What are the keys to playing a suffocating defense like Chicago or the 08 Celtics? I don't see how more teams don't study the blueprint of these teams' defense and try to implement it. Do they need athletic players mindset from their players to stick to their man dominating head coach a slow paced offense to conserve players' energy for defense a big man celebrated for his defense Is it something really special that only Tom Thibodeau can apply?
Why is it so hard to get the players to give that effort? Offense gets them paid, so there's one big reason. But what else? Scheme can be learnt if they really wanted to - there's enough video out there for people to study.
When I think of defense , I think of the Spurs who used to funnel all the traffic towards Duncan. Team defense is there when you have guys like Duncan and Bowen on the perimeter.
There has to be an effective scheme and the players must buy into it. A few years ago, OKC was able to play suffocating defense with Nenad Krstic at C and Jeff Green at PF (along with KD, WB and Thabo). It was amazing to watch at times. Then Ron Adams left for the Bulls. Athleticism and length help tremendously, but scheme (coaching) and commitment by the players are far more important. I'm going to be a contrarian here and say a 100% commitment to defensive effort all the time isn't a good thing because it wears players out and affects offensive performance. There SHOULD always be a commitment to a great scheme. At selected times during games (beginning of the 2nd half, during most of the 4th quarter, during crunch time and closing minutes, etc) players should fully commit their 100% effort. This is how MJ's Bulls did it. I'm not sure how good their full-season stats were, but when they decided to crush teams (at whatever point in the 2nd half), it would start on defense when they turned the opponents offense into trash and created TOs.
Hustle and effort is the most overused line of bull when it comes to defense. Take the grizzlies, the grizzlies worked on getting better defensively for about 3 years and a half years before everything came together. Being a good defensive team requires constant practicing of the fundamentals, communication, film study, and it doesn't hurt to have a big man in the middle that can shut down the paint, a great defensive rebounder, and a few perimeter guys with the size and strength to play multiple position. To think that the rockets can suddenly become a great defensive team by hustle and effort is laughable.
Get rid of all the weak international players for one. Stop putting so much pressure on an overrated Parsons. Bench Harden and Jones.
Rim protection. Athleticism and length on the perimeter. Effort. Communication. Scheme. Defensive rebounding. In that order.
Chicago replaced Deng with Dunleavy and their defense barely missed a beat. It wouldn't make sense unless you considered defense about coaching and scheme rather than personnel. Sure you can't make 5 bad defenders into a good defensive team, but you really only need 2 or 3 to be able to compensate the extra foot or two for the weak defenders.
C'mon 'what'... Nobody thinks this. Everybody knows Mchale's "scheme" will always limit them. But good, consistent effort would be a heck of a start, though...
