Amare's defense

[Gaddabout]

I asked someone who had seen Amare's workouts recently and asked them what they were working on. Primarily it's catch-and-shoot, shooting off the dribble, working on moves around the basket. Basically he's trying to get his footwork and handles down. He's not working on defense, although that kind of work may not be something he can work on until players come back from their extended summer vacations. Working on defense requires another big body.

Ultimately, how much more can Amare improve? He shouldn't get bigger. He's not going to get any taller and his arms aren't going to grow any longer. He can work on his timing and get better at scouting player's moves so he doesn't bite on fakes, but he's really never going to be a one-on-one defensive stalwart at his current position. The bigs that are already good defender are usually very natural.

The only move that would dramatically improve Amare's defense is to put a real center on the floor and let him guard the other team's 4. It's his natural position. He's actually a decent defender there. Not a great one, but a good one.

IMO, if Amare wants to take the next step, he works on defensive rebounding. That's the Suns No. 1 problem. The Suns are an OK offensive rebounding team ... a little below average, but plenty good considering the high percentage they shoot. Without Marion that becomes more of a problem, but Amare could go a long way to the Suns a better defensive team just be wrapping his brain around blocking out, getting good position and anticipation on defense for every single possession.

 

[slinslin]

Defense improves under game conditions... His defense again LA was as good as anyones on the Suns.. His defense against the Spurs wasn't bad either by any means, despite "looking" better KT didn't fare any better effectively against Duncan 1on1.

 

[Goldfield]

I think Amare has improved on D. He still has along way to go to be considered great. But he himself wants to be the best player he can, and that means he must improve his D.

I think the fact that the Suns are missing any true shot blocking 6'11" - 7' center it makes the team look alot worse on D.

Amare is very aggressive. This is what makes him a great scorer but also gets him fouls on the other end. If Amare can learn to slow down and use his length more than his jumping ability he would be alot better.

I dont think Amare is a problem on D. He would benifit from a true center.

 

[OldDirtMcGirt]

Amare definitely needs to work with his position and specifically low post defense. Getting more lower body strength would be a step in the right direction.

Another big thing that he should work is more back to the basket moves so that he can perform better in the low post. Plus, adding range and consistency to his jumper would be nice.

 

[Gaddabout]

Plus, adding range and consistency to his jumper would be nice.

This is being addressed and probably something featured more often next year.

 

[OldDirtMcGirt]

About the need for a better center, if Sean Williams ever got his act together he'd be perfect.

 

[arwillan]

I dont think Amare is a problem on D. He would benifit from a true center.

*cough* marcus camby.

 

[OldDirtMcGirt]

*cough* marcus camby.

If he stays healthy, which he's had some serious trouble doing.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Amare has a lot to work on post defense. He is fooled too easily into bad fouls and gives up a bad starting position.

He has the strength and length to be a good defensive player. He could easily have the defensive prowess of Alonzo Mourning if he applies himself (which I don't doubt he will)

 

[OldDirtMcGirt]

Amare has a lot to work on post defense. He is fooled too easily into bad fouls and gives up a bad starting position.

He has the strength and length to be a good defensive player. He could easily have the defensive prowess of Alonzo Mourning if he applies himself (which I don't doubt he will)

Zo is a serious stretch. I think that Amare has the potential to be a very good help defender, but I doubt he ever becomes a great low post or position defender simply because he doesn't have the size or strength that other guys do.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Amare has a lot to work on post defense. He is fooled too easily into bad fouls and gives up a bad starting position.

He has the strength and length to be a good defensive player. He could easily have the defensive prowess of Alonzo Mourning if he applies himself (which I don't doubt he will)

he doesn't have the lower body size or strength that mourning had. and mourning always had it. in addition, some kids just have a knack for defense. mourning was an incredibly intimidating defensive force outta high school, so good in fact, that john thompson almost put him on the olympic team without him having played a minute of college ball. obviously amare was not the same defender in college. he doesn't just "get it" he's learning it.

 

[azirish]

Amare has worked on explosiveness, but not on raw lower body strength. But considering how many people didn't think he'd even play, I think he's making progress.

Ordinarily I think it is a bad idea for players to be on their national teams, because national teams don't work on skills and conditioning. But in Amare's case, being on the national team is an incredible opportunity to work on his defense against the kind of guys he needs to stop.

 

[Goldfield]

I would rather Amare let his knees rest...

 

[azirish]

I would rather Amare let his knees rest...

With D'Antoni as one of the coaches, I think they'll watch his workouts very closely.

 

[Goldfield]

With D'Antoni as one of the coaches, I think they'll watch his workouts very closely.

I meant let his knees rest rather than play on his national team this summer.

Seems to me with his knee's he should let them rest as much as he can.

 

[mr_sunshine]

I think a lot of Amare's recent defense woes are from his lack of explosiveness. Well not that he lacks it, but compared to the pre-surgery Amare he's not nearly as much of a shot blocking beast. Thus he goes for some blocks he USED TO make, but now cannot get to and takes stupid fouls. I think he just needs to learn his new bounds on shot blocking abilities, show some true effort on the defensive end, and be more aggressive in terms of fighting for position on defense and he will be fine.

 

[sharkman]

I think a lot of Amare's recent defense woes are from his lack of explosiveness. Well not that he lacks it, but compared to the pre-surgery Amare he's not nearly as much of a shot blocking beast. Thus he goes for some blocks he USED TO make, but now cannot get to and takes stupid fouls. I think he just needs to learn his new bounds on shot blocking abilities, show some true effort on the defensive end, and be more aggressive in terms of fighting for position on defense and he will be fine.

Do you watch the games or just read about them? There is nothing wrong with Amare's "explosiveness"....in fact, many of his fouls are because of it...

...he is a little too aggressive...his positioning needs to improve....and he needs to learn how to flop....cuz from the Spurs recent success that's evidently what the League wants to emphasize....he stands his ground instead of doing the Ginobili flop.

 

[dodie53]

don't let amare guard the opponents best PF or C so amare will not get into foul trouble..

get a true center to work with amare..

i think the suns will pursue that kind of player when marion gets traded..

 

[azirish]

Do you watch the games or just read about them? There is nothing wrong with Amare's "explosiveness"....in fact, many of his fouls are because of it...

...he is a little too aggressive...his positioning needs to improve....and he needs to learn how to flop....cuz from the Spurs recent success that's evidently what the League wants to emphasize....he stands his ground instead of doing the Ginobili flop.

The Spurs defense is built around Duncan. You might teach Amare to become a better defender, but you can't teach him to be taller with longer arms. The main thing for Amare is to understand that he has to stay within scheme, emphasize footword, and not try to block everything because it just makes him vulnerable.

 

[sharkman]

The Spurs defense is built around Duncan. You might teach Amare to become a better defender, but you can't teach him to be taller with longer arms. The main thing for Amare is to understand that he has to stay within scheme, emphasize footword, and not try to block everything because it just makes him vulnerable.

Agreed...but it has nothing to do with his lack of "explosiveness"...he is one of the most explosive athletes in the League...even post surgery...his post season effeciency ratings led every player in the league....including Duncan and Shaq.

 

[azirish]

Agreed...but it has nothing to do with his lack of "explosiveness"...he is one of the most explosive athletes in the League...even post surgery...his post season effeciency ratings led every player in the league....including Duncan and Shaq.

Against a lot of opponents, I prefer to start KT and have Amare on the weak side. From the weak side, he's in position to make weak side blocks and attack the ball in rebounding. The strong side defender should focus on positioning and blocking out -- very different skills.

 

[cly2tw]

Amare before the surguries would have never become a good position defender. But after it, he might, due to his limitation on athletic explosiveness compared to earlier, how paradoxical it might sound.

The reason is that the human instinct dictates that to be fast you have to keep your gravity center high. But then you lose the ability to react smoothly and quickly to sudden direction changes. It's a trade off that however could be eliminated by hard working on staying low on your knees and moving in all directions without your center going up and down during the process. This is also why Marion can't be a really good defender.



So, it's not much about lower body strength rather than how you manage it. Rodman used to weigh only 220 but couldn't be moved around so easily on the low post. Amare is strong enough there but just not flexible enough to change the directions where he exert his power.

He can learn that now.

 

[azirish]

Amare before the surguries would have never become a good position defender. But after it, he might, due to his limitation on athletic explosiveness compared to earlier, how paradoxical it might sound.

The reason is that the human instinct dictates that to be fast you have to keep your gravity center high. But then you lose the ability to react smoothly and quickly to sudden direction changes. It's a trade off that however could be eliminated by hard working on staying low on your knees and moving in all directions without your center going up and down during the process. This is also why Marion can't be a really good defender.

So, it's not much about lower body strength rather than how you manage it. Rodman used to weigh only 220 but couldn't be moved around so easily on the low post. Amare is strong enough there but just not flexible enough to change the directions where he exert his power.

He can learn that now.

I think you are on target about lower center of gravity, but I disagree about your assessment of Rodman. Rodman was always on the weakside. IMHO, Rodman's defense in his later days was not that great, but was offset by his relentless rebounding. He could be teamed with a stiff like Longley who could block out but not rebound much.

 

[Covert Rain]

Name me how many PF or Centers in the league that can guard 100% of the other teams PF or Centers 100% of the time? Amare can hold his own against the majority of the players he plays against. Amare has improved every single year and will continue to do so. It's not like Amare has hit the ceiling at age 24.

Amare from what I have seen is not limited by anything but time at this point. His knees don't seem to be a problem and with another year under his belt to improve his confidence, I still see the sky is the limit with this guy.

 

[Cheesebeef]

!

Name me how many PF or Centers in the league that can guard 100% of the other teams PF or Centers 100% of the time? Amare can hold his own against the majority of the players he plays against. Amare has improved every single year and will continue to do so. It's not like Amare has hit the ceiling at age 24.

seriously - how come when Amare throws down 25 and 11 or 37 and 10 on Duncan, people aren't ripping Duncan's defense? The best players in the NBA are going to get their points - the best TEAMS in the NBA have guys who will step up their game in the biggest moments - sadly, Barbs completely crapped the bed this year (could have been due to injuries) and Marion, as is his MO in the biggest series of the year, played below par as well.

I read an article just now on EV Trib where it said a lot of coaches thought Amare, for a variety of reasons, ws the main reason we lost that series, which is complete crap. Was he great? No, but he played well enough to balance out the mistakes he made, while other guys continued to shrink on the biggest stage. Amare and Nash were the only ones who consistently came to play and to be honest, Nash wasn't all that either, considering he had that Game 3 where he couldn'thit the broad side of a barn, Game 5 where he was anything but MVP-like and didn't do anything in Game 6 until we were down 20 points. Bottom line, no one person is to blame for the Spurs series, it was a collective brain-fart.

not sure how I got there from the Amare going off on Duncan thing, but whatever!