We know that defense wins games and that this Wolves team has had a long way to go to improve in that area, but it seems a bit alarming right now. Last night, we came back and beat a really good Raptors team with a huge effort from KAT, but we gave up 68 points in the first half. 68!! I am sure KAT is still learning his role, but he should be above average, Wiggins is above average and so is Ricky. None of them are great yet, but 3 starters (plus anything you get from Tayshaun or KG) should help. Are the rest of the guys that bad?? Some of you are better at analyzing this than I am. Thoughts?
I think it is clear that any additions to this team need to be defensive minded.
Defense?
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Q12543 [enjin:6621299]
- Posts: 13844
- Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2013 12:00 am
Re: Defense?
Yes, defense is still a major problem with this team, especially when KG and Prince are out of the lineup. It's amazing how much of a difference KG still makes on that end of the floor.
From an advanced stats perspective, the only guy that is considered a plus defender - in addition to Prince and KG - is Rubio. That's more because of his disruptive team defense than his one-on-one skills, although he can really excel at ball denial when he gets locked in.
I think KAT and Wiggins are neutral at the moment. Wiggins is a pretty good one-on-one defender, but does very little from a team defense perspective. KAT is also still learning the nuances of defense, which is really hard for a big man in today's NBA. Hopefully both he and Wiggins eventually become plus defenders.
After that, things go down hill fast in my opinion. Dieng does some things well, but really struggles at the most important job of a big man - defending in the paint. Whether it's a driving guard or big man posting him up. He's solid on PnR defense, but boy, once he is mano-a-mano deep in the paint with someone, he loses that battle the majority of the time.
LaVine is a poor man's version of Wiggins on defense in my opinion. He does very little in the way of team defense, but at times excels one-on-one. But he is easily fooled by cross-overs and other change of direction moves where he over-reacts and has a tough time recovering.
Bazz is the worst. There was a brief stint last night where he was guarding DeRozan and it was a total trainwreck. It's not an effort issue with Bazz. He just flat out sucks defensively, not sure what else there is to say. Martin falls into the same boat.
Payne, Bjelica, Miller, and a hobbled Pek are all at various levels of negative.
From an advanced stats perspective, the only guy that is considered a plus defender - in addition to Prince and KG - is Rubio. That's more because of his disruptive team defense than his one-on-one skills, although he can really excel at ball denial when he gets locked in.
I think KAT and Wiggins are neutral at the moment. Wiggins is a pretty good one-on-one defender, but does very little from a team defense perspective. KAT is also still learning the nuances of defense, which is really hard for a big man in today's NBA. Hopefully both he and Wiggins eventually become plus defenders.
After that, things go down hill fast in my opinion. Dieng does some things well, but really struggles at the most important job of a big man - defending in the paint. Whether it's a driving guard or big man posting him up. He's solid on PnR defense, but boy, once he is mano-a-mano deep in the paint with someone, he loses that battle the majority of the time.
LaVine is a poor man's version of Wiggins on defense in my opinion. He does very little in the way of team defense, but at times excels one-on-one. But he is easily fooled by cross-overs and other change of direction moves where he over-reacts and has a tough time recovering.
Bazz is the worst. There was a brief stint last night where he was guarding DeRozan and it was a total trainwreck. It's not an effort issue with Bazz. He just flat out sucks defensively, not sure what else there is to say. Martin falls into the same boat.
Payne, Bjelica, Miller, and a hobbled Pek are all at various levels of negative.
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petecorcoran [enjin:6658618]
- Posts: 79
- Joined: Sun Jul 14, 2013 12:00 am
Re: Defense?
Right now, Prince, KG and Rubio are our only plus defenders... and when all three are on the court, we have limitations on offense.
Then if you look at last night's starting lineup, we have two major problems with defense. First. Lavine is currently terrible on defense and our 6th man (Shabazz) is even worse. And second, we lack a strong post defender against really big and strong centers. It's shown up against Jordan, Howard, Valenciunis, Mark Gasol, Drummond, etc.
There is hope for improvement from Lavine, Towns and Wiggins because of their athleticism. But long term I think we need a big defensive center, with Towns at PF and Dieng coming off the bench.
Then if you look at last night's starting lineup, we have two major problems with defense. First. Lavine is currently terrible on defense and our 6th man (Shabazz) is even worse. And second, we lack a strong post defender against really big and strong centers. It's shown up against Jordan, Howard, Valenciunis, Mark Gasol, Drummond, etc.
There is hope for improvement from Lavine, Towns and Wiggins because of their athleticism. But long term I think we need a big defensive center, with Towns at PF and Dieng coming off the bench.