30Q: Will The Defense Still Be As Good?
by Jeff Clark on Aug 31, 2010 6:08 AM EDT
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Starting a new series (an idea I'm stealing from Sactown Royalty) called "30Q" where we ask 30 questions about the team to help generate discussion on days like today when there's no new news to discuss. Enjoy.
Thibs is out, Frank is in. Perkins is out for many months, Jermaine O'Neal is in. Sheed is out, Shaq is in. So what will the net effect be on the defense?
The bread and butter of this team for the last 3 years has been defense. In fact, the offense sputtered at times in last year's playoffs and they still got to within a quarter of a title. So even if the defense slips a little bit, they could still be one of the better units in the league at getting stops (when motivated that is).
The good news is that most of the players are back and they know Tom Thibodeau's defense down pat. When Thibs left the Rockets, Houston didn't see a big drop in production. Most of the team is back so continuity helps matters quite a bit.
Perhaps it is a bit unfair, but the responsibility to fill Tom's shoes falls to Lawrence Frank. Frank is a diligent worker with head coaching experience. He'll provide a different voice and perhaps take a fresh approach to the lead assistant position. However, he's not Tom Thibodeau and perhaps he shouldn't be expected to be just like Tom. For the last three years Tom has essentially played the role of Defensive Coordinator, but most teams don't define roles that strictly. Frank is certainly going to help out with the defense, but he'll have some say in the offense as well. In fact as I've mentioned, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see him groomed to take over for Doc if and when he leaves. It remains to be seen if the loss of Thibodeau will hurt the team or if they'll actually benefit from a fresh take.
By most accounts Jermaine O'Neal is a solid defensive player. He's clearly not as big as Perkins and he's lost a step or two from his peak but he can rotate and help well (which is key with this team defense). Shaq on the other hand is just a mountain in the lane. He doesn't rotate well and has been called the worst pick and roll defender in the world. So unless the team finds a way to counteract that, he'll be a downgrade when he's on the floor. Of course the hope is that he can rebound and score enough to make up for it.
The other thing to account for is age and injuries. Obviously the team is a better defensive unit when Kevin Garnett is healthy. The veterans are going to have to grind out another year and if last year is any indication, they might just take a week or a month to coast along with non-max effort to stay fresh for the playoffs.
So what do you think? Will this team be better or worse on defense?
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Jermaine and Shaq should help defensively up front more than Sheed did (JO from actually playing D and Shaq from actually rebounding). not having TA will hurt defending the wings. I think it’ll be a wash by the playoffs. I’m just hoping Ray and PP have enough gas going into the playoffs to both defend and score.
I can't see how it will be better...
Perk is injured until at least February, and Tony Allen is gone. The “big three” are a year older. Of our free agent signings, Wafer and Shaq are flawed defensive players. Thibodeau is with the Bulls.
All of those things clearly point to “worse defense”. We’re not going to all of a sudden be a bad defensive team, but we won’t be as good as we were. The good thing, though, is that hopefully our offense will be a little better to offset that.
All the negativity in this town sucks. It sucks, and it stinks, and it sucks. - Rick Pitino
Perfect summation...
KG`s age will more than offset any possible improvement to his knee. The KG you saw last year is the best one can hope for going forward.
Shaq didn`t come here to suddenly dedicate himself to the defensive end of the floor.
TA`s aggressive defense and athleticism keeps him employed, and those will be missed.
I was some what surprised
quite often with Garnett’s leaping last year. I remember him getting up there still to block.
SAVE THE PLANET. GO GREEN!
by CaliforniaGreen on Aug 31, 2010 2:04 PM EDT up reply actions
KG coming off from surgery for more than
a year should help him. He actually flashed some explosiveness in game 7. But yeah, the KG you’ll see this year will be him from here on out. But man, I’m not used to him seeing blowing layups when his hands are on top of the cylinder like that, or even just trying to lay the rock in. Usually, it’s a slam! More than anything though, his defense will surely improve than last year with a healthier knee.
It's mainly the big three
that will determine whether we’re better or worse defensively. KG and Paul are older but hopefully healthier, and Ray seemed to me to be a little better (at least) on defense after the trade deadline. I’d say that their play was the main difference between our regular season and playoff defenses, and I thought the difference was pretty sizable. Will our defense in the playoffs be better than it was this year? Not without a healthy Perk, and probably not even then. During the regular season? It wouldn’t surprise me.
Roy, very well put. Nice job.
Perk knows the schemes & is a lot smarter on D than most people would think. TA’s jumper will not be missed, but he did a fantastic job on wade, bron, melo, kobe, etc. TA really frustrated those guys & enjoyed the challenge of defending them. He was a huge defensive spark off the bench. TA was physical & would scrap unlike Daniels who was just way too soft on D. We shall see if Thibs was over or under appreciated….
Was our defense really that amazing during the regular season last season?
by guava_wrench on Aug 31, 2010 6:31 PM EDT up reply actions
exactly
the regular season defense left a lot to be desired after Christmas.
Defense is in flux
With all of the changes mentioned, it could go either way.
The defense has always been as good as KG can make it. His roaming albility has been one of the key factors. If KG can get back a majority of what he had, the changes will have significantly less effect.
The question is, will KG benefit from a full offseason to get healthy, or will his age continue to deteriorate his game?
Slightly worse. I just don’t see Frank being as good as Tom T when it comes to defense.
The Once and Future King
We all saw that the C's had a tough time
guarding the Lebrons, the Wades and the Kobes of the world, and that’s with TA in the lineup. You can bet, that will be an issue this year as well. They have the best frontcourt in the league albeit a bit ancient. Kobe won’t even drive to the basket with all those trees waiting for him, he’ll have a free reign outside. It’s up to Ray and PP to slow him down now. Marquis? dont’ bet your house on it, maybe if he stays healthy long enough to contribute, just maybe.
Yes i believe so.
With additions of the 2 Oneals..Perk gettin healthy..and KG"s knees getting stronger i think the Celtics mmay capture lightning in a bottle on defense. Motivation from being in the Finals 2wice in the 3 years with little concideration for this year..and Miami’s apparent domination over the league..oh yea..that swag will be back. Im looking forward to another LA/Celtics Finals!!!
by Kobe Won Kenobi on Aug 31, 2010 9:00 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Losing Thibs and TA is are huge losses that will effect the C's defense
it will be interesting to see how are defense reacts with him not coaching our defensive and yelling orders from the bench when the C’s are playing defense.
Losing TA is a huge loss and I think will effect the C’s the most on defense as he was one of the best wing defenders in the NBA.
It was a shame we could not resign him especially after the year he had last year.
Age is also a concern on how well our defense will be this year…but I do not see it as a big problem if our players are healthy (especially KG and his knee since he is the backbone on our defense) since most of our players keep themselves in tip top shape physically.
With the above said though I do think having Jermaine play at the power forward will help our low post one on one defense when defending against longer power forwards (e.g. Gasol) since he has length unlike Baby who lacks it.
I think Shaq will have trouble with the pick and roll and like Sheed will have trouble defending quick athletic centers one on one (this is when Jermaine should be utilized instead at center).
Shaq though just like Sheed will defend low post power centers one on one just fine (e.g. Howard – Big Z – Bynum ).
Time will tell though if the C’s defense will be as good as previous years or not.
Defense
1. The system will probably be close to the same and the players know it.
2. Losing TA—TA is injured most of the time and even though he is a great defender, he often gives up as much as he gains. Call it even.
3. Alot of the defense depends on KG’s health. If his lateral movement is good he’ll be okay
4. Perks loss is irreplaceable, especially when he’s on the floor with a healthy KG. Because of Perk’s loss I don’t think the defense will be as good. His team defense cannot be made up for by Shaq and JO.
"I don't come to play, I come to WIN"--Larry Bird
"Criminally Negligent Officiating"--Tommy Heinsohn
Will depend on the new guys.
I don’t see them regressing awfully, but I also don’t see them getting near their 08 form, where they were a dominating defense for the entire year, last year they were good, at times great, but nowhere near the consistent domination they put up night in and night out two years ago.
But if the new guys buy into the system, (i.e. JO, Shaq, Wafer) and improve as defenders, like almost every person who’s come to Boston so far has, then they should be fine.
Come on guys, Doc and the players know Thib´s schemes so it´s all about attitude and I hope defense, again, will be our main weapon.
by Juan José Nieto on Aug 31, 2010 9:20 AM EDT reply actions
It's all up to KG
Does he bounce back? Or continue to decline? If he is really going to be healthier, like they are saying….it will make a huge difference and our defense could be even better than last season once Perk is back.
Offense
I don think the offense will sputter. Now you have a center in Shaq that can very effectively back his way into the basket. There won’t be low percentage 3 pt shots being thrown up. And the other team will have to deal with 4 allstar scoring machines and a gifted point guard who loves to set them up. Sputter? Won’t be happening very often. The defense might drop a little, but the offense, and the increased headaches presented opponents will more than make up for the drop off. I mean Jeramie and Shaq…. That would be considered significant on any team. But on a team loaded with all stars at the other positions, it makes this team near unstoppable. I think the likelihood of seeing easy shots just increased. You can sit back and watch Sheed hoist up his 3’s. You cannot let Shaq shoot his 4 footers, or Jeramie shoot his 14 footers. Those are solid options for Rondo to have fun with.
Rebounding is nice!!
I’m all for more of that.
by GetYourSoxOn on Aug 31, 2010 3:48 PM EDT up reply actions
Shaq might be a pick-roll liability
against starters, but there are few second units that will be able to exploit that, at least to a greater extent than Shaq simply dominating their small backups or stiff-centers. Not a concern.
I can’t wait to see Frank’s influence. I think he’s a super coach. And I also can’t wait to compare that with Thibs’s job out in Chicago. I’m rooting for Chicago to supplant Atlanta this season, which can’t start soon enough!
"People don't understand, if you can't live the rest of your life off one year in the NBA, you can't live off 21." -- Keon Clark
basically we traded sheed for shaq
any moron who thinks defense is our liability is a hater. last year sheed was terrible on offense, played no defense, and was a target with a chip on his shoulder. we’ll be fine with lawrence frank, the bigger question is who will have a higher free throw %: shaq or rondo?
btw, tony allen was/is over rated
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