Defense

[Alex]

This is what Larry Brown has done: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/standings?season=2009&group=league&column=avgPointsAgainst&order=true&seasontype=2

Once the guys understand his offense we're gonna be a good team, I just hope it happens sooner rather than later.

There is no doubt however that this is the best defensive squad in the history of the franchise. Not only are they hustling but they're playing smart on defense and understanding what the other team is doing.

[Muttley]

That's very promising. I hope the offense comes along soon, but it's obvious the defense has stepped up immensely from previous years. We look cohesive on D, which in years past has been more of an individual endeavor. It's a great sign of hopefully better things to come.

[TheBeagle]

Yeah, but even though the offense has struggled and looked downright dreadful during stretches, when they execute "Larry Ball", the offense looks better than it has at any time in franchise history as well!

Still, if you had to pick one area that you'd want to improve on first when you're being coached for the first time in franchise history, I'd rather it be on defense since that's where games are won (along with FTs, TOs and rebounds).

[Marvel]

That's a very good sign but we are also dead last in offense and 2nd to last in rebounding.A Chris Kaman would help us out immensely in those departments,and the guys clicking in tune to Larry Brown's offense.

[fatlever]

the bobcats play at the slowest pace in the league. when you slow down the game to a crawl and limit the amount shots attempted in a game, then you bound to have lower scoring games. slow pace does not equal good defense.

[Ghost Kat]

The Bobcats have usually been know for playin hard and that usually means somewhat respectable defense. I've only seen two games this year but it does seem like we are back to playin hard. Now other then J-Rich and Morrison we don't have any consistant scores to go to. Wallace isn't the type of player you set plays for and Omeka is worthless down low. He gets blocked more on offense then he gets blocks on defense. DJ has tried to be a scorer but he's still learning what works in the NBA. Felton, I guess it depends on who we play and how he feels that day cuz it's a toss up. We can't just be a jump shooting team. We need a big man to drop the ball to downlow. Or if we are going to be a jump shooting team we need someone to get a offensive rebound or two.

[Marvel]

the bobcats play at the slowest pace in the league. when you slow down the game to a crawl and limit the amount shots attempted in a game, then you bound to have lower scoring games. slow pace does not equal good defense.


I'm skeptical about that,i mean we have one of the best open court finishers in the league well actually 2, J-Rich and Wallace.And i think you're right about playing at a snails pace which is misleading about the fact that we're the 7th best defensive team.Look at what D'Antoni has done with the Knicks and the pace they play at,and then look at their record 6-3 that's amazing,that's with their best point guard and centre sitting on the bench.

[fatlever]

according to bball ref
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CHA/2009.html

after last nights game, we are 28th in pace. so, we arent the slowest anymore, just the 3rd slowest.

they also show us as 23rd in defensive ratings (pts allowed per 100 posessions)

we are nowhere near being the 7th best defensive team.

that being said, i am encouraged by some of the defense we have played this year.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2009.html

we are dead last in defensive rebounding %
we are 25th in efg% allowed

[fatlever]

we also are allowing opponents to shoot .465% against us which is 6th worst in the league

[BIGCatBobcat]

easy math tells me averaging under 90 while "holding" your opponent to 93 won't win you a lot of games. Defense is something that has been a strong suit for LB's teams, well the Pistons a few years ago anyway. A guy in my office who hates the Bobcats and the NBA in general said he might actually pay attention to a few games because he hates the NBA for not playing defense and he knows LB will get these guys to play good d. He said he hadn't watched NBA ball since LB won that championship because he liked the way DET played D. He hasn't mentioned it again since but hey, whatever.

[dav7z]

Fat i agree with most of what you saying . But if you go to the games you see the little things that are making us a better defencive team. We starting to defend the pick and role better. Last year we didn't defend it at all. All so our defencive rotation is getting much better ever game. Players like Morrison are taking things personal[ pride] like last night . Morrison and Harpring was fighting ever time down the floor for position. That kind of thing helps and the more pride we put in to it the better we get. If you notice Wallace his rebounds is up this year .Last night it seamed like ever body blocked out on the boards better though we have a long way to go in that area . If you watching you can see more effort in that area too. Fact is we small at the p/f position and have small guards. That puts a lot of presure on Mek and keeping the other team off the offencive boards.
If May or we trade for a big rebounding p/f . Will help our rebounding a lot. If you notice Mek is fighting two players all most the whole game to get a board. Or he defends the first shot and the other team gets the board on the weak side. It's a problem but i think Brown is trying to clean it up. I do see the effort in that area too.
All that said we a better defencive team this year over last year. And by season end we will be a top ten defencive team per 100 possessions .

[fatlever]

dav, i have season tickets and i've been to 4 games this year, 5 on sunday. i hear ya. i'm not saying i'm not encouraged by what i've seen. we have the makings of a solid defensive team. we are showing some signs of defending better, but statistically we are not a good defensive team as of right now.

morrison is a completely different player defensively and i love it.

not sure what you seeing in terms of blocking out. we are awful at boxing out. mek and wallace rarely do it. the only person i saw boxing out consistently last night was ammo. we gave up 18 offensive boards to a boozer and a bunch of scrubs. boozer destroyed us on the glass in the 4th quarter.

while i think we will improve on our current 23rd per 100 defensive rating, i seriously doubt we will climb into the top 10.

i think okafor is overrated as a defender. he's not a lock down defender. ray is solid but nothing spectacular. wallace is a flashy defender but not really a one on one guy. he gets beat back door and gives up too many rebounds (because he doesnt box out). jrich is getting better but is still average at best. the rest of the core players are simply not good defenders. we have a long way to go before we are considered a top 10 defensive team and it will probably take some roster changes before we get there.