"Defense wins Championships"

[kshutts1]

Statistically, the Spurs had the 3rd best defense in the NBA this season along with the Pacers & Grizzlies. BTW, Miami hasn't allowed a team to score 100 points in the postseason so far.

Considering who Miami has played... not impressed. lol

[PickernRoller]

Thread title - sure. Proven again and again. Defense stops offense. Better offense, defense combo wins.

Heat are the best perimeter defensive team in the league when they set their minds to that. Thus why in a perimeter oriented league they are, among other things, the best team in the league.

[Artillery]

IMO, top four defenses in the league are Memphis, Indiana, Miami and Chicago. I don't need any stats to come to that conclusion tbh, that's just for the eye test.

lol ignoring stats because they don't agree with you.

[ILLsmak]

Considering who Miami has played... not impressed. lol

yeah... sounds bad, but it's true. Those teams have terrible offenses.

I like watching defensive bball. I even can watch a game where a team misses shot after shot because it becomes more like soccer when they score.

The only games I can't stand are parades to the FT line, calling fouls to stop teams from playing D. I hope they let people grind it out. That last Indy/NY game (before the most recent one) had some great no calls.

Edit: Also, rebounding is a big part of defense. On both sides, really, securing the ball then keeping it away from the offense with offensive boards. That's the only part where Miami is weak.

-Smak

[Fudge]

IMO, top four defenses in the league are Memphis, Indiana, Miami and Chicago. I don't need any stats to come to that conclusion tbh, that's just for the eye test.

The way they go about it is significantly different. To contrast Memphis and Miami for example, Memphis have a strictly organised defense and fabulous individual defenders at every position. They understand how to help defend and the bigs understand how to shadow and roam. It worked especially well against a Westbrook-less OKC, in which Gasol was able to ignore Perkins and shadow Durant in front of the rim. On the other hand, Miami gambles. All the time. They really don't have positions, they rely on timing rotations perfectly. Which they honestly do most of the time. They are also the best trappers in the NBA and pressure the ball immensely. Ball movement beats Miami, but they are so supreme athletically that they can recover most of the time. Just by watching the games, LeBron, for how overrated he is as an on-ball defender, can shut down one half of the court just by his presence and pressuring.

Chicago and Indiana are more similar to Memphis; Miami is unique in how they defend. All incredibly incredibly elite.

The reason I dislike using defensive stats is that Miami's rating took a nose dive early on in the season with their nonchalance. But they amped it up significantly for the playoffs and are executing well now.

Well said.

[dh144498]

Statistically, the Spurs had the 3rd best defense in the NBA this season along with the Pacers & Grizzlies. BTW, Miami hasn't allowed a team to score 100 points in the postseason so far.

that's because Bucks and Bulls are both in the bottom 8 offenses in the league.

[Pointguard]

IMO, top four defenses in the league are Memphis, Indiana, Miami and Chicago. I don't need any stats to come to that conclusion tbh, that's just for the eye test.

On the other hand, Miami gambles. All the time. They really don't have positions, they rely on timing rotations perfectly. Which they honestly do most of the time. They are also the best trappers in the NBA and pressure the ball immensely. Ball movement beats Miami, but they are so supreme athletically that they can recover most of the time. Just by watching the games, LeBron, for how overrated he is as an on-ball defender, can shut down one half of the court just by his presence and pressuring.

Chicago and Indiana are more similar to Memphis; Miami is unique in how they defend. All incredibly incredibly elite.

The reason I dislike using defensive stats is that Miami's rating took a nose dive early on in the season with their nonchalance. But they amped it up significantly for the playoffs and are executing well now.

Good Post.

Yeah, Miami's gambling seems actually structured: They don't get upset when they get burned. And then sometimes they switch on every pick and role and if the team is surprised by it, they use it as an opportunity to gamble again. They play like they are some long armed team that can deflect every pass but they aren't really that long at all.

Then they have an accelerated speed pressure twice a game, and teams don't know when its coming. They try to make the opposing team over think. Fronting players, then going zone, then trapping. I enjoy watching them.

[ShaqAttack3234]

The "defense wins championship" cliche is deceptive. Yes, you almost always have to play good defense to win a title, but you also almost always have to be a good offensive team to win titles as well.

[nashwade]

Championship is about beating 4 teams

[ReturnofJPR]

Listening to Popovich post game, and he lists the best 3 defenses in the NBA as the Grizz, Pacers, and Heat. I personally think the Spurs are also in that conversation. Assuming the Pacers get past the Knicks, we will be looking at a NBA Playoff Semi-Finals that consists of arguably the best 4 defenses in the NBA.

I'm not sure it's going to make for 'pretty' basketball games, but I'm personally going to enjoy the defensive battles.

Trust me, the LEAGUE will ensure that LeBron looks pretty with bogus calls late in the game. As far as the for the other 3 teams, yes it will be ugly at times.

[AlphaWolf24]

Defense does win championships....

- meaning....the primary focus should be working together as a cohesive unit to contest shots and be in good positions to to contest shots and get rebounds....

- the primary focus of the team should not be on the offensive end and or who gets to play and take shots.

- but a team does need to score...duh......Defense alone does not win......but it should be the primary focus of a team.


I think that is what Pop was referring to.

[HorryIsMyMVP]

Defense and unstoppable godlike scoring wins championships.

[ShaqAttack3234]

Defense does win championships....

- meaning....the primary focus should be working together as a cohesive unit to contest shots and be in good positions to to contest shots and get rebounds....

- the primary focus of the team should not be on the offensive end and or who gets to play and take shots.

- but a team does need to score...duh......Defense alone does not win......but it should be the primary focus of a team.


I think that is what Pop was referring to.

I don't necessarily agree that it should be more of a focus than offense. I think you should focus on working together as a cohesive unit offensively as well. Typically, teams that do this are more successful than teams that rely on isos. There have been championship teams I'd call more offensive-oriented.

[ncrizzle]

On defense a team truly has to play together every possession, at least if you want to play at a high level. While on offense there are plenty of possessions where a player will Iso and jack up a shot. One person can score buckets. But it takes 5 guys playing together, helping, switching, and knowing their assignments to stop an offense. When a team buys into playing hard team defense, it generally rubs off on the offensive end. You want to help the guy who came over to double your man forcing him into a turnover. You want to dish a dime to the cutter who blocked the shot that started the current possession.

Good defense is contagious. In the Ivaroni and Frattello days, The grizzlies use to be one of the highest scoring teams in the league, but one of the worst defensive teams in the leauge. They were horrible teams. The Lionel Hollins took over, and Tony Allen was aquired. Tony Allen is the reason the grizzlies are where they are right now. He would force team mates to play tenacios D if he had to, but the players want to badly. His D was infectious . Everyone on the team now plays with a sense of urgency and focus, the whole team playing as one.

[DatAsh]

The "defense wins championship" cliche is deceptive. Yes, you almost always have to play good defense to win a title, but you also almost always have to be a good offensive team to win titles as well.

I think the point is that defense is generally the more important of the two.