<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>When analyzing especially skilled players, people think of offense first. Players like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and the others generally atop the league tend to receive more praise for their abilities to create offense and be a first option than their often equally mind-blowing capabilities on the defensive end. A scorer can make maximum money, whereas a defensive specialist is lucky to make the mid-level exception.At the root of all this is typically the assumption, whether valid or invalid, that superior offense is a result of superior talent, whereas defense is merely a combination of athleticism and hard work. A gifted shooter, passer or especially slasher is seen as a magnificent performer who captures the attention and imagination of everyone around him; a gifted defender is rarely given the same admiration, or is sometimes even made into an object of antagonism (as in the cases of Bruce Bowen and John Starks).There has to be something else at play here. When breaking offense and defense down into their individual components, offense seems to be much more acquired. A player can practice bounce passes and free throws for hours in a gym, even all by himself, but there?s no way to practice awareness and spatial sense. They?re inherent characteristics that often impact how great a player can be.Of course, a player can always become a better defender with time. A player can become a better anything with time though; it?s a big reason why many of the game?s best shooters are thirty or older. What is left, then, is the feeling that a lot of defense can?t be improved through effort and drills.Inside-Outside Muscle: Protecting the NetMany of the NBA?s premier defenders excel when given the chance to inflict some physical pain. The sheer strength and endurance required to be an effective defender, usually in the post but sometimes on the perimeter (I.e. when Ron Artest guards a wing player), is enormous. While much of it is gained through weight training and running, it?s all about how it?s used.An example of a perimeter player who has all the strength and athleticism he could possibly want yet has no ability to use it in a one-on-one defensive situation is Vince Carter. He?s proven to be effective on offense, whether it?s driving into the lane or making the odd post-up move, but he?s unable to intimidate.What sets a player like Artest apart from a player like Carter isn?t just the added effort on defense. It?s the ability to apply abilities, a skill that requires more thinking and even raw basketball intelligence than it does work ethic. Using strength in becoming an elite defender requires an in-depth understanding of where the opponent will be combined with knowledge of how and when to apply physical pressure, and of course the natural ability to close on an offensive player so quickly he doesn?t realize you?re there.The resulting effect is that player knowing the defender is not only willing to omit a hard foul but also has the awareness required to channel all that effort into something scary. Strength and effort don?t guarantee defensive prowess.Mental Relentlessness: The ?Tough As Nails? Phenomenon?Offense is driving. Offense is passing. Offence is shooting. Defense is a mentality.Aside from the physical attributes necessary to stop the greats, a crucial partner to defensive awareness is perseverance. Much of it is effort, but there?s a certain indescribable underlying quality behind it. A great defender doesn?t give up on defence; even a player like Rasheed Wallace, who rarely exerts himself offensively like he arguably should, never backs down when the opponent is trying to score.Even the greatest effort can?t withstand the barrage of offensive firepower NBA teams can provide. Defensive intensity is mandatory for defensive notoriety; all the great defenders have it, and even some of the better ones who aren?t elite possess a little. It?s willingness to take charges from bigger guys, to sacrifice whatever?s needed not just for the team but for the game as a whole (body, stats, life expectancy, you name it) and that isn?t the same as effort. Effort is when you do your best hoping that you succeed. Relentlessness is when you do your best but consider that moot because there?s only one outcome you?re willing to accept.Spatial Manoeuvring: The Shiftiness FactorTiming and defense have a very funny relationship. A player can have great timing and do well in one aspect of defense (usually either stealing or shot-blocking), but timing isn?t the only thing that goes into that special ability to determine where a man will be and then stop him. It?s mostly mental, and it?s a trait I call defensive instinct.Take Samuel Dalembert for example. He?s long, athletic and has great timing around the bucket, enabling him to rack up blocked shots at an alarming rate. He often suffers in one-on-one situations though, and hasn?t shown the ability to show significant resistance when a good low-post scorer has his back to the basket. Dalembert?s shortcomings are largely due to two factors: his lack of sufficient strength and his inability to develop an understanding of the finer nuances of positional defense.A player who has that same timing but is stronger and has a better understanding of his surroundings is Alonzo Mourning. Not surprisingly, Mourning?s always been the far better player. Where a player like Mourning succeeds is in his ability to combine his largely athleticism-driven sense of timing with the ability to discern when to go for the block and how to contain even the most dominant offensive player. Athleticism and effort are effective but it?s that spatial awareness, that capacity to determine what an offensive player will do before he does it and then act accordingly, that makes a great defender.Unlike shooting and passing, some things can?t be trained in a gym. In the same way that a student can?t go to the library and improve his or her IQ by reading, a basketball player can?t step on the court and accumulate defensive talent. It?s there or it?s not, arguably as much so as any individual skill.Strength, effort and athleticism are all vital components of top-echelon defense. There?s a certain distinction, though, between necessary and sufficient conditions, and this is where it is. Natural instincts can?t be honed, and that?s why most NBA players will never be elite defenders no matter how toned they are and how hard they try.</div>http://realgm.com/src_feature_article/127/...ion_of_defense/Thoughts?
I think part of the reason that defense doesn't get noticed is it has a more subtle effect. your average offensive star might score 25 points, whereas your average defensive star might hold a guy 5 points below his average. People think that 5 is a lot less than 25, and therefore the offensive star is better in their eyes. What they don't get, is that an average player replacing the offensive star taking an equal amount of shots and playing an equal amount of minutes in his place will probably get 20, so the guy who scores 5 more than the average player is no better than the guy who holds the average player to 5 less.I also reiterate that it's a travesty that Rodman, one of the top 5 defenders of all time and the #1 rebounder is not in the Hall of Fame
Funny, as a friend and I were discussing something along these lines last night (what means more; athleticism or fundementals on defensive end).Defense is the single most important attribute in basketball, especially a playoff series, for 1 simple reason- An offensive player will have bad shooting nights and react much differently to different styles of defenses. A great defensive player, as long as he is out there trying, will always be very consistent and be a great defender as defense never changes from team to team (defensive schemes yes, but the angles and such always remain the same). That is why, in a 7 game series, the great defenses will always be consistent and have that part of the game, while the great offensive teams will be inconsistent.As for what makes a great defensive players, it's pure fundementals and mentality. Defenders don't need to be exceptionally athletic, but it definately can be a huge boost if you have faster speed/greater vertical jump/greater lateral quickness. But, as any coach will tell you, you don't need to be athletic to be a great and effective defender. Defense in its purest form is all about angles, knowing where to be at the right time, being tenacious, and knowing all the little dirty tricks of how to annoy an offensive player whether he is off ball, dribbling the ball, or shooting (Bruce Bowen is the master of this). If you know how to do all of these things, you will be a great defensive player. If you are very athletic, you have a better oppertunity to cheat off ball for a steal and recover in time if it is not there, better oppertunity for blocked shots, and makes things much easier to cut off a player driving to the basket. Post defenders are a bit different and that position requires a bit more vertical athleticism, but as Tim Duncan shows, you do not be exceptionally athletic down on the block either. As for how to improve defense, it is all mental and studying video tape of yourself and other great defenders. Practicing defensive slides also helps, and once you combine it all, you have to do a little trial and error in game situations to see what works on different types of players. The mental factor is also huge. If a player says to himself, "I am going to shut this guy down no matter what," then he will be a far better defender than if he is just going through the motions. That mental factor is what makes a great defender fundementally/athletically into an all time defender (MJ is great example of this). All in all, defense is extremely important and it is hard to understand why most players (especially the exceptionally athletic ones) don't study more tape and learn the very basics of defense. This makes me think of the time I was at basketball camp (Kevin Boyle), and the Villanova head coach was there (name escapes me). He was talking about defense, and talked about how he is great friends with Larry Brown and how they got into a discussion about the 2004 Olympics. The Villanova coach asked why he benched players like Carmelo, and Brown said it was because they couldn't do basic defensive drills that most players learn at the HS level. This amazes me, and shows irresponsibility in top of the line HS coaches and lack of interest in really learning defense in the young NBA players.
I don't like it when people say *Insert name here* is great on defense because they get whatever amount of steals/blocks a game. For every steal, how many times has that person gotten burned and left their team on a 5 on 4 for an easy score?Good defense to me is great man to man, someone with fast feet who is always putting pressure on the defender, not just someone who stays in the passing lanes all day, or just flies in from the side and racks up blocks. Someone who is always putting a hand in someone's face or not letting them through.Lots of people don't understand that.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (The Captain @ Apr 10 2007, 11:58 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I don't like it when people say *Insert name here* is great on defense because they get whatever amount of steals/blocks a game. For every steal, how many times has that person gotten burned and left their team on a 5 on 4 for an easy score?Good defense to me is great man to man, someone with fast feet who is always putting pressure on the defender, not just someone who stays in the passing lanes all day, or just flies in from the side and racks up blocks. Someone who is always putting a hand in someone's face or not letting them through.Lots of people don't understand that.</div>I agree. the warriors lead the league in steals and blocks and suck at defense
Good defense is something that some people just dont understand. Like the pestilence said, Golden State get alot of steals and blocks, but they are a terrible defensive team. They let teams score pretty much, and just go down and try and score before you can recover. They are terrible at rotating to guard people on the perimeter, and their size downlow allows them to get dominated.The Suns are a bad defensive team also even though they get alot of steals as well....They do the same type of things as the Warriors. They are bad at guarding big men, the guards (except raja) just let opposing guards get in to the lane at will, and 3 point shooters get left open....Other teams shoot a bad percentage on them because they are somewhat forced to run with the Suns to keep up....Therefor, they take bad shots. Its not good defense...
Good defense is all the eye of of the beholder.The reason people don't notice defense, is because 99% of all basketball fans only watch highlights, and you can't highlight good defense."Here's Kobe Bryant, posting up Ron Artest on the left wing. Bryant backs in, three dribbles down, fakes inside, pivots out, fadeaway jumper, Artest explodes in with a hand in the face... Miss!"You can't advertise it, you can't put it on Sportscenter. It's not marketable. But what is defense, and what makes good defense? There are tons of guys in the league who get tons of steals, but can't play one on one defense. There are guys in the league who play good off ball defense, but can't play good one on one defense. There are guys who can play one on one defense, but can't rotate to save their lives.It's really all about awareness and smarts, and if I'm picking, I want guys who can play good help defense. I don't care if you're the DNA offspring of Michael Jordan and Bruce Bowen, in the NBA, you are going to get beat one on one in regular occasion. If you have good help defenders, you are able to get beat because there will always be someone there to help. If you don't have help defenders, well, you're 90% of NBA teams.
Good defense needs a moderation of both athletecism/natural ability and fundamental knowledge of this half of the game. However, I believe that athletecism is more of a key factor. Look at the best and most versatile defenders in the NBA today, the Ron Artests, the Shawn Marions. You see a guy like DeShawn Stevenson or Raja Bell who are best at defending the perimeter and would get dominated on the inside, they need to rely on speed to stop guys like Kobe Bryant. Also for perimeter defense you need natural size to be succesful.Now, there is a huge fundamental factor to defending the post. You watch Dikembe Mutumbo play and he can alter or block about any shot in the post, this takes perfect timing which comes from a result of practice and repetition. It's very difficult to do.There are a few other things that I would like to discuss about defense. Firstly, alot of people mistake team defense and a players singular ability to defend. Look at the Pheonix Suns, they have Amare, Marion, and Bell in their starting lineup. All are capable of strong defense however due to the pace that the Suns like to run the squad lacks good team defense making through the majority of the game alot of easy baskets given up. A team can't improve at defense by bringing in a defensive stopper, it's up to the coach and the current roster to improve at that area.Also, alot of you have brought up that defense can't be measured by Blocks and Steals. Specifically perimiter defense can't be, sure getting a steal is great but it doesn't mean you can stay in front of your man and bother him on his jump shots. Gilbert Arenas averaged 2 steals a game and couldn't stay in front of his man the least bit. Post defense can be measured by blocks but only to a certain extent.
Playing defense is like rebounding. You have to want to do it. F*ck talent, a player has to make that sh*t happen. Watch a lot of film have some discipline, a good bball I.Q, a lot of patients and never worry about getting beat. And of course, not fouling. Every player has the ability to do it, the reason so many don't is because playing defense is like mopping up the floors at a peep-show.
Yeah, you don't need talent to play defense. You need to:1.)Know how to play it.2.)Have the dedication to play it.It helps when your not slower than the other person though, too. Mardy Collins is one of the best defenders in the league...Great ball IQ
