How were the King so good at D in years passed?

[Nikos]

Looking at the team these days they are one of the worst defensive teams in the league right now (statistically).

How was it the Kings were so good defensively in 01-02 and 02-03, especially since Webber missed 28 games in 2001-02? Was Divac really that much better back then? Did Pollard, Hedo, and Clark make all the difference along with Webber's presense? Was Bibby even better on that end early on as a King?

What made the team so good on D then and not at least reasonable right now? I know Webber is not 100% and all, but this team was actually elite on the defensive end just a few years ago. My question is, how did they do it then?

 

[**KInGs^RoYalTy**]

i think Keon Clark was way underrated when he was with the kings.....he rebounded which made a our defense a lot better. I think we could realy use Keon rite no, that would help us out a ton.

 

[SacKings384]

2 names... Keon Clark, Jim Jackson

 

[Bricklayer]

more than just Clark and Jackson -- they helped bump us from #7 (or therabouts) in 01-02 to #1 in 02-03. But they were only with us for a year, and we'd already taken the big jump up into being a top tier defensive team the before that.

It was also just a younger core -- Bobby, Chritie, Webber were all better defenders at that point in their careers. And even old Vlade might have been a slightly better defender than Brad is today because of his extra height/length. Hedo was bigger/more versatile than our current backup SF types, Pollard was bigger/stronger/better defender than Darius etc. Really the only one of our main cogs who is better defensively today than he was then may be Peja, and that's been a gradual improvement rather than a dramatic one.

Not just one or two players -- that could be dealt with easier and replaced. Really almost ALL of our players have slipped back a bit. Its a collective change/problem.

BTW, Lakers game aside the Kings defense has actually nto been horrible this season. Middle of the pack in Opp FG%. The huge problem has been that our rebounding has fallen off badly (Peja/Brad/Darius were the main culprits, although the latter two have picked it up recently) and so teams are just getting too many second chance shots against us.

 

[sloter]

2 words: HELP DEFENSE.

I notice in the game against Lakers, help defense was either 1) too late 2) too early and too passive or 3) nowhere to be found.

A great example of this was Bibby who was anticipating Kobe driving so he completely moves off of his man and just stands there in no man's land (former illegal defense or a 1 man zone). He should either completely attack the defender, or wait until he makes some sort of move to start double teaming.