I was trying to compare the recent waves of players coming into the NBA that don't know how to play defense. All rookies struggle their first year, but many of Niks/Jimmers' struggles come from lack of understanding the basic fundamentals on defense. Defense is extremely challenging to learn and get down, but that's why it's taught overtime and throughout the span of someone's career. That's the reason why coaches need to continually teach defense despite level of competition or league. When you have coaches who decide that defense is not important, you end up with all these prospects coming into the NBA who struggle with defense.
Nik doesn't even have the appropriate defensive stance half the time when he's on his man. Nik has a really weird stance... he hunches over like a camel...It's part of the reason why the guy he's guarding is always looking to attack. Nik has the IQ and work ethic to improve on the minor problems of his on defense. I don't think Nik was taught properly at Michigan or any other programs he's been in. His other defensive problems are more physical than mental. I'm not concerned about Nik, but if he was actually taught how to play defense in his youth years, he'd be at least a decent defender in the NBA. Hitting the weight room will help him a lot.
Ben's mistakes in his rookie year were always mental. He'd get lost in various ways and it's not even worth talking about... I agree with you. Right now in Niks career, his defense is better than Ben's last year.
The main reason most of the college players that come into the NBA are poor defenders is because most of the good one's, or the one's with the potential are all one and done players. Back when almost all college players went to college for four years, they came in better prepared. Look at Kentucky last season. Loaded with talent, but with only two players on the roster with more than one year of experience. The rest were all freshman. While the talent is wonderful, its also a coaches nightmare. Trying to get a bunch of young 18 year old players that have never played together before, ready to compete on both ends of the floor, and hopefully make it to the final eight or better, is a tough job. It's not that the coaching is bad, its that there isn't enough time. Lets not forget, these kids have to go to school too.
In Nik's freshman year, he was 6'6"and weighed about 185 pounds. When he started his sophmore year, he had put on about 15 pounds of muscle or so, and he was an entirely different player on the court. His defense his sophmore year improved over his freshman year, but remember, in college, your not guarding Klay Thompson every night like you are in the NBA. There really isn't a way to truly prepare for the NBA. The players are bigger, faster, and stronger than just about everyone you faced in college. When you throw the experience factor in, any rookie is at a distinct disadvantage for a while. If Nik was to go to college for four years, he's come out a lot more experienced, and a lot stronger. But as my grandmother used to say, "IF" is for children.
Nik is here! He's a part of our team, and at the moment, he appears to be the whipping boy for some. I see other players on the team making the same mistakes he's making, just not as often. I watched Gay get beat off the dribble more than once last night. I saw Casspi get beat off the dribble last night. I saw Sessions get beat off the dribble way too many times last night. And yet, were beating up on Stauskas, a rookie, who I would expect to have problems, as though he's responsible for losing the game. Sort of like shooting a pheasant on the ground instead of waiting for it to fly.
