Where will the Jazz rank in defense this year?
- Thread starter KqWIN
- Start date
Very good thread, thanks for starting it.
The best defensive teams are loaded with players that can both play on ball as well as in help. We have very few players that can do either. We also lack a considerable amount of defensive BBIQ. Most surprising is that for a team as young as we are, we are terrible at defending in transition. I get a little depressed thinking about this, but hopefully we can see some improvement in all areas throughout the year.
The best defensive teams are loaded with players that can both play on ball as well as in help. We have very few players that can do either. We also lack a considerable amount of defensive BBIQ. Most surprising is that for a team as young as we are, we are terrible at defending in transition. I get a little depressed thinking about this, but hopefully we can see some improvement in all areas throughout the year.
One thing that "should" get us out of 30th place is defensive rebounding. That's not what you typically think of when playing defense, but it definitely makes an impact. Nurk is a "bad" defender, but his rebounding actually raises the floor of a defense quite a bit. I think between he an Kessler + being a team a team with lots of size we should be a good defensive rebounding team. We were 22th in defensive rebounding last year, and with our size I think it's inexcusable if we're not at least top 15 but we should really be one of the best. We've been really poor at defensive rebounding in the first 3 preseason games, but that's one area I'd expect to be better in the RS.
One area that also "should" be better is creating turnovers. But Will Hardy defenses have never forced turnovers and we're not even seeing the benefits elsewhere as we did with the Gobert led defenses. We can't defend for ****.....but with youth and length we should at least cause some more disruption.
Bottom 3. Especially if they end up moving Kessler.
Part of it depends on the lineups Will chooses to play. A lineup with Cody, Ace and Taylor has enough length and mobility to be effective defensively. Other than that, I don't see strong defensive lineups. We don't have size in the backcourt, and outside of Walker our 5s don't defend at an NBA level (Nurkic, Love, Flip).
Part of it depends on the lineups Will chooses to play. A lineup with Cody, Ace and Taylor has enough length and mobility to be effective defensively. Other than that, I don't see strong defensive lineups. We don't have size in the backcourt, and outside of Walker our 5s don't defend at an NBA level (Nurkic, Love, Flip).
I would not consider Nurk to be a negative defender....not yet anyways. At the very least, he is at a much higher level than Love/Flip at the 5. If Kessler/Nurk are playing the bulk of the minutes at the 5....we've got serious problems with the coaching and rest of roster.
Or the Jazz are intentionally letting the defensive development lag because it’s an easy way lose games while being a good offensive team (entertaining).
Sounds like heavy copium to think we can just flip the switch. It's just more likely that we have bad players and bad coaching.
I’m not saying flipping the switch is easy, I’m simply saying no one should understand the importance of one more tank year better than the front office. However, they simultaneously need to start exhibiting real improvement and moving tickets. The only way to do that right now is to let the defense suck complete ***.
Also worth noting this is the coach and organization that shamelessly threw games last year. It is not beneath them, they just have to tailor it better if keeping the pick is a priority (it better be).
What you're implying is that we could have been better on defense (with the players/coaches we have) if we wanted to, I'm not sure that's the case. I think it just so happens that we're bad, but the players/coaching we have are better at offense than defense. The poor defense is a reflection of our talent/coaching, not out of a desire to tank.
Other than Keyonte its 100% coaching. Lots of players on the roster are capable, and even Keyonte could be much better, but through either incompetence or uncaring, the coaching staff hasn’t made D part of their priorities- if minutes depended on your defensive effort, they would be distributed much differently.
I'd agree with most of this. The coaching staff has been bad at defense and they have admitted it was not their focus. I don't think that's part of a larger effort to sandbag and tank....I just don't think that's good coaching.
jumpin bean
Well-Known Member
rebounding everyone but clayton has cement shoes and late rotations on 3 point shooters means giving up massive points
Basketball Novice
Well-Known Member
He is late on rotations sometimes but he's also kinda strong when guys try to bump him on drives and he has quick hands for steals. The type of guy who has tradeoffs defensively. The hope is the good points are enough to offset him giving up a bunch of 3s due to late rotations and lack of ability to contest effectively.
Basketball Novice
Well-Known Member
Defensive rebounding is tough to judge just because there are some outside factors that affect the ranking. If the other team is making all of its shots, then there are less opportunities to rebound. Also, we give up tons of 3s and missed 3 pointers bounce hard off the rim. Is it bad rebounding if a missed 3 bounces all the way back to the 3 point line? I have no idea how you coach that kind of thing. The common refrain is just to box out but I don't know if that helps in the previous scenario.
Are the Jazz bad at rebounding or just bad at defense? It's hard for me to separate those things.
@MT Steve been selling for years that Hardy doesnt care about defense. Whether the problem has been in priorities, competence or personnel... I dare not speculate. But it would be foolish to deny us being systematically bad under Hardy.
I think the personnel is now slightly better. Sexton and Clarkson are not here and their minutes will be eaten by Collier, WCJ and Ace who all look they at least try harder than their rotational predecessors. Hendricks is back, and looks frisky. Maybe we will be in the 25-29 gourp and call that a victory?
I think the personnel is now slightly better. Sexton and Clarkson are not here and their minutes will be eaten by Collier, WCJ and Ace who all look they at least try harder than their rotational predecessors. Hendricks is back, and looks frisky. Maybe we will be in the 25-29 gourp and call that a victory?