In praise of DEFENSE

[notdeadyet]

It was great to see the Bobcats score 121 in game 1 @ Vegas. What triggered this outburst was our full-court defense, forcing many turnovers and disrupting any flow to the opponents' offense. We got a TON of easy baskets, which is one of Dunlap's stated goals.
In game 2, the opponent started the game with a strong focus on defense themselves, which was very effective in keeping us from getting easy shots. Both teams were going toe to toe, with little scoring. In the 2nd half, we seemed to turn up our defensive intensity even higher, resulting in more turnovers and easier baskets to get us back in the game.
Great lesson for the team, IMO; when ya play DEFENSE, you can win even when your shot is not there, which ours was not, @ a paltry 30.7%...

[spectre]

I LOVE a great defensive team. It can be boring for some to watch, but to me when guys are working in tandem on D switching and pressuring the ball it's borderline art form.

[kitch0202]

Great lesson for the team, IMO; when ya play DEFENSE, you can win even when your shot is not there, which ours was not, @ a paltry 30.7%...

Absolutely! If you are a great defensive team you're in with a chance to win almost every game. And for a young, developing team it's a huge mental boost to be in touch in the 4th quarter of most games.

[Mustachio]

I LOVE a great defensive team. It can be boring for some to watch, but to me when guys are working in tandem on D switching and pressuring the ball it's borderline art form.


I would be one of those people who hate to watch defensive basketball. I hated the Pistons... hate. But I also understand that we aren't going to out score anyone, and that good offense starts with better defense. I do believe great defense is an artform... but I also believe this is an artform, 538 but I dont want it hanging in my house. ;)

Having said that though, I am coming around to it. Maybe because we were so historically bad defensively last year that even scant instances of good defense this year are making the little nuances of it easier to appreciate.

[spectre]

I was a Bulls' fan when MJ went to Chicago so of course I hated Detroit because of the "bad boys". That team coached by LB though made me do a full 180. I've never seen a team that could switch off the picks so flawlessly that the guy with the ball always had a defender all up in his arse like the Pistons could. Very "in your face" and it tears the the opposing team up (see Jimmer/TRob in the 1st SL game). LB had us going that way with the acquisition of Raja and we did fairly well up thru the playoff year.

Dunlap is really my dream coach...LB the teacher/defensive specialist without the ego/drama queen/pure asshole, and that SL game got me even more excited for him and the team we're building.

[TheBeagle]

It was great to see the Bobcats score 121 in game 1 @ Vegas. What triggered this outburst was our full-court defense, forcing many turnovers and disrupting any flow to the opponents' offense. We got a TON of easy baskets, which is one of Dunlap's stated goals.
In game 2, the opponent started the game with a strong focus on defense themselves, which was very effective in keeping us from getting easy shots. Both teams were going toe to toe, with little scoring. In the 2nd half, we seemed to turn up our defensive intensity even higher, resulting in more turnovers and easier baskets to get us back in the game.
Great lesson for the team, IMO; when ya play DEFENSE, you can win even when your shot is not there, which ours was not, @ a paltry 30.7%... Great post! I argue that SL Game 2 was the most impressive of the two. The ass-kicking against SAC was immensely fulfilling, but the Cavs game showed a team that never gave up, and whose defensive pressure took its toll over time, and ultimately won them the game. Like you say, a "great lesson for the team" indeed.

[notdeadyet]

No arguement from me, 'Beagle'! AND, we did it against a much better prepared team, without MKG!

Raja is about to get amnestied by Utah, but he's not the same player. Really struggled with his shot and nagging injuries, then got into it with his coach, Ty Corbin.

[notdeadyet]

I will say we may need a deeper bench to keep playing this up-tempo in-your-face defensive style 48 minutes a game. Having the Summer League, and being coached by Dunlap himself SHOULD get us off to a good start this year, but it's a long season.

I LOVED Detroit kicking the Lakers' arse when seemingly everyone was handing them the trophy beforehand!

Regarding MJ's Bulls, many under-estimate how good THEIR D was...

[QC Thundercats]

I LOVE a great defensive team. It can be boring for some to watch, but to me when guys are working in tandem on D switching and pressuring the ball it's borderline art form.

Watching our defense during our playoff season was absolutely awesome to watch. And I thought it was fun watching Ben Wallace, Rasheed, and Tayshaun Prince shut down and just about block everything near the basket during the Pistons' run.

As to the boring part, I think its more because of the association of good defensive teams and their tendency to slow everything down all together in a grind it out type of game, like the whole handcheck era and those terrible wrestling matches between the Knicks and Heat in the 90s, or the Sloan era Jazz. Larry Brown especially loved to take the air out of the ball and slow down the game completely.

I think it may be different with Dunlap, as he seems to want to utilize defense to create fastbreaking opportunities, and then when we have the ball on offense, to be aggressive in attacking the basket and shooting a lot of threes.

So maybe he's brewing up a less bastardized version of Mike Dantoni's offense to go along with a Larry Brown type of defense, and we can have the best of both worlds. Then 10 straight years of championships and Hall of Fame invitations for all involved!!

[cltblkhscoach]

You know I actually love high scoring basketball, maybe even more after last season lol. But watching SL game 2 on DVR, there is a definite increased intensity on the side of the ball by everyone that I've never seen from us since the playoff year. If better defense means a couple more wins and closer games then I'm all for it.

[notdeadyet]

Good points. A big part of what type of offense to run should center around the type of personnel on a team. We are more athletic, so fast break makes a lot of sense. The slower style isn't for them. Some of the 'slower' teams, like the Pat Riley Knicks, would not have done so well in an uptempo style... Regardless, whoever you are, gotta play D to be successful. It may not be what fills the arena seats, but it brings championships!!

[dnbman]

Good points. A big part of what type of offense to run should center around the type of personnel on a team. We are more athletic, so fast break makes a lot of sense. The slower style isn't for them. Some of the 'slower' teams, like the Pat Riley Knicks, would not have done so well in an uptempo style... Regardless, whoever you are, gotta play D to be successful. It may not be what fills the arena seats, but it brings championships!!

I think our D will be more fun to watch than a lot of classic grind-to-a-halt styles. We seem to be much more involved in causing turn overs in transition and in the backcourt rather than just making them use all the clock and then take bad shots. And then we have guys who can take advantage of TOs by finishing on the other side. We'll gamble a lot more (and lose), but I think it will be a very fun style to watch.

[dav7z]

Right now we 10 players deep . With six i say thet can get after it ' Dunlap might have to make his rotations like the old Tar Heal blue team .
Running and pressing with Kemba , Hendo, MKG, Mully , Smack [NA i take that back] , Sessions , Walker J Taylor , TT, Haywood, With Haywood being the only one thet might have to slow tmpo down . Nine of thease guys should be able to get up and down'.

[dnbman]

Right now we 10 players deep . With six i say thet can get after it ' Dunlap might have to make his rotations like the old Tar Heal blue team .
Running and pressing with Kemba , Hendo, MKG, Mully , Smack [NA i take that back] , Sessions , Walker J Taylor , TT, Haywood, With Haywood being the only one thet might have to slow tmpo down . Nine of thease guys should be able to get up and down'.

Right. It's too bad we can't make substitutions like hockey.

[QC Thundercats]

The effect of our aggressive defense is causing 69 turnovers in 3 games, while only committing 41. This comes out to an incredible 23 turnovers forced per game, in just 40 minutes, to a respectable 13.7 turnovers committed by us.

I know we won't replicate these numbers during the season, but to approach a 10 turnover differential per game is insane. I'm excited by this new defensive philosophy, and we're soon going to earn the reputation of being that tough, pesky defensive team that will never go away. No more rolling over by halftime like last year, teams will have to earn their victories over us.

[DashGlobal]

Man, I got to give it to Dunlap. This man can coach defense! The scheme he uses is pretty darn good.

I still can't get a feel for his offensive identity yet. Hopefully I will be pleased with that as well. Will have to wait till the season starts see that though