Jerry Sloan: Defense?

[btimsah]

I'm still trying to understand how mr toughness Jerry Sloan's team's never play great team defense. I just don't get it... He's had some great offensive teams and every year they fail on the defensive end. Which seems odd to me considering he's supposed to be a guy who loves toughness...

No.. he loves offenses and they practice those offensive sets more than switching on defense.. They quite possibly play worse team defense than the Nuggets.

 

[abomb]

I am shocked how much they fouled during the regular season and in the playoffs.

 

[nowagimp]

I'm still trying to understand how mr toughness Jerry Sloan's team's never play great team defense. I just don't get it... He's had some great offensive teams and every year they fail on the defensive end. Which seems odd to me considering he's supposed to be a guy who loves toughness...

No.. he loves offenses and they practice those offensive sets more than switching on defense.. They quite possibly play worse team defense than the Nuggets.

Ah, but many ASFN posters call Sloan a "defensive minded coach". the jazz allow a high FG%, their defense is arguably worse than the suns. I'll bet they allow more pts/possession. The lakers defense isnt that good either, but the offense is one of the best, perhaps the best in the postseason, when defenses come to play.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

The Jazz looked like d-leaguers last night.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Part of it is that the Lakers are just a ridiculous offensive team.

 

[btimsah]

Part of it is that the Lakers are just a ridiculous offensive team.

Well, that's one thing. But I'm talking about the way they collapse on defense inside leaving just about everyone else open. They don't rotate defensively and someone ends up wide open almost everytime.

If their guarded and they hit a shot - fine. But often nobody is guarded. The Lakers might be getting a bit of fools gold playing the Nuggets followed by the Jazz. Their only saving grace is that at times the Hornets double down on guys like Kobe ALSO leaving the "other" guys with wide open chances..

Hey, the Celtics play defense.. Hmm... L.A. Boston series..

 

[LakeShowMan]

Not to sound cocky or anything, but there is not much that a team can do against the Lakers right now. When their outside shots are going in, they can not be stopped. Kobe puts so much pressure on a defense, and when teams decide to hedge on him or double, the rest of the team are such great passers that we almost always get a good shot (if not a layup). The only thing you can really do is collapse (or Gasol and Odom will have a layup line), so our outside shooters will get good looks.

The truly amazing thing last night was Kobe just seemed to be coasting in the first half, and still got 12 points. When the Jazz came out strong in the 3rd, Kobe kicked his aggresiveness up a notch, and got any shot he wanted. Really the only matchup, is if someone has a good wing defender that can play Kobe physically without a huge amount of help.

I know it might not be too some, but the way the Lakers have been playing offensively has been a beautiful thing to watch. However, if they are going to beat New Orleans or San Antonio, they are going to have to pick it up BIG TIME on defense and rebounding.

 

[abomb]

Really the only matchup, is if someone has a good wing defender that can play Kobe physically without a huge amount of help.

Exactly, and there arent many left in the playoffs.

Rip Hamilton (classic battles)
LeBron (I dont recall him really shutting KB down)
Bruce Bowen (down 0-2)
Paul Pierce or Ray Allen (Okay!)
Mo Evans
Mo Peterson

 

[nashman]

Its hard to beat LA in LA lets see how they play on the road before we hand them the trophy. I don't care for the Lakers or the Jazz but its pretty clear the Lakers get hometown calls like no other. The Jazz were in foul trouble in both games alot of them ticky tack calls early.

 

[LakeShowMan]

Its hard to beat LA in LA lets see how they play on the road before we hand them the trophy. I don't care for the Lakers or the Jazz but its pretty clear the Lakers get hometown calls like no other. The Jazz were in foul trouble in both games alot of them ticky tack calls early.

I guess I missed where I said hand them the trophy right now.

All I am saying is that the Lakers are playing so efficent on offense right now, that it is a tough thing to defend. In fact, I even said, they have to improve a lot in other areas if they want to get through the west.

As an aside, if you really believe that some teams get more calls than other teams, why do you even watch? Considering that Utah leads the league in fouls and FTs given, I don't think it is crazy to realize that maybe all those fouls are good calls, and not some benefit to the Lakers. I have not heard Jerry Sloan complain one iota about the referees. In fact, he has said that his team HAS been fouling a lot. Blaming the refs is almost always a convenient excuse, but more times than not the refs don't decide the games.

 

[nowagimp]

Not to sound cocky or anything, but there is not much that a team can do against the Lakers right now. When their outside shots are going in, they can not be stopped. Kobe puts so much pressure on a defense, and when teams decide to hedge on him or double, the rest of the team are such great passers that we almost always get a good shot (if not a layup). The only thing you can really do is collapse (or Gasol and Odom will have a layup line), so our outside shooters will get good looks.

The truly amazing thing last night was Kobe just seemed to be coasting in the first half, and still got 12 points. When the Jazz came out strong in the 3rd, Kobe kicked his aggresiveness up a notch, and got any shot he wanted. Really the only matchup, is if someone has a good wing defender that can play Kobe physically without a huge amount of help.

I know it might not be too some, but the way the Lakers have been playing offensively has been a beautiful thing to watch. However, if they are going to beat New Orleans or San Antonio, they are going to have to pick it up BIG TIME on defense and rebounding.

the lakers offense is really operating efficiently, IMO the best in the postseason. They have faced two of the worst defensive teams, nugz and jazz. Both of these teams are pathetic in their defense at the '2'. I mean kyle korver actually tried to guard kobe, LOL! And edwardo Najera and assorted defensive stiffs tried to guard kobe in the nugz series. Najera is OK at the 3( a slow 3, not caron butler), but he cant guard a good '2' or a fast '3'. I couldnt believe that sloan would even attempt to defend kobe with kyle korver or matt harpring. Thats a slap in the face to the MVP, to even try with those guys. The interesting thing is that the hornets are not much better defending the '2', except that Mr. Chandler will be in the lane on the penetration and he is one of the best bigs in the NBA defensively. On the jazz, the enforcer in the lane is mr Okur, LOL!!!

 

[nowagimp]

Its hard to beat LA in LA lets see how they play on the road before we hand them the trophy. I don't care for the Lakers or the Jazz but its pretty clear the Lakers get hometown calls like no other. The Jazz were in foul trouble in both games alot of them ticky tack calls early.

Sorry nash man, the calls wont help the jazz. Boozer is pulling a disappearing act and their post and perimeter defense sucks. AK is their only shot blocker, only AK, Dwil, perhaps ronnie brewer(experience isnt good, but he has the tools) are good defenders on that team. The suns would have defended the lakers better, for sure, and everyone knows the suns are no defensive juggernaut. The jazz will need some serious home cooking to win 2 in utah.

 

[LakeShowMan]

the lakers offense is really operating efficiently, IMO the best in the postseason. They have faced two of the worst defensive teams, nugz and jazz. Both of these teams are pathetic in their defense at the '2'. I mean kyle korver actually tried to guard kobe, LOL! And edwardo Najera and assorted defensive stiffs tried to guard kobe in the nugz series. Najera is OK at the 3( a slow 3, not caron butler), but he cant guard a good '2' or a fast '3'. I couldnt believe that sloan would even attempt to defend kobe with kyle korver or matt harpring. Thats a slap in the face to the MVP, to even try with those guys. The interesting thing is that the hornets are not much better defending the '2', except that Mr. Chandler will be in the lane on the penetration and he is one of the best bigs in the NBA defensively. On the jazz, the enforcer in the lane is mr Okur, LOL!!!

You won't get any arguement from me there. Obviously, the Nuggets were a good matchup for the Lakers, and I thought Utah would be as well. There is still plenty left to decide in this series though.

If they are good enough to get through, the Hornets or Spurs will be tougher matchups.

However, NO really doesn't have a matchup for Kobe either, and I don't know that Chandler is a better defensive helper than Camby. The Lakers, with Pau, will give NO a tough matchup. Of course, the other end will be a challenge and a half, as we don't have any matchup for Chris Paul (does anyone though?).

The Spurs I think will be a tough match-up for our offense, as they can throw Bowen and Udoka @ Kobe. However, they are not as explosive as the Hornets on the other end.

We'll see what happens, but if the Lakers can stay healthy, and keep up the offensive efficency, I think they will give teams a lot of headaches on offense. Defense is a completely different story however (where I am still not completely convinced that we are good enough to win it all).

 

[nashman]

The Jazz have plenty of home cooking in Utah, best in the league so don't be surprised if they win both. Shoot if they could hit open shots they could have took 1 in LA they are missing open shots.

 

[nowagimp]

The Jazz have plenty of home cooking in Utah, best in the league so don't be surprised if they win both. Shoot if they could hit open shots they could have took 1 in LA they are missing open shots.

If okur keeps being chokur, missing open 3's its over in 5 or less. The jazz are one of the worst teams in the NBA at defending the '2', and they won the kobe bryant sweepstakes, poor jazz.

 

[95pro]

okur, imo, has become very passive in this series. he has wide open 3's when PG is guarding him, but he either passes or tries to drive the lane. its seems like he's changing a good thing at the wrong time.

 

[mojorizen7]

I'm still trying to understand how mr toughness Jerry Sloan's team's never play great team defense. I just don't get it... He's had some great offensive teams and every year they fail on the defensive end. Which seems odd to me considering he's supposed to be a guy who loves toughness...

No.. he loves offenses and they practice those offensive sets more than switching on defense.. They quite possibly play worse team defense than the Nuggets.

I mentioned this earlier in the reg season. The JAZZ have slowly become a team that can score in several different ways(other than just the picknroll).....while at the same time they've become less of a hard-nosed defensive team. IMO they've still got a decent balance.....but they're so jeckyll and Hyde at home vs the road.

 

[justAndy]

The Jazz historically foul a lot - Sloan doesn't like his team allowing easy layups. He's always had his players foul HARD - no and 1's.

 

[mojorizen7]

The Jazz historically foul a lot - Sloan doesn't like his team allowing easy layups. He's always had his players foul HARD - no and 1's.

It's a philosophy i tend to agree with. It's value lies more in the psychological battle than the physical one.
A philosophy that unfortunately the SUNS have never(in my years) touched upon and thus have been fairly labeled as a soft team.

 

[TheMachine]

Jazz defense = holding, pushing backs on rebounds and fouling...then complaining on how many fouls are called.

They also have this one play in which two jazz players pull you down during free throws therefore making it seem like you pushed both jazz players to the ground.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4-Jq2YTmM8

 

[btimsah]

So, if I say Chris Paul is the best player in the League, it becomes an issue with Kobe and the lakers. If I say the Jazz defense sucks, no it's not that. The lakers are just that good.

Does anyone see a pattern here? You know, sometimes I don't want a Laker point of view. Are there any Jazz fans in here? Anyone?




I saw how bad the Jazz defense was last year when they got destroyed by the Spurs. I thought then, and I think now, that the Suns played better defense. ANd that says a lot!

 

[mojorizen7]

So, if I say Chris Paul is the best player in the League, it becomes an issue with Kobe and the lakers. If I say the Jazz defense sucks, no it's not that. The lakers are just that good.

Does anyone see a pattern here? You know, sometimes I don't want a Laker point of view. Are there any Jazz fans in here? Anyone?




I saw how bad the Jazz defense was last year when they got destroyed by the Spurs. I thought then, and I think now, that the Suns played better defense. ANd that says a lot!

-They're too busy doing head counts on their wives to watch basketball.
sorry...too easy.

-I've got to disagree there.

 

[Darth Llama]

The Jazz normally are a good defensive team. For the season, they allowed the 6th fewest points in the West (99.3%) with a differential of +6.9 points which was 2nd best to the Lakers (+7.3 points.) They are having match up problems in this series, and their overly physical nature is shooting them in the foot.

I don't care for the Lakers or the Jazz but its pretty clear the Lakers get hometown calls like no other. The Jazz were in foul trouble in both games alot of them ticky tack calls early.

The Utah Jazz led the league in both personal fouls comited (24.2 per game) and opponents free throws attempted for the regular season. But of course, you don't care about facts, you care only about your bias and opt to blame the league giving the Lakers preferential treatment. No surprise coming from you.

they could have took 1 in LA they are missing open shots.

Right, open shots, sure. Utah shot 49.7% Field Goals for the season (2nd best in the entire NBA,) but now all the sudden they can't hit open shots. It has nothing at all to do with the Laker defense does it?

 

[nowagimp]

The Jazz normally are a good defensive team. For the season, they allowed the 6th fewest points in the West (99.3%) with a differential of +6.9 points which was 2nd best to the Lakers (+7.3 points.) They are having match up problems in this series, and their overly physical nature is shooting them in the foot.



The Utah Jazz led the league in both personal fouls comited (24.2 per game) and opponents free throws attempted for the regular season. But of course, you don't care about facts, you care only about your bias and opt to blame the league giving the Lakers preferential treatment. No surprise coming from you.



Right, open shots, sure. Utah shot 49.7% Field Goals for the season (2nd best in the entire NBA,) but now all the sudden they can't hit open shots. It has nothing at all to do with the Laker defense does it?

the jazz have the worst FG% defense(46.1%) of any western playoff team. With their additional problems fouling, it just makes it worse as foul shots are high% as well. With guys like okur, harpring, korver, and boozer playing defense, its no wonder. the starting center(okur, 0.5) and PF(boozer, 0.4) dont even average 1 block a game between them. Only AK averages above 1 block/game(1.5). Add to that their '2' guard defense has given rise to season highs for several players including josh howard(47pts), manu(47pts), and its obvious they have serious defensive flaws.

 

[D-Dogg]

LeBron (I dont recall him really shutting KB down)

Dude, he said a good wing defender.

"King" isn't a good defender period.




The most dangerous guy for Kobe is out of the playoffs in Battier.