What makes a good defense?
Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 8:29 pm
There are five different things a team can do to affect their defense:
1) Play good offense - If your opponent has to inbound the ball, it's much easier for you to set up your half court offense.
2) Make your opponent miss
3) Secure the defensive rebound
4) Force your opponent to turn it over
5) Avoid fouling, as free throws are an efficient way to score for most players.
There are 5 stats out there that measure each of these factors:
1) Good offense = Offensive Rating (points per 100 possessions - this adjusts for pace)
2) Make opponents miss = Opponent eFG% (accommodates 3-pointers)
3) Secure the rebound = Defensive rebound %
4) Force turnovers = Opponent Turnover %
5) Avoid fouling = FT/FGA (the lower the better)
These five factors help determine an overall defensive rating (points against per 100 possessions) for a team. Here is how the Wolves ranked with last year's squad:
1) Offensive rating - 25th
2) Opponent eFG% - 24th
3) Dreb% - 11th
4) Opponent TOV% - 3rd
5) Opponent FTA/FG - 5th
Our overall defensive rating last year was 13th, which was slightly above league average. The reason was driven primarily by our ability to secure the defensive rebound on misses, force turnovers, and avoid putting guys at the line. As you can see by our Opponent eFG%, we certainly weren't that good at forcing misses (and a lot of the open looks may have come in transition off of our own misses at the other end).
The bottom line is that even if our team does not have great defenders in the traditional sense (i.e. the ability to get guys to miss shots), there are still other ways to play good defense. While I don't think we will be a stellar defensive squad next year, I do think we have a fighting chance of at least staying about average. I expect us to be in the top 10 in defensive rebounding, opponent TOV%, and opponent FTA/FG based on the personnel on our roster. And I certainly expect our offense to be better, thus leading to less transition opportunities for our opponent.
Optimism!
1) Play good offense - If your opponent has to inbound the ball, it's much easier for you to set up your half court offense.
2) Make your opponent miss
3) Secure the defensive rebound
4) Force your opponent to turn it over
5) Avoid fouling, as free throws are an efficient way to score for most players.
There are 5 stats out there that measure each of these factors:
1) Good offense = Offensive Rating (points per 100 possessions - this adjusts for pace)
2) Make opponents miss = Opponent eFG% (accommodates 3-pointers)
3) Secure the rebound = Defensive rebound %
4) Force turnovers = Opponent Turnover %
5) Avoid fouling = FT/FGA (the lower the better)
These five factors help determine an overall defensive rating (points against per 100 possessions) for a team. Here is how the Wolves ranked with last year's squad:
1) Offensive rating - 25th
2) Opponent eFG% - 24th
3) Dreb% - 11th
4) Opponent TOV% - 3rd
5) Opponent FTA/FG - 5th
Our overall defensive rating last year was 13th, which was slightly above league average. The reason was driven primarily by our ability to secure the defensive rebound on misses, force turnovers, and avoid putting guys at the line. As you can see by our Opponent eFG%, we certainly weren't that good at forcing misses (and a lot of the open looks may have come in transition off of our own misses at the other end).
The bottom line is that even if our team does not have great defenders in the traditional sense (i.e. the ability to get guys to miss shots), there are still other ways to play good defense. While I don't think we will be a stellar defensive squad next year, I do think we have a fighting chance of at least staying about average. I expect us to be in the top 10 in defensive rebounding, opponent TOV%, and opponent FTA/FG based on the personnel on our roster. And I certainly expect our offense to be better, thus leading to less transition opportunities for our opponent.
Optimism!