http://www.si.com/nba/2014/11/18/nba-defenses-trends-rockets-bucks-pelicans-anthony-davis?page=2&devicetype=default
Honestly, I wonder if we really are better defensively. Halfway through the season we were well into the 20s defensively. Surging in the 2nd half of the season resulted in 16th best at the end. So, we were top 10 in the last half of last year?!? We are certainly more resilient to injury than last year...
I think we are because offense throughout the league is. Being a top 10 defense means so much more than last season imo. Also, it seems our communication on the defense is much better without relying on our starters to carry the defensive load. Our bench is either maintaining or improving on our leads mainly because our defense.
Yeah I think it's showing the defense we had post-ASG is continuing. And then adding Kaman makes the time when the bench is in much less nerve wracking.
http://stats.nba.com/league/team/#!/advanced/?Season=2013-14&SeasonSegment=Post All-Star Post all-star we were 10th at 103.0
Exactly. Last Year: #$%#$%, our starters are sucking tonight, we lose. This Year: Our starters are sucking tonight, maybe our bench will pick it up.
Totally agree. Our defense is as good as late last year, but our bench offense is also not horrible now.
It's also CJ and Crabbe being good defenders and improving chemistry and understanding as a team defense. It's also Wesley raising his defense another level. It's, as written in the OP, being able to use Freeland (who was injured for a big part of last year) and having him teamed up with another smart and savvy inside defender in Kaman. It's more rest for the starters. And as I said the X-factor here is Lillard and Aldridge's defense, which is improving. Lillard has made a huge improvement as far as to become a decent defender and Aldridge at least shows more focus and engagement and he is already improved and will continue to do so. I predict that like last year, our defense will progress as the year goes on and we will further improve our rankings by the end of the regular season.
Blake and Kaman have been awesome additions, exactly what we needed. I think the stability of the team has been key as well; 13 returning players with familiarity and continuity. Multiple young players have stepped up when needed. I still laugh thinking about how ESPN ranked our offseason as one of the 3 worst in the league even behind the Heat.
