Bibby CAN play defense

Bricklayer

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#32
#32
SacTownKid said:
From what I have gathered, I don't think Muss will except much less.
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And just a side point, but that of course will be the great challenge for Muss as coach. Everything started off roses in Golden State too, but Muss essentially fell victim to the all too common over-intense coach fallacy -- he did not bend. Rode the guys too hard. And so they eventually turned on him. There will be slow nights, nights when guys are just tired, when they revert, when their limitations are exposed, and if Muss overreacts and doesn't give them room to breathe, well there is your most likely path of Muss failure.

Which is why I think the best hope here is that there are other factors involved than Muss "driving" Mike to defend. That only lasts so long in the NBA before guys get tired of it. If its the coach's expectation, and Mike has his own motivations to defend most nights, that's cool. If he is being driven into an unnatural postion for him, not so cool and friction is inevitable.
 
piksi

piksi

Hall of Famer
#33
#33
kingsfan101 said:
IMHO, there might be several reasons other than a new coach's inspiration. Few that I can think of, in no particular order
  1. Coach's inspiration: Not to discount it.
  2. Leaner Meaner Bibby.
  3. First game of the preseason. A cynical view, but the real proof shall come in regular season, when he has to play longer minutes against tougher opposition.
  4. Owners' talk about defence: Defence was one of the main slogans of the Maloofs, when Rick was let go. While it might have been more of a ploy, since his record couldn't be questioned, it puts pressure on the new coach and players to display at least some improvement in that area.
  5. Team composition and running game: Over the last couple of years, more and more teams in the league are going small and playing fast. Last year's team was not too well geared for it (particularly with Peja not having a good year). Bonzi and Reef are both post players. In contrast, this year, amongst our starters, 1, 2, 3 and 4 can all run. This does not translate into full court press, but puts additional focus on defence, since good defence feeds into a running game.
  6. Depth behind Bibby and ball handlers: Last year he played huge minutes, and was also the primary ball handler. Hart didn't pan out as we all had hoped. Bonzi and Peja were not much of ball handlers, so Bibby had a huge load. This year, Salmons, Martin, Garcia and Artest shall handle at least some of the ball handling duties (maybe even Hart and Price), allowing Bibby to spend a little more energy on defence. Hopefully coach shall be able to reduce his minutes to a certain extent too.
  7. Artest effect: Since he arrived in Sacramento, Artest has played and preached defence. Some of that has to rub on.
  8. Contract year: With an option to opt out after this year, he can be a free agent. Addressing one area that he is criticized for is not a bad idea in a contract year. This is not a knock on him. He had played very hard and very well, without taking games off over the last few years, even as he has seen the cast around him changing completely. It is but human for anyone to put in that little extra effort in a contract year though.
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9. Preseason
 
Wuster

Wuster

Starter
#35
#35
Bricklayer said:
He didn't have to guard anybody, but it wasn't his effectiveness that was so impressive -- it was his hustle. Far FAR more active on defense then maybe we have ever seen him, and quicker too (probably the weight loss). I'm sure Terry and Harris would have fared much better than Anthony bleeping Johsnon, but the effort and energy was there, and if it continues he promises to make things a lot harder on guys, no matter how good they are.
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You said it.

Bibby looked like an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT player on defense. And this was preseason.
 
M

Merdiesel

Starter
#37
#37
So what if its a preseason game...

That makes it all that much better, he's busting his *** for a game that doesn't matter... Imagine what hes going to be doing when the games mean something.

mark my words...
Bibby IS making the Allstar team this year!
 
kennadog

kennadog

Dog On It!
#38
#38
Bibby is obviously motivated. Changing his eating habits and losing weight in the off-season is evidence of that. There could be a lot of things contributing to that motivation.

One not mentioned above is pride. Bibby is a prideful guy. As the criticism and jokes about his lack of defense got pretty universal, I really believe it hurt. I know he wants to be seen as a top point guard and he can't have been unaware of what people said was his biggest shortcoming.
 
VF21

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#39
#39
kennadog said:
One not mentioned above is pride. Bibby is a prideful guy. As the criticism and jokes about his lack of defense got pretty universal, I really believe it hurt. I know he wants to be seen as a top point guard and he can't have been unaware of what people said was his biggest shortcoming.
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Ding! Ding! Ding!

I believe we have a winner!

:)
 
nbrans

nbrans

All-Star
#40
#40
kingsfan101 said:
Contract year: With an option to opt out after this year, he can be a free agent. Addressing one area that he is criticized for is not a bad idea in a contract year. This is not a knock on him. He had played very hard and very well, without taking games off over the last few years, even as he has seen the cast around him changing completely. It is but human for anyone to put in that little extra effort in a contract year though.
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I would have put this #1. But then, I'm cynical.
 
VF21

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#41
#41
There are any number of NBA players where that is probably a fair assessment. Bibby isn't one of them. He's one of those rare gym rats who isn't primarily motivated by $$$.
 
4cwebb

4cwebb

Starter
#42
#42
VF21 said:
There are any number of NBA players where that is probably a fair assessment. Bibby isn't one of them. He's one of those rare gym rats who isn't primarily motivated by $$$.
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That may be true, but it's also pretty easy not to be motivated by money when you're near the end of an $80 million contract.

On topic, I listened to a bit of the Mavs' broadcast last night, and the announcers also mentioned Bibby's intensiveness on the defensive end, at one point noting early in the game that they didn't think Anthony Johnson was looking for Bibby to be playing that level of defense.
 
VF21

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#43
#43
I didn't say it wasn't a factor. I was responding to the comment that made it appear - at least to me - as though they thought it was the primary factor. In Bibby's case, I don't believe it.
 
kennadog

kennadog

Dog On It!
#44
#44
VF21 said:
I didn't say it wasn't a factor. I was responding to the comment that made it appear - at least to me - as though they thought it was the primary factor. In Bibby's case, I don't believe it.
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I don't either. Bibby has always been a hard worker, a gym rat, as you said. And I think he's pretty much played himself into the ground the last season or so.
 
SacTownKid

SacTownKid

Hall of Famer
#46
#46
Bricklayer said:
And just a side point, but that of course will be the great challenge for Muss as coach. Everything started off roses in Golden State too, but Muss essentially fell victim to the all too common over-intense coach fallacy -- he did not bend. Rode the guys too hard. And so they eventually turned on him. There will be slow nights, nights when guys are just tired, when they revert, when their limitations are exposed, and if Muss overreacts and doesn't give them room to breathe, well there is your most likely path of Muss failure.

Which is why I think the best hope here is that there are other factors involved than Muss "driving" Mike to defend. That only lasts so long in the NBA before guys get tired of it. If its the coach's expectation, and Mike has his own motivations to defend most nights, that's cool. If he is being driven into an unnatural postion for him, not so cool and friction is inevitable.
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Well, listening to Muss in his own words, he has said numerous times that he has learned from his mistakes. So if that were indeed going to happen then he in fact, did not learn from those mistakes.
 
K

Kings113

All-Star
#47
#47
Amazing stuff to hear and read, only wish I could of seen it. I should Tuesday night though, quite intrigued.

Bibby will school the new Lake Show darling, Jordan Farmar - on both ends of the floor. ;)
 
M

M10Bibby

Bench
#50
#50
Kings113 said:
Amazing stuff to hear and read, only wish I could of seen it. I should Tuesday night though, quite intrigued.

Bibby will school the new Lake Show darling, Jordan Farmar - on both ends of the floor. ;)
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i also cant wait to see him against sasha, who u could tell annoyed him last yr.

anyways im glad i get to see this game and see what everyones been talkin about with the hustle, intensity, and defense
 
gunks

gunks

Hall of Famer
#57
#57
Bibby's first night defending a top PG:

Nash: 17 pts (on 100% shooting), 13 assists (1 less then the King's total for the game), and only 2 TOs.

I figured some lively debate could be brought to this topic after tonights game.

For those who saw the game...I know Nash is a great player, but was Bibby even trying?
 
B

BMiller52

All-Star
#58
#58
gunks said:
Bibby's first night defending a top PG:

Nash: 17 pts (on 100% shooting), 13 assists (1 less then the King's total for the game), and only 2 TOs.

I figured some lively debate could be brought to this topic after tonights game.

For those who saw the game...I know Nash is a great player, but was Bibby even trying?
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it didn't really look like it.
 
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