Dame's Defensive Improvement

[fumanchu]

You have to give Dame credit, he has improved his D. He's been very active, getting his hands in passing lanes, getting tips, creating turnovers. He's gets the occasional strip and finishes them well. He still gets burned from time to time but otherwise he's shown some real improvement. Nice to see.

 

[Haakzilla]

...I was going to post this in the game thread last night -- it was most evident that he has improved his D quite a bit given how he was being much more disruptive against Conley. Let the "Fuck You" tour continue!

 

[blazedanugz]

Stotts pick n roll philosophy has helped. Going around the pick every time is kind of setting him up for failure to begin with.. Glad to see the adjustment has helped.

 

[mrminksmagoo]

You have to give Dame credit, he has improved his D. He's been very active, getting his hands in passing lanes, getting tips, creating turnovers. He's gets the occasional strip and finishes them well. He still gets burned from time to time but otherwise he's shown some real improvement. Nice to see.

Does this mean Dame got a D enhancement during the off season? Lulz.

 

[Natebishop3]

I mean..... I agree, but Conley lit us up for 27 and his seasonal average is 14.8 ppg.

 

[riverman]

Dame is adding something to his game every season...his assists are off the charts compared to earlier..his defense is smarter and his turnovers are disappearing. He's using screens very well and seems to read his options better. What is most impressive is that he's deferring to teammates and moving the ball. Everything it takes to be a top notch pt guard. The guy just sees the big picture and commands respect

 

[andalusian]

Dillard, indeed

 

[BlayZa]

there was another guy who was knocked for his D and worked really hard on it, made all D team too, something-or-other Jordan....

dunno if we gonna get anything close to that, but shows the awareness of the need to improve and the correct attitude.

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

As a team, the steals have been up lately.

We are averaging 6.8, but had nine vs Memphis, 15 vs Houston, 8 vs Toronto, 6 vs Milwaukee, 7 vs Minnesota, and 10 vs Charlotte.

Small sample size but hope it continues.

 

[LuckyShot]

I mean..... I agree, but Conley lit us up for 27 and his seasonal average is 14.8 ppg.

I didn't get to see the entire game, but what I saw of Conley in the first half was him hitting shots he normally doesn't even take, let alone make. He had a good game because he was playing well. I think Dame competes well on defense for the most part, but he has this reputation of being a poor defender that makes people confident in attacking him. That's half the battle.

 

[BlazerDuckSeahawkFan94]

I mean..... I agree, but Conley lit us up for 27 and his seasonal average is 14.8 ppg.

Okay, as a team we have an issue giving up 25+ points for one player regardless of position.

Anthony Davis (25, 28, 28)
Eric Bledsoe (33, 31)
Brandon Knight (27)
Andre Drummond (29)
Reggie Jackson (40)
Marc Gasol (31)
Nic Batum (33)
Al Jefferson (29)
James Harden (45, 33)
Deron Williams (30)
Dirk Nowitzki (28)
CJ Miles (27)
Karl-Anthony Towns (27)
LeBron James (33)
Carmelo Anthony (37)
Tobias Harris (25)
Nikola Vucevic (25)
Chris Bosh (29)
DeMarcus Cousins (36)
Will Barton (31)
Trey Burke (27)
Danilo Gallinari (29)
Zachary Randolph (26, 26)
Klay Thompson (36)
Steph Curry (26)
Kevin Durant (28)
Russell Westbrook (25)
Brook Lopez (25)
Jahlil Okafor (25)
Kyle Lowry (30)
DeMar DeRozan (29)
Mike Conley (27)

And that's just 53 games in.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Okay, as a team we have an issue giving up 25+ points for one player regardless of position.

Anthony Davis (25, 28, 28)
Eric Bledsoe (33, 31)
Brandon Knight (27)
Andre Drummond (29)
Reggie Jackson (40)
Marc Gasol (31)
Nic Batum (33)
Al Jefferson (29)
James Harden (45, 33)
Deron Williams (30)
Dirk Nowitzki (28)
CJ Miles (27)
Karl-Anthony Towns (27)
LeBron James (33)
Carmelo Anthony (37)
Tobias Harris (25)
Nikola Vucevic (25)
Chris Bosh (29)
DeMarcus Cousins (36)
Will Barton (31)
Trey Burke (27)
Danilo Gallinari (29)
Zachary Randolph (26, 26)
Klay Thompson (36)
Steph Curry (26)
Kevin Durant (28)
Russell Westbrook (25)
Brook Lopez (25)
Jahlil Okafor (25)
Kyle Lowry (30)
DeMar DeRozan (29)
Mike Conley (27)

And that's just 53 games in.

Damn you--you made me curious, so I had to pull numbers.

With 37, Portland has allowed the most 25+ point games to opponents, with OKC and NOP tied for 2nd at 34 each. SAS has allowed the fewest at just 15. Interestingly, Milwaukee is tied for 2nd-fewest with 19, and the lowly Sixers are 4th-fewest with 20.

Curry, Harden, and Durant are the only players with 30 or more 25+ point games. Dillard is tied for 8th with 21. Of those, only LAL (3) and MEM (2) have allowed him to break 25 more than once. Note, Memphis is the other team tied with Milwaukee with 19 such games allowed, and our guy has 2 of them.

With his performances against LAL, Dillard is one of only 5 players to have scored 25+ against the same team 3 separate times this season. Davis has done it to two teams (us and DAL), as has Harden (SAC and LAL). Durant (v DEN) and Butler (v CHO) are the others.

How dare you make me go down this rabbit hole!!!