Let's talk about our defense

[magnifier661]

http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/player/defense/

If you look at the link, Robin Lopez is 8th in the entire league for defensive impact (only Hibbert, Davis, Gasol, Sanders, Jordan, Jefferson and Bogut are in front of them).

But going further, Kaman is 22nd. There are only one other team has a combo of 2 players in the top 22 or higher. But if you look even further down, Aldridge and Batum are 46th and 47th in the league. That means we have 4 players in the top 50 in defensive impact in a game.

That's pretty fucking cool!

 

[Reep]

Just to be clear, this is defense at the rim, not in general. Good numbers but it does fall off a bit as you go down in terms of relevancy. Kyle Korver is ahead of LMA.

 

[Boise Blazer]

[TWEET]532288760264654849[/TWEET]

[TWEET]532289560361725952[/TWEET]

 

[tester551]

Just to be clear, this is defense at the rim, not in general. Good numbers but it does fall off a bit as you go down in terms of relevancy. Kyle Korver is ahead of LMA.

I believe that. LMA usually does not make the effort to be a good defender. Last game he moved out of the way and gave Lawson an uncontested layup.

 

[magnifier661]

I believe that. LMA usually does not make the effort to be a good defender. Last game he moved out of the way and gave Lawson an uncontested layup.

Except Aldridge is a good defender

 

[Strenuus]

Except Aldridge is a good defender

those times when he's not beat by his man and he's left to swipe at air, right?

 

[magnifier661]

those times when he's not beat by his man and he's left to swipe at air, right?

When?

 

[H.C.]

those times when he's not beat by his man and he's left to swipe at air, right?

players in todays game are not fundamentally sound.
the Mere fact more than half of the time Aldridge gets the ball when he swipes down shows that.

 

[Strenuus]

When?

dunno if they have enough bandwidth on the interwebs to show all them... but the houston series and SAS series is always a good start.

he's not a bad defender, but hes not good either. he's lukewarm.

 

[magnifier661]

dunno if they have enough bandwidth on the interwebs to show all them... but the houston series and SAS series is always a good start.

he's not a bad defender, but hes not good either. he's lukewarm.

His team single coverages. I think he does a fine job

 

[Strenuus]

His team single coverages. I think he does a fine job

so he should be getting better with more practice, right?

then again, my biggest bugaboo isn't that... its that he needs to stop taking so many damn jumpers.

 

[magnifier661]

Houston series?! Which player torched him? Asik?

 

[magnifier661]

so he should be getting better with more practice, right?

then again, my biggest bugaboo isn't that... its that he needs to stop taking so many damn jumpers.

Probably because you can't find examples of how Aldridge is a poor defender

 

[Strenuus]

Probably because you can't find examples of how Aldridge is a poor defender

i could. i remember 3 off the top of my head from that series. but im really engrossed in this show so im gonna watch it on my tablet and shitty on screen keyboard instead. Priorities.

 

[magnifier661]

i could. i remember 3 off the top of my head from that series. but im really engrossed in this show so im gonna watch it on my tablet and shitty on screen keyboard instead. Priorities.

Wow 3 plays of a 6 game series, where there must have been a 10-12 plays against him per game average. Yeah he must be shit.

Do you think we win the series without him too?

 

[Strenuus]

Wow 3 plays of a 6 game series, where there must have been a 10-12 plays against him per game average. Yeah he must be shit.

Do you think we win the series without him too?

dont make me go roytoy on you and troll for the sake of trolling.

 

[magnifier661]

dont make me go roytoy on you and troll for the sake of trolling.

Lol

 

[Strenuus]

Lol

for reals though, im on the worst device for putting together videos and such. im always on the fence with lma because i dont think hes reached his cieling offensively or defenseivily. which is scary and awesome.

 

[magnifier661]

for reals though, im on the worst device for putting together videos and such. im always on the fence with lma because i dont think hes reached his cieling offensively or defenseivily. which is scary and awesome.

I personally think Aldridge is a team player. Of course he can do those 40-50 point games, but why would he? He involves his team and that spreads. He is truly a Duncan light. He's the next best thing

 

[BlazerDuckSeahawkFan94]

Aldridge plays olé defense in the first half but cranks it up near the end. He is all about not picking up early fouls.

 

[Blazer4ever]

Why should we find excuses for him? He's far from a good defender, much closer to being clueless, sorry LA but that's the truth.
He stays with his man all the time but that's the least effective way to play defense. Most of the time he doesn't even know where the ball is on the court.
Lopez often defends for the entire team, LaMarcus is the exact opposite, he plays less intelligent help defense or team defense (however you wanna call it) then u and me. I'm not joking about him not knowing where the ball is, he was taught to stay with his man and he does it religiously but look at him play defense: he knows where his man is, he doesn't know where the ball is!
I yell at the screen, defend the fucking ball, Lamarcus.
So yes, he's a solid defender if someone tries to take him one-on-one, but he sucks at everything else. Defense is played as a team. What we did against Houston is we put him on Dwight and were able to use his inability to our advantage, but against a team like the Spurs who has a little more options and a little more brain we had no chance.

Lamarcus needs to learn to be aware of the ball moreso than of his man, until he is able to do that we aren't real contenders, not with him playing so many minutes.

 

[magnifier661]

Why should we find excuses for him? He's far from a good defender, much closer to being clueless, sorry LA but that's the truth.
He stays with his man all the time but that's the least effective way to play defense. Most of the time he doesn't even know where the ball is on the court.
Lopez often defends for the entire team, LaMarcus is the exact opposite, he plays less intelligent help defense or team defense (however you wanna call it) then u and me. I'm not joking about him not knowing where the ball is, he was taught to stay with his man and he does it religiously but look at him play defense: he knows where his man is, he doesn't know where the ball is!
I yell at the screen, defend the fucking ball, Lamarcus.
So yes, he's a solid defender if someone tries to take him one-on-one, but he sucks at everything else. Defense is played as a team. What we did against Houston is we put him on Dwight and were able to use his inability to our advantage, but against a team like the Spurs who has a little more options and a little more brain we had no chance.

Lamarcus needs to learn to be aware of the ball moreso than of his man, until he is able to do that we aren't real contenders, not with him playing so many minutes.

Oh shit, so you say it's a team defense but the Spurs series loss rests on Aldridge's shoulders? Hahaha

Next thing we will read is we will suck if we don't extend T. Rob because he's our answer for success! Oh wait you did!!!

 

[Blazer4ever]

If you know how to find statistics, check the opponent Points per possession with Lopez and Aldridge and with just Lopez. I guarantee you we have a significantly better defense when Lopez plays with another big or even as the only big.

 

[Blazer4ever]

Do you not agree we should have extended TRob or are you one of those CJ/Leonard "enthusiasts"...

 

[magnifier661]

Do you not agree we should have extended TRob or are you one of those CJ/Leonard "enthusiasts"...

I am a Leonard naysayer. CJ is moot since he's not the same position.

If I had my choice, I would have rather had T.Rob than Leonard

 

[magnifier661]

If you know how to find statistics, check the opponent Points per possession with Lopez and Aldridge and with just Lopez. I guarantee you we have a significantly better defense when Lopez plays with another big or even as the only big.

I will look and reply to you. But I suspect Lopez's resurgence has more to do with Aldridge than any other player. He had career numbers last season. The season before he was playing alongside Anthony. Lopez is having yet another monster year this season. Ironically, because he plays along side Aldridge.

It's teamwork like you said. You give Aldridge very little credit

 

[Blazer4ever]

I love LaMarcus, it's just the truth that he has a long way to go defensively and that his improvement in that aspect would determine the team's improvement as a whole.
He plays 35+ mpg and it's hard to argue with that based on his offensive talent but basketball is played on two sides of the floor and if LaMarcus is a liability on defense we have to mask this liability for the many minutes he's on the floor.
There's a reason why the Warriors play their best basketball when David Lee is injured and while I wouldn't go as far as to compare LaMarcus to Lee, there are similarities.
I do see improvement and I think a big part of the team's better defense is Lamarcus' personal effort to improve. The idea is simple: guard the ball, not any one player. When he makes it his instinct we'd be a much stronger team.

To clarify: I'm not saying man-on-man defense is completely worthless. You have to either know who you're guarding or, in zone defense, where you're guarding. But as the defensive stand progresses knowing where the ball is and reacting to it is even a higher priority than knowing where your player is and responding to him. Defense is a combination of both but Lamarcus defense lacks that balance. His Only focus is staying with his man and unless his man his Dwight or Cousins or very few other alpha dog bigs, it makes his defense mostly ineffective.