This defense really is atrocious, bottom-of-the-league level

Yeah I was thinking of the same. Defender within 0-2 feet is considered a great contest, but what good is Chris Clemons within 1 foot of Jonas Valanciunas? That might as well be an open shot. With the lineups we play there are a ton of these situations, and I think this plays heavily into those stats that show that our defense is actually not bad, and that we're just getting unlucky. The reason that teams shoot such high percentages despite our "good contests" is because our contests are from players 5-8 inches shorter than the shooter. At that point the defender distance doesn't do much.

 

It's interesting that the 3 losses that we have this season so far are to 3 of the top 5 teams with highest average points in the league so far this year....although I'm sure we helped with those point totals. lol

1. Milwaukee Bucks 121.3
2. Brooklyn Nets 121.0
3. Houston Rockets 119.3
3. New Orleans Pelicans 119.3
5. Miami Heat 117.8

 

We have helped everyone on that list including ourselves to score points this season.