For small stretches in each of the last two seasons we have had a historically good defensive team. If we look at how we accomplished that, it should help guide us through the roster changes this off season. It also should help learn how to be dominate defensively all season long.
First of all the key to all our defensive success is Rudy Gobert. As the best rim protector, a great defensive rebounder and an above average center when switched onto guards around the perimeter; Gobert's defensive impact cannot be overstated. Unfortunately he isn't a athletic freak like Drummond or DeAndre Jordan. We need to limit his minutes throughout the year so he can be at full health for a playoff run next year and for the years to come. In my opinion we want Rudy at 30-32 minutes per game in the regular season. That means we need to have effective backup center minutes . Specifically we really need a reasonable facsimile of his rim protection.
Our options for this include:
Derrick Favors is a plus defender as a power forward- he is only an average defender as a center. Ideally we need to keep him at power forward as much as possible.
Withey showed some flashes last year and he is a proven shotblocker. However, he is constantly a strength disadvantage at 230 lbs. This shows up in his post defense and rebounding. Maybe a year of P3 training will help Withey to improve his core strength and lower body strength. In opinion Withey can cover up for his weight disadvantage with super effort, but only for relatively few minutes.
Pleiss has some of the characteristics in a center that we look for. Height, length some mobility. But he desperately needs to improve his strength to hold up defensively. If we are looking at a defensive identity for our team. Pleiss seems to be an odd man out. (Especially because Lyles provides so much scoring off the bench-- it makes Pleiss offensive talents less important.)
A free agent- Biyombo will be a free agent this year and he could provide some useful backup minutes. Though his offensive limitations are huge.
The second key for us defensively is having a big, strong point guard. It allows switching and help defense from Exum or Mack is much more effective than Neto/Burke. It wasn't a coincidence that shortly after Mack arrive our defense started to pick up. With our ability to play Alec Burks defensive at PG, I think we are pretty set at PG defensively.
Thirdly, Hayward has been our best wing/big wing defender for the last couple of seasons. We need to find a way to take this burden off of him and to ideally improve on his defense. Also we need someone bigger to matchup with Durant, Wiggins, Carmelo, Lebron, Paul George, etc.
Our other wings all have defensive flaws.
Hood isn't strong enough to hold his own against the big wings in the league nor does he have the length of the bigger wings.
Burks is not strong enough and he loses focus off the ball.
When Ingles is locked defensively he is surprising good due to his smarts, size and strength. But his conditioning level doesn't allow him to provide that kind of defense consistently. Hopefully he could accept a defense/energy role and get into better shape.
Chris Johnson isn't a viable NBA player until he can shoot a little.
There are a few draft picks who might be able to help in this area down the road.
But for next year we might need to look at he free agency pool. I like Jared Dudley for this team but the Small Forward pool isn't very deep. I also like Terrence Jones. Maybe David Locke isn't crazy to talk about a Rudy Gay trade.
https://hoopshype.com/2016/03/05/nba-free-agency-2016-small-forwards/
All in all I think addressing our backup center spot is maybe our biggest key for next year. If we can keep Favors minutes at Center down and limit Rudy's minutes we can increase the chances of them being healthy for the majority of the season. I would love to add a very good, big defensive wing, but there aren't really many available.
What do you think? How can we become a historically good defensive team all year long?
First of all the key to all our defensive success is Rudy Gobert. As the best rim protector, a great defensive rebounder and an above average center when switched onto guards around the perimeter; Gobert's defensive impact cannot be overstated. Unfortunately he isn't a athletic freak like Drummond or DeAndre Jordan. We need to limit his minutes throughout the year so he can be at full health for a playoff run next year and for the years to come. In my opinion we want Rudy at 30-32 minutes per game in the regular season. That means we need to have effective backup center minutes . Specifically we really need a reasonable facsimile of his rim protection.
Our options for this include:
Derrick Favors is a plus defender as a power forward- he is only an average defender as a center. Ideally we need to keep him at power forward as much as possible.
Withey showed some flashes last year and he is a proven shotblocker. However, he is constantly a strength disadvantage at 230 lbs. This shows up in his post defense and rebounding. Maybe a year of P3 training will help Withey to improve his core strength and lower body strength. In opinion Withey can cover up for his weight disadvantage with super effort, but only for relatively few minutes.
Pleiss has some of the characteristics in a center that we look for. Height, length some mobility. But he desperately needs to improve his strength to hold up defensively. If we are looking at a defensive identity for our team. Pleiss seems to be an odd man out. (Especially because Lyles provides so much scoring off the bench-- it makes Pleiss offensive talents less important.)
A free agent- Biyombo will be a free agent this year and he could provide some useful backup minutes. Though his offensive limitations are huge.
The second key for us defensively is having a big, strong point guard. It allows switching and help defense from Exum or Mack is much more effective than Neto/Burke. It wasn't a coincidence that shortly after Mack arrive our defense started to pick up. With our ability to play Alec Burks defensive at PG, I think we are pretty set at PG defensively.
Thirdly, Hayward has been our best wing/big wing defender for the last couple of seasons. We need to find a way to take this burden off of him and to ideally improve on his defense. Also we need someone bigger to matchup with Durant, Wiggins, Carmelo, Lebron, Paul George, etc.
Our other wings all have defensive flaws.
Hood isn't strong enough to hold his own against the big wings in the league nor does he have the length of the bigger wings.
Burks is not strong enough and he loses focus off the ball.
When Ingles is locked defensively he is surprising good due to his smarts, size and strength. But his conditioning level doesn't allow him to provide that kind of defense consistently. Hopefully he could accept a defense/energy role and get into better shape.
Chris Johnson isn't a viable NBA player until he can shoot a little.
There are a few draft picks who might be able to help in this area down the road.
But for next year we might need to look at he free agency pool. I like Jared Dudley for this team but the Small Forward pool isn't very deep. I also like Terrence Jones. Maybe David Locke isn't crazy to talk about a Rudy Gay trade.
https://hoopshype.com/2016/03/05/nba-free-agency-2016-small-forwards/
All in all I think addressing our backup center spot is maybe our biggest key for next year. If we can keep Favors minutes at Center down and limit Rudy's minutes we can increase the chances of them being healthy for the majority of the season. I would love to add a very good, big defensive wing, but there aren't really many available.
What do you think? How can we become a historically good defensive team all year long?
