Voisin: Will Bibby's D become his A game?

[Circa_1985_Fan]

You're giving Mike too much credit there.

Exactly...and for some reason someone started rumors that Mike was playing great D with Team USA a few years back. Hey, if it aint for us, it dont count, IMO. Bibby and defense should NEVER be used int he same sentence, that is, unless you put a Bill Walton HORRRRRIBLE in front of it.

 

[Entity]

Theus stated that Bibby is pushing defense to his team in camp.

 

[bajaden]

One of the problems I have with Bibby, is that he won't even admit he has a problem on defense. Larry Bird wasn't the quickest guy on the court and could'nt jump out of the building but he was a pretty good defender. My point is that there are some guys that are gifted atheleticly who are not very good defenders and there are some guys who, like Bird don't have those gifts who are good defenders.
Good defenders study their man. They know his tendicies. If he likes to go right, you make him go left. You know where he likes to shoot from and you don't let him get to that spot. Bird said once that you have to make your man uncomfortable. Make him do things he doesn't want to do. You also know where your help is. If its in the middle, you don't let him go baseline. Its all about being smart and desire. Bibby isn't dumb, so I have to assume that he simply doesn't have the desire. Maybe Theus can install some..

Mike Bibby has always been a barely average to way below average defensive player his entire pro career - if not back to his UofA days. His problem now is he's prematurely aged and simply slower than ever - and he's never been fast on his feet. Before, some of it was masked because he was younger and often had players around him who were gifted defensively - Christie, etc. If defense is about a few things; quickness/athleticism, plus effort/desire, and toughness/strength - Bibby simply comes up sorely lacking in all categories. If he could just make some progress in those areas he is deficient Bibby might not be viewed as such a huge team defense liability. Unfortunately, he's tried and failed to do it before so I don't expect any miracles.

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[Circa_1985_Fan]

One of the problems I have with Bibby, is that he won't even admit he has a problem on defense. Larry Bird wasn't the quickest guy on the court and could'nt jump out of the building but he was a pretty good defender. My point is that there are some guys that are gifted atheleticly who are not very good defenders and there are some guys who, like Bird don't have those gifts who are good defenders.
Good defenders study their man. They know his tendicies. If he likes to go right, you make him go left. You know where he likes to shoot from and you don't let him get to that spot. Bird said once that you have to make your man uncomfortable. Make him do things he doesn't want to do. You also know where your help is. If its in the middle, you don't let him go baseline. Its all about being smart and desire. Bibby isn't dumb, so I have to assume that he simply doesn't have the desire. Maybe Theus can install some..

Great post! I've been saying this about Mike all along. I think I can only remember Mike playing good defense on one occasion...and his nose was called for a foul against Kobe's elbow, but we wont go there. He had a couple of OK games last pre-season, defensively, but other than that...nothing.