On paper, it seems to me that defensively we should be decent. We have length, we have athleticism, we have versatility. Obviously we're still missing rim protection, but we shouldn't be this bad on the perimeter. Dame has improved defensively. So is this a strategy issue? Is it a personnel issue? Is it lack of effort?
All of the above. We don't have a single, elite individual defender, and few that are well above average. With that said, I've always thought that scheme is far more important than personnel. You can have elite defenders at all 5 positions, but if the scheme sucks the defense will suck. Conversely, you can have average individual defenders but if they work as a unit in a sound defensive scheme they will be tough to score against.
I seem to see it being strategy. Rotations and switches are still killing us. Team D has not been there. When I think of Team D I cant help but go back to the Piston with Rasheed and how they basically created a net you had to get through. to get to the hoop. I think we are over reaching and getting caught instead of trusting the next guy to hold his spot. Id personally like to see a bit more Zone coverage and see how that plays out because this one on one picknroll is killing us.
That's what I want to know. Steph Curry is a sieve on defense. There's a reason why Dame always torches them. Curry is awful.
Yep, Green was second in DPOY two years in a row. Thompson is one of the better defending SGs in the league. Barnes didn't suck, Iguodala is a great defender, as was Bogut. The Splash Bros and their prolific shooting get all the media attention, but they were an elite defensive team with multiple elite individual defenders for the last two years. It will be interesting to see how the loss of Bogut impacts their defense. With the addition of Durant, it probably won't make much difference during the regular season, but the lack of rim protection could come back to haunt them in the playoffs - especially if they end up meeting CLE in the finals again. After Bogut went down early in Game 5 in the finals, I warned that GSW would miss his defense. Sure enough, with no rim protection, the rest of Game 5, and all of Games 6 and 7 became a layup drill for LeBron with CLE outscoring GSW by 17 points per game in the paint over the last three games of that series. So yeah, rim protection is a key building block to modern NBA defenses. We currently have none. Waiting for Ezeli to return may be fool's gold. Yes, we got him cheap because we knew his injury history. He wasn't expected to start, or even play more than his historical average of about 16 MPG, but we need more help than he's likely to provide. Unlike GSW, with several other great defenders, we don't have the luxury of waiting for our one, and only, rim protector to get healthy and then crossing our fingers that he doesn't go down again a month later. BNM
Which is why I'm on the Nerlens Noel bandwagon. He would fix so much of what it broken with our defense. No way does PHO light us up for 62 points in the paint with The Nerlen Wall patrolling the middle. BNM
His game is perfect for our deficiencies. It's off the court that's troubling. The guy apparently opted for elective surgery this fall, after mentioning that there's not enough PT for him and the other Cs on his team. Then the whole rental place he tore up where they found a bunch of weed. And the TMZ story from 2 yrs ago where was in a child support battle with his baby mama at only age 20. Then the multiple reports from Philly blogs saying he's late to practices and has an iffy work ethic. Dame has said multiple times how he doesn't recruit FAs, and those meetings are as much about him gauging whether the new guy can fit as much as it is the other way around. If all of the above is mostly bullshit, then go for it.
He's had some off court red flags, but no on court problems (like Cousins). He was young and definitely made some mistakes. I think getting him to a more healthy environment with a strong leader like Dame will help a lot. The guy is only 22 and still has some growing up to do. It's not too late to change his ways, The right situation will help a lot. He had a great rookie season, but PHI was in full tank mode. They drafted two more centers in Embiid and Okafor and then forced him to play out of position at PF all last season, so he could erase Oakfor's mistakes on defense and now he's lost his starting job all together to Embiid. Perhaps he hasn't handled the situation the best, but he played his ass off for a team that deliberately lost games so they could draft guys to replace him. I can understand his frustration in PHI. Right now that team and city are in a honeymoon period with Joel Embiid, but they are still losing. They have now lost 41 straight games in the months of October and November. They have gone 19-63, 18-64, 10-72 and now 0-4 since drafting Noel. All that losing takes a toll. BNM
Noel had minor knee surgery on October 22 and us expected to be out until December 1. We can trade anyone but Crabbe, Leonard and Harkless on 12/14. Since I suspect PHI would want at least one, possibly two, of those guys, we may have to await until 1/14. BTW, if we do go after Noel, intead of an older player like Cousins, I would NOT trade them Vonleh. They are overloaded with bigs and don't really need him anywway. They need guards and wings much more. Plus, with Noel at 22 and Vonleh at 21, we ould have our front court of the future, that would extend our window through Dame and C.J.'s prime years, and beyond. BNM
Its my understanding that we would only have to wait on Crabbe if he doesn't approve? Otherwise he is trad able anytime?
Doesn't this apply to all of Crabbe, Leonard and Harkless: For three months or until January 15 of that season (whichever is later) after re-signing a free agent with Larry Bird or Early Bird rights, if the team is over the cap, the player's new salary is above the minimum, and he receives a raise greater than 20%. Weren't we over the cap when we re-signed all three? BNM
Not that I am aware of? How could we have if we are atill just barely under the cap? What got us back under than? I do not have a full understanding of all the cap nuances though. Damn rooks...
