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So that's the reason Pop refuses to play Ian.
The Root of All Defensive Evil
by Andrew A. McNeill
Saying that the Spurs aren’t playing as good of defense this year as they have in the past would be like saying it doesn’t snow much in Austin. By the way, it’s snowing here in Austin today.
But why exactly are the Spurs not playing good defense? It starts in the middle, quite literally.
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So that's the reason Pop refuses to play Ian.
why in the does he play Matt bonner then????
It's all about size, look how Dallas' D improved with Haywood's acquisition.
Last edited by DAF86; 02-23-2010 at 03:55 PM.
I hear you, but the article is pointing out players getting into the lane, not our ability to stop them at the rim. The problem is teams are getting past our perimiter defenders and into the middle of the lane much easier then in years past.
Of course when we force them baseline our "big-men" cant do much then either... but thats another story.
This picture is depressing . . .
The wrong player is wearing the Spurs' 24.
The reason we suck defensively is 2 more fouls per game? Really? That translates to 4 points.
I seriously doubt that the differential of points allowed between 2006-2007 and this season is 4 points.
-There's no shot blocking in the middle other than Duncan..while Timmy is still good for around 2 blocks a game when he's playing actual starter minutes, nobody else on the team blocks or alters shot..literally, nobody..this would be alright if we had a mobile big to make up for what Duncan can no longer do due to age, but we don't have that either..
-The perimeter defenders are even worse than the bigs, constantly allowing penetration..Hill is a good man defender, but he's inconsistent and small in size compared to a lot of the players he has to guard..Manu is no longer a good 1 on 1 defender, but he makes up for it with his help D and his ability to play the passing lanes..
Everybody else is a poor defender on the wing..Jefferson will occasionally play good D vs. bigger SFs and SGs, but he doesn't have the lateral quickness to defend any players with athleticism..he also misses a ton of rotations due to low IQ..
Mason and Finley obviously aren't worth mentioning for obvious reasons..
Bogans is supposed to be a "stopper", but he doesn't have any athleticism or lateral quickness..he's not a leaper either..what exactly does he have? I don't know..he commits a bunch of stupid fouls, so it can't be his basketball IQ..
-Too many new players that still don't know how to rotate defensively..
-The coach doesn't help with his rotations..
the extra fouls put us in the penalty earlierThe reason we suck defensively is 2 more fouls per game? Really? That translates to 4 points.
I seriously doubt that the differential of points allowed between 2006-2007 and this season is 4 points.
also, the author was stating how players start backing off defensively when they have more fouls...the extra fouls put us in the penalty earlier
And? still 2 fouls... 4 points...
What are they supposed to do about the fouling?..players generally foul when they can't keep up with their opposition or if they have low basketball IQ..there's nothing the current Spurs rotation can really do about that..
The only other significant side-effect I could think of is foul trouble, or fouling out. But we really haven't been fouling out much at all, that I recall.
The Spurs' point differential this season so far is +4.11. The current league leader is the Lakers at +6.70. Adding 4 points per game is a lot.The reason we suck defensively is 2 more fouls per game? Really? That translates to 4 points.
I seriously doubt that the differential of points allowed between 2006-2007 and this season is 4 points.
The 2006-2007 Spurs' point differential (regular season) was +8.43, an elite mark. Once again, adding 4 points per game is huge.
If you do not foul, it doesn't automatically mean the other team doesn't score in that possession. Furthermore, 4 points is worst case scenario. Because they get foul it doesn't mean they're going to make the free throws.
Again, and I think I'm going to have to look this up myself, I seriously doubt that the difference in points allowed between the 2006-2007 season and this season is a mere 4 points.
The reason we suck defensively is 2 more fouls per game? Really? That translates to 4 points.
I seriously doubt that the differential of points allowed between 2006-2007 and this season is 4 points.
That's not what the article says. The point is, we are allowing to many penetrations, which causes us to give up many points; fouls committed are just a stat supporting the author's main point.
The Spurs are weaker defensively because they don't have an shot blocker guarding the rim.
It doesn't matter that they can't keep their man in front of them. No team can.
The difference is if you have a shot blocker, offenses don't try to challenge the rim too often because it will get block or alter. If their is no shot blocking threat, you see it all the time, guards get brave and drive the ball at the rim. Just like TP does for the Spurs. A shot blocker can erase a lot of defensive mistakes.
This also explains why the foul count is up. When there is no shot blocker you have to foul because of the no layup rule.
So it is very important to stay big around the rim, if you are a defensive minded team. You need the size for shot blocking and rebound.
Pop, Bonner, Small Ball = Losing
Timmy is very guilty of this the last few seasons.
I think we all agree with that.
But the author conclusion is:
But the ability of opposing players to get in the lane and draw fouls is becoming the Achilles’ heel for the Spurs this season.
The reality is that wether we foul or not they're still getting the points, because as Harlem correctly pointed out, we really have nobody to protect the paint outside of Duncan. The actual problem is not how many fouls we give up. It's the lacking perimeter and interior defense.
Tim just doesn't have that much of a lift anymore. On top of that, nobody on the perimeter is really helping him. They all come full force at him.
Teams don't kill the Spurs in the paint with Timmy there to defend, they kill the Spurs in the paint by running a pick on Timmy and then going to the rim where there's nobody taller than 6'8" to stop them.
I agree with the thesis of the article. The extra fouling is a symptom of our aging, slowing players, and our lack of a second tough defensive big. It's not the reason we are losing, but it's a contributing factor.
Yeah there are dozens of little reasons why the Spurs are stinking it up. Many of those little reasons have caught up with them at this point in the year. That's why it's so maddening when someone suggests a small fix and the response is that it's not big enough to make a difference.
Exactly. There's no one single Spurs Achilles' heel. The defensive problems this season have been a plethora of different things, some small issues, some bigger issues. It's actually been a progression from the woes we had last season already, exacerbated with the addition of new guys that made matters worse.
Penetration to the basket is not the root problem, nor is open shooters. Both of these problems are caused by small lineups or poor rotations by the bigs. We use to crowd the shooters and dared them to drive on our bigs. Our bigs would rotate in a way where one would cut off the driver and the other would position for the block out. The off wing player would play center field waiting to cut off any pass.
The problem now is when we go small and crowd the shooter the driver goes to the basket and the big that is their to defend the basket is left in no mans land as he tries to defend the basket from the defender and protect the backside at the same time. If he comes out on the driver, the driver simply throws it up because he knows his man will get the ball on the back side for the easy put back. We see this as part of the high number of offensive rebounds that we give up.
When Blair is the primary big on the floor most drivers can simply go over the top of him anyway. The perimeter defenders know this so they are more worried about the drive than the shot, thus we leave more shooters wide open. Add this equation into a simple pick and roll and the defense can easily be picked apart by any NBA team.
The interior defense must be fixed first before we can start pin pointing problems on the perimeter defense.
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