Will we improve defensively? What makes for good defense?

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eker0016

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So it seems like we lost some offense between Christie, Hawkins and Payne and may become more defensive focused this year. But Ben's teams don't have a precedent of playing good defense. With that in mind, would love to hear perspective on what people think is most important to becoming better at defense
  • Athleticism - seems like Odukale and Edmonds are good athletes?
  • Size/length - smaller and lighter guys often get pushed around and taken advantage of...see Christie and Hawkins.
  • Effort - I saw Mike Mitchell get better at defense when Ben benched him a few times early for poor defensive effort.
  • Mindset - Some guys have that gritty junkyard dog mindset when they get in the game, obviously related to effort but also feels like a different quality. Carrington had some of that but IMO he wasn't a total ace shutdown defender like he was sometimes described.
  • Experience - Just learning positioning and techniques. We have a lot of seniors and super seniors who should know how to play team defense by now.
  • Coaching - How much does the coach teach, emphasize, scheme, what else? We don't have evidence yet that Ben can architect a stifling defense.

What am I missing? What do you think is most important? I am of the opinion that effort and mindset are the most important but curious of other's perspectives.
 

Good job Eker!

Two things I can add are quick feet and hands especially with perimeter D. Decades ago these two skills really helped me as an undersized defender. Helped keep me maintain good position and be a pest, especially for marginal ball handlers. Once you pick their pocket, they often lose their confidence.
 

eker0016 said:
So it seems like we lost some offense between Christie, Hawkins and Payne and may become more defensive focused this year. But Ben's teams don't have a precedent of playing good defense. With that in mind, would love to hear perspective on what people think is most important to becoming better at defense
  • Athleticism - seems like Odukale and Edmonds are good athletes?
  • Size/length - smaller and lighter guys often get pushed around and taken advantage of...see Christie and Hawkins.
  • Effort - I saw Mike Mitchell get better at defense when Ben benched him a few times early for poor defensive effort.
  • Mindset - Some guys have that gritty junkyard dog mindset when they get in the game, obviously related to effort but also feels like a different quality. Carrington had some of that but IMO he wasn't a total ace shutdown defender like he was sometimes described.
  • Experience - Just learning positioning and techniques. We have a lot of seniors and super seniors who should know how to play team defense by now.
  • Coaching - How much does the coach teach, emphasize, scheme, what else? We don't have evidence yet that Ben can architect a stifling defense.

What am I missing? What do you think is most important? I am of the opinion that effort and mindset are the most important but curious of other's perspectives.
Click to expand...
This is a good topic, thanks for starting it.

IMO, coaching is easily more than half of it. The other things are important, but give me a set of 5 guys playing as a connected team who hedge when they're supposed to hedge, switch when they're supposed to switch, and slide over to help when they're supposed to slide over and help. They will almost always be better than a set of 5 individuals who may each have defensive talents but no idea how they fit in with the other 4 players (see McCaffery, Fran). Tony Bennett consistently has a terrific defense, regardless of how talented and experienced his personnel are.

There's more than one way to play good defensive basketball, too. Some teams try to speed you up and turn you over, and some try to limit you to one shot per possession (ideally a midrange one) by not allowing offensive rebounds. Some play man-to-man exclusively, some play zone, and some try to mix it up. All of that is about coaching philosophy and getting the best players on the court to execute it.
 


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