Do you see any improvements on defense?
- Thread starter K F Jay
- Start date
Yes and no. Overall, I have not seen it. However, I have seen it in the 4th quarter of the past two games, when we've gone to more traditional lineups, making it harder for the other team to get to the paint or just shoot over the players. I think balance has a lot to do with it. We have the ability to be consistent on both ends.
King Baller
All-Star
Now that Hayes is healthy he contributes defending the Bigs and in team defense. IT defends smaller guards better than anyone the Kings have had since Bobby Jackson. Cousins is improving and his ability to take a charge nets the kings a couple possessions a game. Salmons D's up whoever he is guarding pretty damn well even when he could not score. JT is very active and between he and DMC do a great job on the defensive boards. Tyreke has continued his good defense in the SF spot. The fellas are defending better when in the Zone. All the Kings are playing better defense as the year has progressed.
So yes I have noticed improvement from the sieve that was yielding 30 point blow outs earlier this year!
KB
So yes I have noticed improvement from the sieve that was yielding 30 point blow outs earlier this year!
KB
It is interesting that few people have responded to this thread. I have harped on defense all year because it is the key to moving forward. We can all agree that the Kings' offense is much improved under Smart. Playing a faster pace now, the opposition gets more possessions so the improvement in defense is not as obvious. The fact that the Kings' now have comebacks in the 4th quarter is huge. They used to get buried by quality teams in the last 6-8 minutes of games. The zone works as a change-up risk taking defense in a lot of games. Hayes, Garcia, Salmons, and Evans have been effective. IT can stay with most point guards and pressure them but still gets beat too much. Thornton works much harder on D as does Thompson. Cousins still takes too many risks and gets eaten alive by players like Al Jefferson.
The team defense is improving and it is obvious that the players care more about each other. They are more vocal and help and switch better than before. The level of effort is much improved especially late in games. IT and Thornton are strong rebounders for guards but are susceptible to giving up easy break points. The Kings' need to focus on better defensive balance. Sometimes against a fast break no one stops the ball which drives anyone who has been a coach crazy. The pointless double teams on the open floor have declined allowing for fewer wide open shots. That needs to continue. Cousins needs to learn how to foul and when to leave players alone so he can stay in games better. Defense is played mostly with the feet and the heart. The Kings' are developing some heart. Now if we can just get them to move their feet sooner and smarter we will have something.
The team defense is improving and it is obvious that the players care more about each other. They are more vocal and help and switch better than before. The level of effort is much improved especially late in games. IT and Thornton are strong rebounders for guards but are susceptible to giving up easy break points. The Kings' need to focus on better defensive balance. Sometimes against a fast break no one stops the ball which drives anyone who has been a coach crazy. The pointless double teams on the open floor have declined allowing for fewer wide open shots. That needs to continue. Cousins needs to learn how to foul and when to leave players alone so he can stay in games better. Defense is played mostly with the feet and the heart. The Kings' are developing some heart. Now if we can just get them to move their feet sooner and smarter we will have something.
Padrino
All-Star
i notice defensive improvements very occasionally, and usually on a play-by-play basis. every once in awhile, someone will put significant pressure on the ball handler (forcing that player out of their team's offensive set), or someone will sprint to get back in transition (a major problem early in the season), or someone will rotate over quickly and effectively to stop the progress of the ball (hassan whiteside clearly has the best weak-side help sensibility of anyone on the team). but these are not consistent occurrences. often, the kings find their defensive successes at the individual level, and its almost always of a moment. their consistency and their team defense is scattershot, at best. very rarely do i see the kings close out opposing shooters at the three-point line. that's an area that needs major improvement. as a team, they're also not great at boxing out on the defensive glass (aside from demarcus, and even he gets lazy from time to time). they're among the league leaders at pulling down boards on the offensive glass, but it hurts them, at the end of games, especially, when they're unable to secure a key defensive rebound...
elsewhere, and quite obviously, the kings have become one of the handsiest teams in the nba. they get a lotta steals, and they're getting better at converting those turnovers into points. of course, that's a high-risk/high-reward kinda defensive style, and it has paid some dividends. but you rack up fouls in a hurry playing that way, and you also open up the game for opposing offenses when you overplay. tyreke has been endlessly criticized for this at kingsfans.com, but the truth is that its a team-wide defensive structure instituted by keith smart. he encourages every king to make defensive plays on the ball, which is great for guards with fast hands. tyreke, marcus, and isaiah are all above-average in this respect, so its probably a net gain in the backcourt. but it puts the kings' frontcourt in a rather precarious position when the coaching staff is asking them to reach-in. demarcus cousins is prone enough to committing fouls as it is. and with a very thin frontcourt rotation, the kings can't have their big men taking swipes at the ball as often as they do. i'm convinced, though, that its less the players' fault and more the coaching staff's will. in postgame conferences, keith smart continually talks about the kings' ability to steal the ball and get out in the open court. it sounds like a team-wide directive to me, kinda like hunting for bounties on the ball. again, its high-risk/high-reward. its okay for now, but it ain't no way to win games in the long term, especially if the kings ever become a playoff team...
regardless, i say its all one step at a time. the kings' coaching staff has [mostly] managed to turn this cluster**** of a roster into an offensive powerhouse. they rack up points even with pee poor shooting percentages. that's rather commendable, considering the kings' limits on offense, and their absolutely castrated performances in the first half of the season. so, there's a positive: a team that was once impotent on both sides of the ball has since corrected many of their issues on the offensive end. offense almost always finds its footing before defense, especially when considering young teams. next up, though, is that defensive end, and its going to be considerably more difficult to improve in those tremendously important facets of the game on a consistent, nightly basis...
elsewhere, and quite obviously, the kings have become one of the handsiest teams in the nba. they get a lotta steals, and they're getting better at converting those turnovers into points. of course, that's a high-risk/high-reward kinda defensive style, and it has paid some dividends. but you rack up fouls in a hurry playing that way, and you also open up the game for opposing offenses when you overplay. tyreke has been endlessly criticized for this at kingsfans.com, but the truth is that its a team-wide defensive structure instituted by keith smart. he encourages every king to make defensive plays on the ball, which is great for guards with fast hands. tyreke, marcus, and isaiah are all above-average in this respect, so its probably a net gain in the backcourt. but it puts the kings' frontcourt in a rather precarious position when the coaching staff is asking them to reach-in. demarcus cousins is prone enough to committing fouls as it is. and with a very thin frontcourt rotation, the kings can't have their big men taking swipes at the ball as often as they do. i'm convinced, though, that its less the players' fault and more the coaching staff's will. in postgame conferences, keith smart continually talks about the kings' ability to steal the ball and get out in the open court. it sounds like a team-wide directive to me, kinda like hunting for bounties on the ball. again, its high-risk/high-reward. its okay for now, but it ain't no way to win games in the long term, especially if the kings ever become a playoff team...
regardless, i say its all one step at a time. the kings' coaching staff has [mostly] managed to turn this cluster**** of a roster into an offensive powerhouse. they rack up points even with pee poor shooting percentages. that's rather commendable, considering the kings' limits on offense, and their absolutely castrated performances in the first half of the season. so, there's a positive: a team that was once impotent on both sides of the ball has since corrected many of their issues on the offensive end. offense almost always finds its footing before defense, especially when considering young teams. next up, though, is that defensive end, and its going to be considerably more difficult to improve in those tremendously important facets of the game on a consistent, nightly basis...
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Kingster
Hall of Famer
They still aren't playing good defense. Ok, maybe every once in a while. The last game they made Klay Thompson a HOF'er in the first half. The guy looks like a good player, but that 1st half was ridiculous. Then T. Williams comes in and plays him tough, and the other guys seemed to get more serious about defense.
I know that Smart wants them to have fun out there. It makes you player looser, and maybe more as a team. But it's a double-edged sword because playing D takes a lot of effort. Typically, it's not what most players would think of as "fun". So they do need to continue to have fun, but they also need to incorporate a work ethic into that fun when it comes to defense.
I know that Smart wants them to have fun out there. It makes you player looser, and maybe more as a team. But it's a double-edged sword because playing D takes a lot of effort. Typically, it's not what most players would think of as "fun". So they do need to continue to have fun, but they also need to incorporate a work ethic into that fun when it comes to defense.
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In a sense we are consistent on both ends. Pretty good offense and pretty poor defense when our starters play. We could play a lot better on defense if we forgot about offense. Cost: $2 million for a good offensive player, $2 million for a good defensive player but $8 million for a good offensive/defensive player.
I think our guys are playing better defense but not good. I think they can and do play much better situational defense for short bursts or in the 4th Q. But I don't think they can keep it up on both ends for very long. The coach has a 12 player platter and he can pick and choose. He does but his choices aren't as good as he needs. As they play together longer they get better.
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Bingo! Everyone on this team has shown the ability to at least be an average defender. It's now a matter of them committing to that end of the floor on a niightly basis
bluntsnbball
G-League
still seeing MT leave his man open on the wing every time down. After that i get angry and dont pay as much attention to the rest of the team, i just focus on MT and see if he makes the same mistakes, which he generally does.
ArcoKings
Starter
No consistent TEAM defense. A guy or two will step up defensively from time to time but as a whole: NOPE. The team's record is indicative of the way they play defense or lack thereof. I don't see Smart being the coach that preaches defense. Whenever the Kings win and have a high amount of points scored so does the other team. If the Kings would have played just decent defense from the beginning of the season they would have a record like Portland's right now or maybe close to the T-Wolves- not bad at all considering. In Smart's defense (no pun intended) I have noticed the Kings scoring more from the paint. Just a little D and watch out!!
Go Kings!
Go Kings!
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Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Oh, we don't jsut score more from the paint, I think we are #2 or #3 in the league at it. That's not really Smart though, aside from maybe a few more fastbreak hoops. Its about having one of the dominant interior points inthe pain guys in Cousins and maybe THE dominant guard in points in the paint in Evans. Throw in guys who aren't afraid to get their nose dirty in MT, JT and IT and we do that very well.
No the problem is that on many nights despite being one of the best points in the paint teams ourselves, we still get outpointed in there because its jsut a frickin' layup drill in there against us, and we don't get back defedning the break. We need to get a shotblocker back in the lineup in the worst posible way.
