In Isolation: The Kings' Defensive Bright Spot
by Tom Ziller on May 5, 2010 7:12 AM PDT
in Numbers
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PrintSacramento's defense improved in 2010, but not to the point where anyone would actually feel good about it. The Kings finished No. 20 in the league in defense, with the biggest improvements coming in shot defense (No. 19) and defensive rebounding (No. 18). I know, I'm as surprised as you. Shot defense and rebounding. So while neither total defense, shot defense or defensive rebounding were even so much as average this season, there's some light at the end of the tunnel.
You want a real bright spot, though? Look even deeper into the numbers. Using the fantastic Synergy Sports, I took a detailed look at the Kings defense. I'll have a series of posts over the next few weeks on this data. Today, we start with the most positive finding: the Kings were really good at defending isolation plays. Like, the fourth best team in the league.
The team allowed opponents to score 0.82 points per possession on isolation plays, a better mark than all but three NBA teams. (Oklahoma City ranked No. 1 at 0.78 PPP, the Lakers were No. 2 and Milwaukee No. 3. Boston tied with Sacramento at No. 4.) About 13% of all opponent plays were isolation plays, fitting a rough level average. (For the sake of comparison, the pick-and-roll took up about 15% of opponent plays, and spot-up shots made up 16%. Transition was another 13%, and post-up plays were 12%. So about 70% of all the Kings' opponents play fall into those categories. The Kings finished well in isolation, No. 9 in transition defense and really really bad in all other categories.)
So, isolation defense -- that would indicate the Kings have some good man defenders, right? Hmm ...
According to the data, the Kings indeed do have a few good man defenders, assuming the data is more signal than noise. Three Kings who defended at least 100 isolation plays finished in the league's top 25 (among more than 400 NBA players) in opponent points per possession. I asked for guesses on Sactown Royalty's Facebook page last week, as the answers aren't all that obvious.
One of the players, No. 25 in the league in isolation defense, is Tyreke Evans. Check his I.D.! Evans was less successful in other defensive opportunities (particularly guarding players coming off screens), but he was fantastic in isolation. He forced turnovers on a full 20% of opponent iso plays. Opponents scored only 0.68 points per possession in isolation against Evans, and shot 31.2%. Credit his length and strength for those turnovers and the shot contesting, I imagine.
But who else did a good job ... or a better job? Would you believe it's Jason Thompson? J.T. held opponents to 0.66 points per possession on isolation plays (No. 19 in the NBA), and just 33.6% shooting. Despite his well-known propensity to foul, J.T. actually avoided sending opponents to the line when they ran iso plays, fouling on just 5.5% of the plays and surrendering just one And-1 all season. Compare that to the post, where Thompson was mediocre, fouling on 11% of opponent plays. A brief survey of the video clips of Thompson defending in isolation shows J.T. forcing opponents to pull up on jumpers, thanks to his length and relative quickness.
Our final isolation hero is another youngster, Omri Casspi. According to Synergy's data, Omri was actually the team's best defender last season, No. 30 in the league in total opponent PPP. In isolation, he finished No. 10, allowing just 0.63 PPP over 134 plays. (Only Evans and Beno Udrih defended more iso plays, and only by a few despite more minutes for the point guards.) Casspi forced turnovers on 14% of these plays, and limited the opponents to 31.1% shooting otherwise. Holy tenacity, Batman!
Other Kings did not fair so well. Beno finished middle of the NBA pack with 0.87 PPP in his 142 plays. Donte Greene allowed 0.97 PPP in more than 100 plays. Andres Nocioni allowed 0.87 PPP, and Spencer Hawes 0.96. The other Kings had 50 or fewer opportunities to defend iso plays.
When investigating the Kings' defense, it won't get prettier than this, with three young Kings making magic. So cheers to Reke, J.T. and Omri for putting the MAN in mano a mano defense.
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I'm glad there is some kind of numbers proof that JT is better in something at defense than Spence is
Cuz frankly I haven’t seen that. Doesn’t mean Synergy is wrong or I’m right. I would heavily doubt that’s the case. Just seems surprising I guess.
EvilCowtownInc: Screwin Suckaz over since 1985......
No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
same here pookey
if someone told me before this stat appeared who was better defensively between jt and spence i would have said spence by a small margin because he blocks some shots. (all though i taught they both were so bad defensively) while jt in the back of my mind always gave me that impression of a fouling machine and a pouting one right after.
by pakyubai on May 5, 2010 8:13 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
I always felt that
the majority of JT’s fouls came in help defense
by The Guy on the Couch on May 5, 2010 9:17 AM PDT up reply actions
Well, let's not forget that this is only defending isolation plays.
Actually, I would have guessed that JT surpasses Spencer in this one area for exactly the reasons TZ mentions in the article. Pretty damn curious now to see how they compare in others- I’d guess that Spence is more effective if only because he doesn’t foul as often…?
But how does Spencer's lack of defense effect Thompson?
I am obviously a Jason Thompson fan- no qualms about it. Jason needs to cut back on the fouls for sure but I believe that one of the key components to his foul trouble is the rotation madness of Paul Westphal. This season, Thompson started as either the PF or center 58 times. Starting next to him, again as either a PF or C, were Sean May, Spencer Hawes, Kenny Thomas, Andres Nocioni, Donté Greene, John Brockman and Carl Landry. I’m not sure that I see a real common thread among the players that suited up next to Thomspon in the starting line up.
I really think that Thompson’s inexperience as a pro was exposed when he was forced to adapt to what ever guy was standing next to him on a nightly basis. Thompson really needed some continuity, something that Westphal seems to undervalue. One night Thompson played next to an immobile Sean May who couldn’t stay in front of his man. Next was Hawes with his lack of strength and suspect rebounding. Nocioni is a true tweener forward- not strong enough to guard the 4, not quick enough to guard the 3- and, again, a sub par rebounder. Kenny Thomas is really quick for an old dog and rebounded extremely well but due to his impotent offensive game, he couldn’t get any real minutes. I can keep going but my point is, this group of rag tag PF/C’s came in all kinds of different shapes and sizes, played all kinds of different offensive/defensive games and each of them lack a portion of a skill set that Jason Thompson was expected to mask. I personally believe that the tinkering became too much for Thompson and that is the major reason for his mid-season dip.
I like Thompson’s potential as a starter in this league. His rebounding and defense should only improve with experience and a more stable roster around him.
The Sacramento Convergence concept offers Sacramento, the Central Valley, and the State a solution to feasibly construct a new multi-use Entertainment and Sports Complex.
by jjham15 on May 5, 2010 12:46 PM PDT up reply actions 2 recs
You project JT's abilities a bit much.
While I like JT and find his talents valuable to an extent, I think you’re projecting him to be something he hasn’t become yet.
I have no problem in believing JT can get there. But to me he’s shown he’s at best a 3rd big in the rotation. And Spence has shown less than that. And that’s what Carl Landry is.
The reason there is so much difficulty with set lineups is that Paul Westphal was actually trying to win games. It’s pretty hard when you have a young inexperienced new group that hasn’t had a lot of time together to win games immediately. I imagine the experience of this season will lead to some continuity and wins next season.
EvilCowtownInc: Screwin Suckaz over since 1985......
No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
"I think you’re projecting him to be something he hasn’t become yet." LOL
sorry it made me stop reading.
projectproject: to plan, figure, or estimate for the future.
huh? wha?
I'm confused.
That’s my point Steve.
EvilCowtownInc: Screwin Suckaz over since 1985......
No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
Question,
your “you’re” is it “you are” or “you were”? I had been reading it as ’you are", which is rather silly but read as “you were”—perhaps referring to when JT was drafted— it makes perfect sense and im retahded.
huh? wha?
What's wrong with "you are"?
I was referring to a single person there.
EvilCowtownInc: Screwin Suckaz over since 1985......
No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
“you are projecting him to be something he hasn’t become yet”
Well, duh. That’s kind of the point of projections. I think you meant something more like “you’re projecting him to be something beyond what his abilities have shown so far” or something similar.
Sharlon Schoop - de favoriete Nederlandse honkbalspeler van McCovey Chronicles.
You always have to be one step ahead of your drunk friends
--Daisy Owl
Point taken.
Although my point still stands: Potential is not necessarily the same thing as production/doing something.
EvilCowtownInc: Screwin Suckaz over since 1985......
No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
Yuh.
Yall done learned me.
EvilCowtownInc: Screwin Suckaz over since 1985......
No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
Being able to block shots
does not necessary make a good defender.
When you go too often for the block, you’re bound to pick up more fouls, get caught by fakes and out of position after jumping eagerly to swatt at a ball, and then being unable to box out or return to the player you’re defending.
Dunking Dutchman
This is a problem I have with Hawes.
Hawes often get’s out of position when attempting to block shots which is really frustrating when you factor in that he is only a mediocre shot blocker. The Kings would be better served having Hawes stay closer to the ground and body up his man instead of gambling and getting burned by the put back. This was a knock on Landry coming from Houston but I rarely saw him do this as a King.
The Sacramento Convergence concept offers Sacramento, the Central Valley, and the State a solution to feasibly construct a new multi-use Entertainment and Sports Complex.
Excellent stuff!
It is really nice to see our young guys doing so well. I wonder about the Donte’ stats..
Donte’ drew some pretty tough defensive assignments and it seems like these stats could be a bit biased for those players who often cover some of the best scorers of the other team.
by MustangMBS on May 5, 2010 7:35 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
I thought this too
Kinda of like pace adjustment on offense but for Donte it would be always guarding the super star adjustment.
Umm... I thought we were officially referring to Voison as the Chick Replacing Amick at the Paper? or CRAP, for short.
by sac_faithful on May 5, 2010 12:09 PM PDT up reply actions
all the young dudes
Great info. I am with Mustang on Donte. He was asked many times tover the course of the season to guard the studs of the league in the likes of Mello, James, Kobe, etc. I believe Evan’s length on the perimeter helps out too. JT is a bit surprising but good for him. Be interested on the stats of team defense with Donte, JT, Evans, Casspi, and Landry on the floor at the same time. Not sure if they all played together at the same time. Not a bad line up either.
by noreboundsnorings on May 5, 2010 7:48 AM PDT reply actions
Good point mustang
I love beating dead horses.
by allbenji's on May 5, 2010 8:04 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
I've always felt team defense was our weekness
bad rotations & bad pick & roll D. I never really felt it was effort related the players just were not good at, not taught well enough, or just didn’t have it down yet.
1 out of every 5 iso plays resulting in a turnover against Tyreke is ridiculous.
Great news about Omri & JT. Great effort should get you these types of 1 on 1 defensive stats. I think JT looks so bad on D because he has trouble rotating late which causes him to foul.
One more thing on team defense is I’m not sure if anyone screams out rotations. We most likely need a vocal defensive leader.
I love beating dead horses.
by allbenji's on May 5, 2010 8:02 AM PDT via mobile reply actions 1 recs
Wasn't there a comment like this during Dorsey's tenure?
We most likely need a vocal defensive leader.
I thought I remembered (maybe in a “View from Section xx”) someone saying that Dorsey, in one of his first (and only) games, was calling out on defense for people to tell him what was going on and got nothing back. This was before Cisco returned I’m guessing.
I don't think "JT looks so bad on D"-
I made a point about this up higher in the discussion but I will add this nuance- Thompson picks up a lot of his fouls banging in the paint because he is often flanked by poor rebounders and he is the only one doing the dirty work. Does Thompson need to move his feet quicker and get position earlier? Yes but he is far from a bad defender and these stats kind of show that. Keep in mind that Thompson was a second year player from a small school. He will learn and adapt as time goes on, the fact that he is already a solid man on defender is very encouraging.
The Sacramento Convergence concept offers Sacramento, the Central Valley, and the State a solution to feasibly construct a new multi-use Entertainment and Sports Complex.
But wait
Tyreke doesn’t play defense, hadn’t you heard? Get these “facts” and “statistics” out of here. You’re going to ruin some people’s arguments.
Jokes aside, really good data and info.
Never forget: I am a complete idiot
Evans really falls asleep off the ball.
He kind of looks like a guy waiting for a bus when his guy doesn’t have the ball. I think Evans has the potential to be a top steal guy once he learns how to play the passing lanes because he already has the man on skills and those arms are a mile long.
The Sacramento Convergence concept offers Sacramento, the Central Valley, and the State a solution to feasibly construct a new multi-use Entertainment and Sports Complex.
+1
I am one of those who thinks Tyreke plays the ball too much. Too many times I’ve seen his man wide open, and then, instead of rushing the guy, Tyreke turns around to get the rebound. When his man has the ball, though, Tyreke is a beast.
by Charles L. Pierro on May 5, 2010 11:07 PM PDT up reply actions
It'd be great if the Blogs are allowed more access to MySynergysports during the season
It would make for some great reading and analysis, just like this one.
by kingsfan300 on May 5, 2010 9:00 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
It will likely be available for the season.
They just launched the option now I think to get an idea of what the market is like in anticipation for the season.
EvilCowtownInc: Screwin Suckaz over since 1985......
No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
I might have to consider a subscription to Synergy. This is fantastic
By the way, could it be possible that Donté doesn’t rank as high because he was frequently asked to go out there and guard the best player on the other team?
Grandmaster of the "Never let AnotherStupidSN forget what a Sham-Wow is" Order and Originator of the "Brock Ness Monster".
And we find are young core to keep
Notice, not build around, but keep.
I think those 3 players are our most valuable assets moving forward. If stars come up in trade talks then we should look at moving other young assets, but for me, JT and Casspi would require a superstar to justify moving in a deal and Tyreke is untradeable at the current time. I don’t think I’d move Tyreke for anyone that’s realistic that he could be dealt for.
I still love the upside that is Donte and Hawes though and they’d require a hefty price to move IMO.
We’re in a strong position for leverage in deals as we have nice young, cheap assets and a lot of booty to spend. Be wise and we can make some noise.
The future looks good!
Maybe next season we can be an average-to-good defensive team.
I would like to say that this mean Thompson and Casspi should start. But I if isolation plays are only 13% of all plays, maybe we should compare with who plays the best overall team defense.
Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance. Vonnegut
Yes, team defense is the answer
I agree that this is really where it is at and what we need. One on one only goes so far and our overall team defense seemed like a dead horse at the early part of the season, but it really seems like that started to change by season end.
A set rotation and players learning how to work together is the only way the team defense will improve. It seems like we have a set group of starters and not the chaos of PW madness in mixing and mashing players into different roles is really the answer.
My main critique of PW this year, besides the Spencer debacle, would the huge number of substitutions that were based inserting a one on one defender into a situation instead of using the situation as a learning moment to teach the young kids how to defend as a team.
PW has to coach and teach during games. That means when the players are having a problem stopping somebody. He should be using those moments to improve team defense, IMO.
I completely agree
You can have 5 excellent man to man defenders on the floor. But if their teammates don’t call out screens, don’t help on the pick and roll and don’t know when to leave their man to give help defense, all those individual skills don’t mean shit.
Dunking Dutchman
Omri's Pick and Roll D
All I remember from Omri on defense last season is him getting screened, the dribbler pulling up for an open jumpshot or driving to the hole, and the other defender looking at Omri for an explanation why the opponent just scored. And then Omri just shrugs his shoulders and runs away. Hopefully this will improve next season and I won’t cringe everytime a pick comes his way. That said, the excellent isolation defense is surprising and a welcome eye-opener.
Interesting that Donte's #s weren't so hot
considering I (and others) have been considering him one of our better defensive players. Perhaps it was because he was guarding the other team’s best player, and they’re going to score more on ISO plays than the average player. Or maybe because he’s defended well on other, non iso, sequences. Or maybe I’m just wrong.
Omri also frequently guarded the other team's best player
He was pretty efficient against Lebron in the game before Christmass, and I remember also a very good game against Igudola. He is actually a good on-ball defender; his weakness is more away from the ball.
As to his problems with the pick and roll, I think a lot of ot has to do with lack of communications. At Maccabi, players are always takling and shouting out warnings and instructions. That’s missing in our defense. Lead pipe also commented on it here above.
Dunking Dutchman
True
I guess it was that stretch when I was home over winter break and able to watch games live, and Donte was guarding LeBron, Carmelo and Kobe and did a decent job, that left me with that impression
I agree DD-
Omri has done a fine job against big named talent. The one thing I would like to point out- not to bash Donté is that “best player” doesn’t always mean best shooting percentage. Many of the leagues best perimeter players are bulk shooters which should lend itself to a lower per possession scoring rate. Bigs usually lead the league in FG% although their has been a trend towards players like LBJ, Tony Parker and Evans that score a high percentage of their shots in the paint.
The Sacramento Convergence concept offers Sacramento, the Central Valley, and the State a solution to feasibly construct a new multi-use Entertainment and Sports Complex.
The numbers were very interesting.
I seen the numbers before (I have Synergy Sports) and was a welcome sight to see that we are a very good, elite defensive team in isolation situations. But that does not mean anything if our team defense is crap. I hope we improve in this regard.
Rebuilding the Kings.
An alternate theory as to why JT looks better in iso than Spence does
When JT & Spence were in the game together, JT usually did not guard the better player. Therefore, particularly in isolation against an inferior player, that player scores less.
I’m not saying JT can’t get better at defense, or that Spence is perfect. It’s hardly the case on either front. But there is more than one explanation for the numbers, and I’d be curious as to what those reasons are.
EvilCowtownInc: Screwin Suckaz over since 1985......
No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
Just for sake of argument Pookey-
I think there is a point that people are kind of missing here. Isolation plays are a very specific type of play that are typically run for a team’s top offensive options. Reggie Evans doesn’t get isolation plays run for him- hell, Jason Thompson might only get an isolation play run for him every couple of games. T-Zilly quoted the stats at 13% of possessions are isolation plays. I don’t think that there would be a huge difference between the players that Hawes and Thompson are guarding in this scenario if they are even different players. On the Kings, Evans, Landry and on occasion Casspi would have isolation plays run for them. Hawes is a post up play guy. Beno, a pick and roll guy. The Kings have a few catch and shoot players. I hope I’m making sense here. It kind of comes back to the “Donté Greene had to guard the best player” argument- great players and really good players get isolation plays- the rest get some help.
I think we are going to have to throw down and subscribe to this site- this information is just too valuable to the overall discussion.
The Sacramento Convergence concept offers Sacramento, the Central Valley, and the State a solution to feasibly construct a new multi-use Entertainment and Sports Complex.
My knee jerk reations
is that that 7 Kings players held their man to less then 100% Offensive Efficiency. Isn’t that good? Even the worst of the 7, Spencer didn’t allow his man to score 50% of the time. Or, am I reading the numbers wrong. Omris .63 ppp if calculated over 100 possessions, means of 100 shots they only scored 63 pts versus 200 pts if they scored on ever possession.
Two other questions came to mind. Usually teams run iso’s on a player where they feel they have an advantage. Either their player is much better or the player their going up against is much worse. If that was truely the case here, Then our guys are truely to be congradulated on; the results.
The last question I had was were there any help defense on these iso’s? Or, did the players really defend their man on their own. I’m curious what the criteria was in determining each of the catagories. If a player is defending in a iso, there is a predetermined direct he is told to force his man. Donte might be told to force his man baseline or toward the middle depending on where the help defense is going to come from.
In a half court set, there should be help defense, so most players aren’t truely man on man. I look at the defender on a breakaway as the only true man on man defender.
"If you don't have anything good to say, LIE" - Mom
The greatest impact player in NBA History - Tim Donaghy
I was wondering this myself
The last question I had was were there any help defense on these iso’s? Or, did the players really defend their man on their own. I’m curious what the criteria was in determining each of the catagories.
You make a good point that the other team typically only runs an iso play if they think they have an advantage. Perhaps that’s part of the secret to Casspi’s success— especially early in the season, opponents thought he would be a somewhat lost rookie and were more willing to run iso plays with mediocre players.
So perhaps isolation defence isn’t as much a pure measure of being good (with the obvious exception of those who defend superstars well) as it is a measure of being underestimated. This would make it kind of like a team’s record against the spread— the Bucks went 53-28-1 against the spread this year, not because they were a great team, but because they were often underestimated. We rocked against the spread early in the Webber years.
Interesting info about covering the spread.
What I find interesting was that all 7 players mentioned held there man under 50%. Not shut down defense but good defense overall.
"If you don't have anything good to say, LIE" - Mom
The greatest impact player in NBA History - Tim Donaghy
I suppose it would give me a little more context to understand those numbers if we knew what league-wide points per possession average was in isolation situations. I wouldn’t be shocked if it’s significantly below the overall points per possession average. I mean, isn’t that why we all cringe when a player tends toward too much isolation basketball— because we expect that to be less productive in the long run than a well executed team offense?
I don't know what the average might be, maybe TZ can come up with it.
But, he did quote that the Kings were fourth with an .82 percentage. Which I believe to mean 4 made baskets out of 10 possessions, not actually but as an analogy by that proportion.
If Evans was 25th out of 400 and had .68, my guess is that the average is somewhere around 1.05, but that’s a guess based on the average OffEff of teams in the league.
As far as cringing, I only dislike iso’s when we telegraph them. When Evans moves into the corner or alone the baseline, and we make 4 attempts to give him the ball that’s not iso. Because everyone knows what’s going to happen and the entire defense is wait for him to make a move. When Andre Miller slashes into the paint and posts up his man, that’s the kind of iso you want to see. I’m sure no one in LA cringes when Kobe takes on his man with the clock running down. And when Evans perfects his outside shot, I doubt we’ll cringe either.
"If you don't have anything good to say, LIE" - Mom
The greatest impact player in NBA History - Tim Donaghy
Thank you.
I often feel like I learn something about basketball by reading what you write.
I tend to dislike isolation plays instinctively and aesthetically. I appreciate your point that they’re not always bad, but a slowly evolving, obvious play in which our offense looks for nothing besides setting up an isolation play is likely to be bad.
Like I said, part of my reaction to it is aesthetic, and part of it is my impression that in the NBA, there is more isolation play that arises from either laziness (not putting in the work to initiate a better offensive set) or selfishness rather than a strategic decision. But perhaps with someone as special as Tyreke, I’m going to have to get used to a good number of plays a night in which the most strategic decision we can make is to go into an isolation set.
cringe factor
I like it HT.
Cringe Factor 1 – Beno takes his man towards the basket, the defense is disinterested, he spins for the layup or goes around the FT line for a stop and pop
Cringe Factor 2 – Tyreke starts his shake and bake as the defense is spread
Cringe Factor 3 – Donté is on the wing and you can see the thought bubble form over his head: should I drive or pull up ? as his man moves in and the defense shifts
Cringe Factor 4 – the four flat with 20 seconds left in the quarter/game
Cringe Factor 5 – Spencer decides to take it to the hole from the 3 point line with his head down as the defense walks into position down low and waits.
by betweentheeyes on May 8, 2010 11:37 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Did you every work for Norad?
I believe they’re at Def Com 3.
"If you don't have anything good to say, LIE" - Mom
The greatest impact player in NBA History - Tim Donaghy
we could color code the cringe factors as well
Kings currently in cringe factor orange with the draft approaching. Be on alert! There may be heavy damage coming.
We could count it down as they hit #6 in Seacaucus: Red Alert for #6, Orange for #5, etc.
by betweentheeyes on May 9, 2010 6:38 AM PDT up reply actions
Along the lines of Homeland Security Alert
’
Kings Draft Prospect Alert
- Green (low risk) #1 (Wall)
- Blue (guarded) # 2 (Turner)
- Yellow (elevated) # 3 & 4 (Favors & Cousins)
- Orange (high risk) #5 (In Petrie We Trust)
- Red(severe risk) #6 (We’re in trouble now)
To be the best, you have to do your best. Otherwise, you are only second-rate.
by Slam_Dunk on May 9, 2010 8:30 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
This is brilliant! Well done. Rec'd
I can picture each of these situations clearly in my mind and I begin to cringe.
To be the best, you have to do your best. Otherwise, you are only second-rate.
Good and encouraging news
But I’m going to wait on this until I see all the defensive stats and categories. I really like the idea TZ and can’t wait to see the whole picture.
"Children want what they want when they want it." ... Andy Sims
If Cisco wasn't injured for so long
I would have expected him to be the 4th King in that list.
Thanks for posting this very interesting article.
When investigating the Kings’ defense, it won’t get prettier than this, with three young Kings making magic. So cheers to Reke, J.T. and Omri for putting the MAN in mano a mano defense.
I am not entirely surprised that the Kings were really good at defending isolation plays, because they have defended much better this season. I am blown away that they were the fourth best team in the league.
The stats for a couple of players do reinforce what I have been observing, but didn’t have the numbers to back me. A lot of people here criticize Tyreke for his defensive skills, but when I have observed him, I’ve always thought that he defends better than some people give him credit.. So, for the numbers to indicate that he was 25th in the league in isolation defense gives me validation for how I have been viewing him.
The same goes for JT. While I have been very critical of his play this season, I have felt that he does a better job on defending than Spencer. Again, it is nice to get some validation.
The big surprise is that of Casspi!
Our final isolation hero is another youngster, Omri Casspi. According to Synergy’s data, Omri was actually the team’s best defender last season, No. 30 in the league in total opponent PPP. In isolation, he finished No. 10, allowing just 0.63 PPP over 134 plays.
I would have never guessed this. I will pay more attention to his defense in the future.
Again, great stats!
To be the best, you have to do your best. Otherwise, you are only second-rate.
A lot of people here criticize Tyreke for his defensive skills, but when I have observed him, I’ve always thought that he defends better than some people give him credit.
I think the crux of the criticism is not his man-on-man defense, which we’ve all seen can be huge (paging Gilbert Arenas). It’s his awareness when his man doesn’t have the ball that bugs a lot of us. It was discussed a bit here.
You may well be right that the crux of the criticism is not his man-on-man defense.
To be the best, you have to do your best. Otherwise, you are only second-rate.
I always thought Evans is a pretty good on ball defender.
His length, defensive anticipation, lateral quickness and strength are part of the key reasons why he is projected to be a pretty damn good defender in the near future. Probably an elite defender if everything goes well. But the only thing that kinda bugs me is that I don’t know if others have noticed but Evans’ defensive stance most of the time is too “upward” IMO. Have anyone notice that? Evans doesn’t really get “down” on his defensive stance most of the time. I don’t know if he was taught that way or whatever but hopefully he can correct that by next year. I want him to have an ideal defensive position to maximize his effectiveness on defense. Sure, right now he can get by on his “lazy” defensive stance due to his already good defensive prowess on isolation scenarios but hopefully we will only see that a few times next year.
Also, as already stated, his off the ball defense is still needs work. That is his (only) significant weakness on defense in general.
Rebuilding the Kings.
I think what may end up helping Tyreke's defense more than anything will be improved stamina
Once he feels like he can give 100% on both ends of the floor for the heavy minutes he plays, I imagine he will. ‘Reke wants to be the best, I just think there’s real physical limitations to what he can pull off right now.
"Sometimes the capriciousness of youth anesthetizes common sense." -Let Geoff's words guide our patience this season.
by AnotherStupidSN on May 6, 2010 3:54 PM PDT up reply actions
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