Er...Defense Anyone? Anyone?

[Bricklayer]

Staggering stat as we head down the stretch into the postseason:

In our past 18 games, we have allowed opponents to score 100+ 15 times! Over that span opponents are averaging 106ppg against us. The only three teams we have held below 100 in the last 6 weeks were a depleted Orlando team, an awful Portland team (both games at home) and Detroit, in that debacle up in Motown where they blew us out by 17. We have yet to hold anybody under 100 this entire month.

I've got nothing snappy to say about this. Just is what it is.

Pts against over the streak:
3/11 -- 112
3/13 -- 111
3/15 -- 94
3/17 -- 100
3/19 -- 107
3/20 -- 104
3/22 -- 93
3/24 -- 101
3/26 -- 113
3/28 -- 109
3/30 -- 99
4/01 -- 109
4/03 -- 112
4/05 -- 101
4/08 -- 115
4/10 -- 105
4/15 -- 106
4/16 -- 116

 

[KP]

Staggering stat as we head down the stretch into the postseason:

In our past 18 games, we have allowed opponents to score 100+ 15 times! Over that span opponents are averaging 106ppg against us. The only three teams we have held below 100 in the last 6 weeks were a depleted Orlando team, an awful Portland team (both games at home) and Detroit, in that debacle up in Motown where they blew us out by 17. We have yet to hold anybody under 100 this entire month.

I've got nothing snappy to say about this. Just is what it is.

Well at least we are more athletic.

 

[ReinadelosReys]

Well at least we are more athletic.

And more "physical"...:/

 

[iheartBrad]

"It is what it is and that about covers everything"~Brad Miller

this won't end anytime soon

 

[AriesMar27]

could be worse.... we could all be laker fans.....

oh yeah... stop finley..... go kings.... trade for boozer and artest....

 

[KP]

And more "physical"...:/

lol.

 

[teamdimechampionship]

defense is less about talent and more about desire! Where is our desire? I hope we can find it within the next week!

 

[G_M]

I think the "main" problem is Bibby. It's almost impossible to play worse on the ball defense than he does. On some teams with shot blockers and length on the front line you could hide that deficency to a certain extent. However, other than Ostertag, yes Ostertag, the Kings have no one that can stop opposing guards once they blow by Bibby. So, the opposing PG is getting into the lane and making passes for dunks and layups once some one comes over to help with the dribble penetration.

 

[teamdimechampionship]

I think the "main" problem is Bibby. It's almost impossible to play worse on the ball defense than he does. On some teams with shot blockers and length on the front line you could hide that deficency to a certain extent. However, other than Ostertag, yes Ostertag, the Kings have no one that can stop opposing guards once they blow by Bibby. So, the opposing PG is getting into the lane and making passes for dunks and layups once some one comes over to help with the dribble penetration.

We also very very very very rarely rotate...at all! Defense is played by a team not just one guy. I can't add up all the times any piremeter player gets beaten off the dribble and the guy goes in for an uncontested dunk or layup. Has anybody ever heard the saying "NO LAYUPS". I was tought in high school to foul anybody with an open layup. Not just foul.......but put them on their A$$. Only if you couldn't get there in time to take a charge. You have to let the opponent know that thay will pay the price for taking it to the rim. Intimidation wins championships.......just ask Detroit!

 

[KP]

I think the "main" problem is Bibby. It's almost impossible to play worse on the ball defense than he does. On some teams with shot blockers and length on the front line you could hide that deficency to a certain extent. However, other than Ostertag, yes Ostertag, the Kings have no one that can stop opposing guards once they blow by Bibby. So, the opposing PG is getting into the lane and making passes for dunks and layups once some one comes over to help with the dribble penetration.

I thought we traded away the "main" problem, but maybe you're right... maybe we should trade away this one too that way we'd really have a shot at the championship(not)! Kings led the league in opp FG% with Bibby at the point, Bobby of course helped but so did some of the guys we had inside at the time as well. Team Dime is right, it's all about team D, rotation, and the lack thereof. By the way a shotblocker(who could actually run up and down the court and maybe even score) might help too.

 

[AriesMar27]

having a healthy bobby and doug didnt hurt either....

 

[teamdimechampionship]

Our team D should get better the more these guys get to play together. Its hard to remember that they haven't really all been healthy at the same time. And not much time for practice either.

 

[HndsmCelt]

In past years the Kings have been able to "step up" their defense come play off time, but of course this is a whole new batch of guys and admittedly less skilled. There are reasons for measured optimisim. The new guys sans Cat are more defenseminded as a group (they just happne to be small) Another thought has to do with coaching. As much as we like to blame/credit the palyers some of the "stepping it up" comes from the coaching staff and the way they coach during the play offs. Choices are differnt rotations tighter and plans much more tightly focused. This is one of the advantages that the Kings have over more tallented team, a better more experienced coaching staff ESPCIALY in the post season.

I find the Kings compleet lack of defense distrubing, but RA's use of Tag against the Suns AND his effective defense (albeit hardly enough to cary the team) in the paint is encouraging. Bear in mind the effective defense the bench was able to produce agianst the suns espcily in the first half. From the first day fo the Tag aquisition many of us said "he will come in handy in the paly offs." Perhaps we were right and perhaps none of us is uniquely blessed with a basketball smarts. If so it is conceiveable that the some of the Kings coaching staff is seeing the same things when they watch the tapes. There is no way that 10-15 of Tag wil be consititute a secret wepon that will tip the scales, but combined with improved defensive play from Cat, Pedja, and collective dwarfs at the forward position, it is not inconcievable that the Kings can pick up their defense enough to hold off the Sonics or Mavs.

 

[G_M]

I thought we traded away the "main" problem, but maybe you're right... maybe we should trade away this one too that way we'd really have a shot at the championship(not)! Kings led the league in opp FG% with Bibby at the point, Bobby of course helped but so did some of the guys we had inside at the time as well. Team Dime is right, it's all about team D, rotation, and the lack thereof. By the way a shotblocker(who could actually run up and down the court and maybe even score) might help too.

First, Webber was a bad defender. Not for lack of effort the guy just can't move. Granted he's taller than what we have now but he was still an awful defender. Opposing teams were kinng us in the paint with Webb and they are still killing us in the paint. IMO the Kings have improved in transition D largely because now they have five guys that can actually run down the court. That's not what's hurting them right now.

The year the Kings led the league in opp fg% defense BJ would often times play in crunch time. Also, Christie was an above average team defender. My point is simply that dribble penetration seems to be the main problem.

If you could stop 4-5 EASY baskets a game which come from dribble penetration(either pg scores or easy layups/dunks) that would dramatically alter ppg.

 

[Packt]

It really is the rotation and part of that is trust. You have to trust that your teammates will cover for you if you move over to help out. You can see they're coming over late or hesitantly or not at all. Player turnover and injuries don't help in this area at all.

Even though last year we weren't that good of a defensive team, you could still depend on the team to clamp down and get key defensive stops here and there. This team isn't quite there. Miller and Jackson could help, but I don't want to depend on guys who've been out so long to come in and magically change things.

 

[iheartBrad]

First, Webber was a bad defender. Not for lack of effort the guy just can't move. Granted he's taller than what we have now but he was still an awful defender. Opposing teams were kinng us in the paint with Webb and they are still killing us in the paint. IMO the Kings have improved in transition D largely because now they have five guys that can actually run down the court. That's not what's hurting them right now.

The year the Kings led the league in opp fg% defense BJ would often times play in crunch time. Also, Christie was an above average team defender. My point is simply that dribble penetration seems to be the main problem.

If you could stop 4-5 EASY baskets a game which come from dribble penetration(either pg scores or easy layups/dunks) that would dramatically alter ppg.

that definetly hurt them last night...though there were a lot of things that hurt them last night
-----------------------------------

Personally I like to look at opp FG% over opp PPG

 

[Padrino]

if the kings exerted even the slightest effort at stopping dribble penetration (ie: stepping in front of man, taking charges, hard fouls, etc), then they would win a lot more games. they may not win always against a team like the suns, but just a little defensive effort would hold most teams under 100 points. rarely have the kings missed the 100 point mark in these last 20 games. they can put up 110/game with ease (despite all the injuries). if they could just hold the opposition at around 95/game, they wouldnt lose a whole lot.

 

[SacTownKid]

Our defensive woes lie mostly in the fact that the players don't know what the hell they are doing!!! Sometimes they look lost and they look like they don't know where to be. They need some serious time in practice figuring this out. No matter how good one player is on defense, if his team doesn't have his back, its pretty much 5 on 1.

 

[SacTownKid]

We also very very very very rarely rotate...at all! Defense is played by a team not just one guy. I can't add up all the times any piremeter player gets beaten off the dribble and the guy goes in for an uncontested dunk or layup. Has anybody ever heard the saying "NO LAYUPS". I was tought in high school to foul anybody with an open layup. Not just foul.......but put them on their A$$. Only if you couldn't get there in time to take a charge. You have to let the opponent know that thay will pay the price for taking it to the rim. Intimidation wins championships.......just ask Detroit!

DING! DING! DING! We have a winner! EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Kingsgurl]

Our defensive woes lie mostly in the fact that the players don't know what the hell they are doing!!! Sometimes they look lost and they look like they don't know where to be. They need some serious time in practice figuring this out. No matter how good one player is on defense, if his team doesn't have his back, its pretty much 5 on 1.

Didn't we just have 4 days off, some of which were actually spent practicing? It's 2 games before the play offs, when is this 'serious practive time' going to emerge?

 

[N.U.F.A.N.]

I really wanna know what type of defensive drills the Kings do... because they obviously look like they need to change or work harder on the drills. Even if it takes 5 suicides for everytime you screw up on those drills... its worth it.

 

[Superman]

Suicides are for high school and college teams, not professional basketball players - grown men - who already know, or should know, how to play defense.

The problem is that we don't have a dominant shot blocker or a good perimeter defender. In the past, we've at least had some semblance of both (with Doug outside and Keon or Webber blocking shots inside; remember, Webb averaged 1.5 blocks here in Sacramento before the micro-fracture surgery). Now, our best shot blocker is 6'9" and our best perimeter defender is either Peja, Cuttino or Mo Evans. That's sad.

We don't currently have the personnel to be a "good" defensive team, but we do have enough veteran players to where we shouldn't absolutely suck the way we do.

I should say, though, that points per game isn't really a good figure to use.

 

[teamdimechampionship]

Defense is 5 people working together as one unit to close down every lane to the basket. THIS IS THE NBA. Nobody can keep their man in front of them very often. You have to have stong help defense. I read quotes from Mike all the time about this. "We just gotta help each other on D". The problem is all 5 guys MUST be on the same page. And frankly, some of our guys don't even seem to have the book. I takes 100% mental focus to make the proper rotation quickly enough to stop the ball. And then someone has to rotate to pick up the 1st rotater's guy. We will make the first rotation fairly often but we RARELY make the second and third. I think our guys focus way too much on offense. This is partly due to coaching (Pete Carill=offensive genius) Where is our defensive assistant? I wonder how much time they spend talking about defense in meetings,practice, etc...! It's also about the PRIDE of our players. At some point they have to take it upon themselves to TAKE A CHARGE, COMMIT A HARD FOUL, CHASE SOMEONE DOWN ON A BREAKAWAY, or DIVE ON THE GROUND FOR A LOOSE BALL! Until we see some of this from our guys...I don't see us beating anyone in the playoffs. BUT I KNOW WE ARE CAPABLE OF DOING IT! WE JUST HAVE TO SHOW HEART!

 

[Kajun]

Opponent points per game is a potentially misleading stat. Because if the team plays at a high pace (meaning, both teams will have more possessions than usual, and as a result, more opportunities to score), opponent point per game is likely to be higher.

Looking at opponent FG% is a better way, I guess. Still, FG% as it is given by NBA.com doesn't take into account the following things:
- giving up fouls, thus giving the opponent to score free points with free throws;
- the proportion of the shots that are from downtown; i.e. a FG% of .440 from downtown is obviously better for the opponent team, than .440 for 2-pointers;
- FG% is based on the idea of forcing missed shots; forcing turnovers is not measured by this stat, because the act of shooting hasn't even had a chance to come into fruition;
- at a team level, defensive rebounds (or better said: not giving up offensive rebounds, which often are followed with easy points) are part of defense (on individual level, it isn't, how odd that may sound)

I've said it before - If you want to stick to a point stat, please use the points per 100 possessions. The Kings do not fare so well there, 23rd, with 105.1 points per 100 possessions. Oh well -- at least we rank 4th in offensive efficiency: 107 points per 100 possessions.

It is a much better measure. Most of the NBA.com stats are an outdated concept, hopefully we'll see them going through the statistical revolution that the MLB (apparently) is going through.

 

[KP]

Defense is 5 people working together as one unit to close down every lane to the basket. THIS IS THE NBA. Nobody can keep their man in front of them very often. You have to have stong help defense.

Word^. You can count the number of shutdown perimeter defenders in the NBA on one hand(and you wouldn't have to use all the fingers).

 

[N.U.F.A.N.]

One thing i never saw the Kings do...... was "help side defense". they cant let those open lay ups get by easily, at least pop up there and take the charge... You see Detroit do it all the time.

 

[Superman]

We used to do it regularly a couple of years ago. In 2002 and 2003 when we actually knew how to stop teams from taking and hitting high percentage shots most of the time (I believe we were top 10 in opponents FG% in 2002, and #1 in 2003), we had a pretty good help side system.

The goal was to send your man baseline, ride him if necessary, and have a big man step up and cut the baseline all the way off, forcing either a trap or a quick turnover. We got good at it, plus we had a couple of players who could block shots, and Doug was still Doug back then as well.

Now, two to three years later, we don't have a shot blocker, we don't have a perimeter presence (Peja does pretty well at staying in front of his man, but he provides little to no help defense and he doesn't hustle) and we don't play hard enough on D.

That's what it all boils down to. We can talk til we're blue in the face about how much desire it takes and how we are professionals, and that's all true. But even if we left it all out on the floor every game and every player did their job 100% of the time, we still wouldn't be a "good" defensive team. We'd be better, no doubt about that, but not much better than we are now.

Another thing to consider is the fact that we are a jump-shooting team. You've all heard the term 'long misses lead to long rebounds, and long rebounds lead to transition opportunities.' You've also heard that a good offense leads to a good defense. It's all true. The fact that our offense is not as good this season as it has been in the past contributes to our poor defense. The other team is getting more possessions off of defensive rebounds, and that's leading to easy points in transition.

This team has a lot of holes, when you think about it. It's really a testament to the coaching and professionalism of the players that we are still one of the better teams in the League, when you look at the group of players we've been making due with.