Defense

[azirish]

The Suns have played only three games including stinker against NO, but their overall defensive stats are not bad: 42.9% opponent's shooting and are inducing 21.7 turnovers by their opponents including an average of 7.0 blocks per game.

http://www.nba.com/suns/news/notables_071015.html

On Defense, Suns Prove to Be All That Jazz
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In addition to his two blocked shots, Shawn Marion also contributed 16 points and eight rebounds in Phoenix's 124-101 victory.
Barry Gossage/NBAE Photos




Posted: Oct 16 2007 5:25PM
By Brad G. Faye, Suns.com
Posted: Oct. 15, 2007


For those who might have missed it, the US Airways Center held a block party on October 15, and apparently each and every member of the Phoenix Suns was invited.

Eight different players recorded a blocked shot in Monday evening’s 124-101 victory over the Jazz, while six contributed a minimum of two steals apiece. For a team with a reputation for not playing any defense, it was an effort Suns Head Coach Mike D'Antoni will certainly take.

“That was definitely our best outing both offensively and defensively,” D'Antoni said. “We were active defensively and that’s an area we’re looking to get a lot better in this year. For the most part I think we did a good job of it.”

Perhaps most impressive about the play on the defensive end of the floor is that it came against a Jazz team known for its size behind center Mehmet Okur, power forward Carlos Boozer and 6-9 "small" forward Andrei Kirilenko. The Suns meanwhile were without their center Amaré Stoudemire, still sidelined after his recent knee surgery and center Brian Skinner who could return to the Phoenix lineup against Los Angeles on Thursday. Tonight meanwhile, even Steve Nash, who compiled all of six blocks throughout the 2006-07 campaign contributed a blocked shot, the team finishing with 11 total.

Shawn Marion, who contributed two of those 11 blocks, believed it was the team’s intensity on the defensive end of the floor that helped Phoenix outscore Utah in each and every quarter of the contest.

“I thought we moved the ball very well, but we also played with a lot of energy on the defensive end. We were active, we got a lot of deflections and were able to create a lot of turnovers. What more can you ask?”

The defensive effort perhaps came as a surprise to newcomer Grant Hill, who signed with the Suns expecting to provide more of a punch to what was already the league’s best offense. But while the defense exhibited by Phoenix may have come as a surprise, the forward insists it didn’t happen by accident.

“There’s actually a scheme and a system here, and when applied it can be very good,” the All-Star said with a smile. “I know I didn’t think of the Suns as a defensive team but we have a lot of versatility and can switch a lot.”

As far as the Matrix’s question goes about what more one can ask from a team that forces 28 turnovers and holds their opponent to just 41 first half points, the answer might just come beyond the three-point line. Phoenix shot 61% from beyond the arc for the contest, led by guard Raja Bell who finished 5-for-6 from downtown.
Now that’s the Phoenix Suns team we’re used to seeing.

 

[mojorizen7]

This is promising. Unfortunately i haven't had the chance to see any of the pre-season games yet.

 

[dodie53]

This is promising. Unfortunately i haven't had the chance to see any of the pre-season games yet.

haven't seen one either.

 

[MonkeyMan22]

I thought the defense sounded good and I am hopeful but I am cautiously optimistic. Recall that the Suns D started out pretty good last season, in fact they were leading the league opponent 3pt percentage. Hopefully they keep it up.

MM

 

[azirish]

The Suns defense seems to falter when opponents get into better shape as the season goes on. However, this is the first year the team has really tried to implement the pressure/switching scheme.

I don't know how well it will work IMHO, the main reason for going to a switching style is to counter the tendency of opponents to run an endless series of picks against Nash who is not capable of fighting through them. Switching may leave Nash on bigger guys, but at least he can pester them rather than watching helplessly as shooter hit open shots when he has to go under the picks.

Ordinarily the reason switching doesn't work is that it leaves a slow big man to cover quicker players. But the Suns don't have a slow bigs. They hardly have any bigs at all, but none of them are especially slow.

 

[Rbutters91]

Zone seems to work. Haven't seen a lot of man to man that works.

 

[azirish]

Zone seems to work. Haven't seen a lot of man to man that works.

The Suns are not likely to play much pure zone (usually you need a straight on shot blocker), but IMHO switching man to man can resemble a matchup zone at times.

 

[Rbutters91]

The Suns are not likely to play much pure zone (usually you need a straight on shot blocker), but IMHO switching man to man can resemble a matchup zone at times.

true. Wish Amare was a best on defense as he is on offense.

 

[dodie53]

can't have 'em all

 

[azirish]

At least Amare is talking about defense. He didn't even mention it much in past years.

 

[Errntknght]

George,

The Suns are not likely to play much pure zone (usually you need a straight on shot blocker),

I don't know where you get these ideas - its simply not the case that the presence of a 'straight up shot blocker' is the determining factor in whether playing a zone is the way to go. Particularly not in the NBA where the rules disallow just camping under the basket. Of course, its nice to have a straight up shot blocker but its just as valuable in man D as zone.

I know its easy to imagine the other team nullifying a straight up shot blocker in man D by drawing him away from the basket but, in reality, its quite hard to do. Recently we had a thread where we talking about ways to nullify Tim Duncan who is a great straight up shot blocker - and the exciting thing was that with a front court of Amare, Marion and Hill it seemed we might be able to do it to some extent. Very few teams around the league have the personnel to even come that close.

 

[mribnik]

The Suns defense seems to falter when opponents get into better shape as the season goes on. However, this is the first year the team has really tried to implement the pressure/switching scheme.

I don't know how well it will work IMHO, the main reason for going to a switching style is to counter the tendency of opponents to run an endless series of picks against Nash who is not capable of fighting through them. Switching may leave Nash on bigger guys, but at least he can pester them rather than watching helplessly as shooter hit open shots when he has to go under the picks.

Ordinarily the reason switching doesn't work is that it leaves a slow big man to cover quicker players. But the Suns don't have a slow bigs. They hardly have any bigs at all, but none of them are especially slow.

I disagree. I think the Suns defense seems to falter when the Suns don't put as much effort into it as the season goes on. The Suns have a lot of athleticism and quickness. They have everything they need to have an active, swarming defense.

 

[azirish]

George,

I don't know where you get these ideas - its simply not the case that the presence of a 'straight up shot blocker' is the determining factor in whether playing a zone is the way to go. Particularly not in the NBA where the rules disallow just camping under the basket. Of course, its nice to have a straight up shot blocker but its just as valuable in man D as zone.

It is hard to discuss NBA zones since they use different principles than college and FIBA zones due to the defensive three second rule. To a degree, no one plays pure man to man any more than they play classic zone. From what I can tell, what gets called zone is a type of switching man to man with bigs staying close to the basket. The big variation is how tight the wings are pushed compared with the more passive wing defense of a zone style.

 

[Errntknght]

George,

From what I can tell, what gets called zone is a type of switching man to man with bigs staying close to the basket. The big variation is how tight the wings are pushed compared with the more passive wing defense of a zone style.

The way to tell a switching man to man from a zone is whether or not the switching is limited to screen situations. If defenders switch men due to simple offensive movement then its a zone and if they switch only on screens then its a switching man to man.

You may have something in mind in your last sentence about the wings but I have no idea what you are saying - you seem to be contrasting positioning and passiveness but I see no reason you can't mix and match the two any way you want. To wit: tight, passive; spread, passive; tight, active; and spread, active. It does, however, give me a clue as to why you have trouble telling a switching man to man from a zone...

 

[arwillan]

the big question for me as far as defense goes lies with grant hill. can he play good D or will be yet another liability on this team?

 

[Rbutters91]

the big question for me as far as defense goes lies with grant hill. can he play good D or will be yet another liability on this team?

Im thinkin Liability.

 

[Stargazer]

I'll wait to see him play, but I'm afraid that may be right, though it depends on what your baseline is: compared to JR last year, Hill will probably be a step down on defense, and therefore a "liability." On the other hand, the Suns don't exactly have a great defense anyway, so it's not like Hill will the one weak link that suddenly opens up the floodgates. According to D'Antoni's philosophy -- "The team with the best defense is the one with the most points at the end of the game" -- Hill will probably be a big positive, in that he'll be responsible for adding more points on the offensive end (relative to JR) than he gives up on defense.