing more than size. We can't win with last season's team.

[YODA]

Bonner was rarely, or never, out of position defensively by 20 games into the season. On offense, he actually made plays and shots nicely up until his "choke" (ie, mason at PG can't pass, tim not being doubled, parker must score, mavs running him off the 3 etc etc etc)

What game were u watching>? Bonner never out of position? I give him credit for trying, but he was always late on rotations,,,almost always.

[ohmwrecker]

Any defensive improvement over last year will be better.

[buttsR4rebounding]

Overall, the Spurs perimeter defense will suffer with the loss of Bowen. However, the addition of McDyess and Jefferson, as well as the prospects for a young, athletic, energetic bench (Blair, Hill, Hairston, Ian) will help offset that loss. Those additions will mean the Spurs potentially will field a squad that will be longer and quicker than last year. So long as both Finley and Bonner's minutes are kept to an absolute minimum, their overall team defense should be better.

Hooey! Bowen hardly played last year. The perimeter defense will be much better w/ RJ instead of Finley. The interior defense will improve w/ McDyess instead of Bonner. After working the new faces in during the 1st half of the season I expect the Spurs to have a top 3 defense after the all star break.