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The Defense Thread

The Jazz defended the Clippers well. They were miserable against Sacramento and Phoenix. It looked like mostly a scheme problem. They were leaving shooters open all night. One night it's Harrison Barnes, the next night it's Eric Gordon.

Jazz seem to want to double-team drivers in the paint without actively recovering or rotating on the perimeter. Last night, they were doubling KD at the mid-post and leaving other guys open at the 3pt line. I'd be curious to know what our 3pt defense looks like. I'm guessing it's the main culprit.
 
Fosto said:
Kessler has looked awkward next to Collins. That isn't helping our defense.
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A little too much overlap between them. They occupy the same space where they are both most effective. I still think Collins should be used more as a 6th man. Clear that one clog, give him the touches to shine.
 
Last season, our perimeter defense was a mess but we were much tougher at the rim. Right now, it's ALL a mess. Some of it is Hardy's disastrous zone experiment, but it's not the only thing.

As a rookie, Kessler was a force down low as a rim protector. He was surprisingly athletic and had impeccable timing. No layup or weak flip shot was safe when he was nearby.

This season he's getting straight abused in the post by guys like... (checks notes) Drew Eubanks? I mean... WTF. Walker looks slow, soft, nervous and more ground bound. He's constantly losing the off-ball battles for position near the rim.

It's super early so I'm not that worried yet, but something is really off with this kid and I don't think the main cause is the arrival of Collins. John isn't stopping Walker from sending Eubanks' silly, soft jump hooks into the 30th row. In another post I suspected that Kessler's Team USA experience may have been counterproductive, since he was treated like an end-of-bencher and ignored, but who knows.

It's not just Walker, though. Overall we're doing many of the things bad defensive teams always do. The guards go under screens when they shouldn't, and look like they're moving underwater when they go over. As the ballhandler gets separation, we immediately overhelp like crazy and give up an open 3pt shot somewhere else.

We get cute all the time instead of working hard – too many guys are constantly out of position, hunting for flashy steals in imaginary passing lanes. Just stay between your man and the basket. This isn't the G-League, NBA players will kill you if you keep reaching like an idiot.
 
sip said:
We really need at least 20 games before we can make a judgement on any thing. At this point one game can swing you 10 spots in almost any category.
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It's year over year issue. Defense was way worse than offense last year as well, and it's almost the same team.
 
KqWIN said:
Through three games, the Jazz have the 10th best offense and the worst defense in the league by a mile. Last year the Jazz were 10th in offense and 23rd in defense. Given that 90% of the discussion will still be about our offense and how that is the problem, this thread is dedicated to discussing how the Jazz will eventually get to the point where they do not suck at defense.

So what's the problem here? Talent? Scheme? Schedule?
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100% help defense
 
it's just three games, so honestly we need to take it with a grain of salt, but, Kessler's poor defense in relation to what we saw last year is baffling. as far as the collins argument, perhaps there is something to it, but there have been too many times where collins hasn't even been close to the play or even in the game where Kessler has been in great position for help defense or just defending his own man and he isn't impacting an eventual bucket. very weird. hopefully he turns it around.
 
I was excited to watch Kessler and he's been completely invisible. I don't even know what 'good Kessler' from last year even looks like because I've seen basically nothing from the dude this year. What are his skills and talents when he is playing well?
 
Bawse Dawg said:
I was excited to watch Kessler and he's been completely invisible. I don't even know what 'good Kessler' from last year even looks like because I've seen basically nothing from the dude this year. What are his skills and talents when he is playing well?
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I don't know what the idea behind the defensive scheme is at all. Its not surprising its not working and that Walker isn't having impact on some of that. I am concerned that guys like Javale and Eubanks are seeming to get shots off without feeling Walker much. If we were playing something resembling normal defense I might be more concerned with Walker's lack of blocks/rim protection.

On offense this is kind of the cost of John Collins. He has been super solid but both John and Walker will have success as roll men. We also don't have guards that can set these guys up much it seems. Key has had the best passes out of the PnR... which is really telling.

Nuggs gonna put up 175 points tonight and Hardy will never have us in a zone again.
 
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