EPTNBA Playoffs 2013 - Page 38
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Jibba
United States22883 Posts
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dgsdm
198 Posts
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Devil Trigger
United States107 Posts
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Ace
United States16096 Posts
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Jerubaal
United States7684 Posts
Watching the Spurs defend Howard was really interesting. It was a very handsy game and balls were being poked and deflected all over the place, which benefited the faster Spurs. It reminded me a bit of how the Clippers are sending a bunch of guys to counteract the post advantage Grizzlies. | ||
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Vindicare605
United States16121 Posts
![[image loading]](http://www.sportsgrid.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/tim-duncan-e1337964709896.jpg) | ||
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xavierofsparta
United States84 Posts
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Jibba
United States22883 Posts
http://www.insidesocal.com/lakers/2013/04/24/dwight-howard-sarcastically-says-its-funny-he-finished-14th-for-nba-defensive-player-of-the-year/ “Serge Ibaka with all the stuff he did this year, he should’ve been the guy to win it this year and last year,” said Howard, though the award went last season to New York’s Tyson Chandler. “With the stuff he’s done on the defensive end. I thought he was the clear cut winner. But people saw it otherwise.” Ibaka led the NBA in blocks (three per game) but Marc Gasol anchored a Memphis team that finished first in total defense (89.26) and third in opponent field goal percentage (43.5 percent). Howard suggested that the NBA’s defensive player of the year award should predicate on more individual play than team success. “He led the league in blocks. That’s what defense is all about,” Howard said of Ibaka. “He led the team and was number one in blocks this year. You can’t play defense without having any shot blockers. He was the No. 1 shot blocker the last two years. That’s great defense right there.” Ugggggggggggggggggggggh I just want to point out the '93 Knicks were 24th in blocks. '94 Knicks were 19th. The '08 Celtics were 18th in blocks. '98 Bulls were 23rd. Heat are 10th, Grizzlies are 13th. The only top defensive team I can think of that was really up there on blocks were the '04 Pistons. | ||
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Roggay
Switzerland6320 Posts
“He led the league in blocks. That’s what defense is all about” I don't understand how you can play basketball professionnally and still think that. | ||
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MassHysteria
United States3678 Posts
He probably meant to say that he wanted to see the award go to someone who was a big part of a good defense but relied less on an overall good team-defense. Gasol is a great defender and the main communicator for their D from what I have heard, but Memphis has been really good this season on D because of their overall team defense more than anything. Conley and Allen on the wings are beasts. (plus zbo always cancels a guy out by holding his jersey haha) But hey those 90's Knicks had Ewing and Oakley Jibba, not fair to compare  . Ewing had decent blocks but Oakley was one of the best no-blocks defenders ever pretty much. Maybe they were just a great combination together. The 08 Celtics had KG and great team D, and it essentially what started this defense-renaissance. And the 98 Bulls were the 98 Bulls :p.I also think there might be a slight, slight unintentional truth to what he said though. If we think about how the league has changed into more PnR and how defenses have improved since the 08 Celtics, shot-blockers have gained a little more importance. The allowing of zone-defense and no hand-checking has made teams defend with schemes that sometimes aim at directing the player with the ball towards the "big" in the middle. If this big is a shot-blocker, it makes a pretty big difference. Recognizing when to leave the floor and just being able to play smart defensive ball by this "big" is crucial ofc, just like for the rotating help defenders (which Howard got none of this year). In a way, it is a little bit of a passive-aggresive statement by D12. Trying to draw attention to how he played good D at times this season, even though the overall Lakers D looked bad because the help defense wasn't there to back him up. Something he has tried to say before kind of under-the-radar. | ||
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DystopiaX
United States16236 Posts
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Jibba
United States22883 Posts
I don't think blocks have gotten that much more important, they've just gotten bigger coverage. Their numbers are going up, but it's sort of like steal seekers, where players sacrifice the soundness of the defense as a whole in trying to get a big highlight play. I mean, shot alteration is important, but it's something Howard, Ibaka and Chandler all do. The difference is Chandler and Dwight (when he's healthy and actually tries) aren't cheating off their man or getting killed by pump fakes. You can alter shots without going for risky help D blocks. There's more PnRs but the best PnR defenses aren't necessarily predicated on a big shot blocker. The Bulls handle it extremely well and although Noah has had a good year for blocks, that's not his role when he's handling PnRs. Taj Gibson is probably the main help shot blocker on that team. Unless you're Lebron, your role as a PnR defender isn't to get a block (Lebron sometimes lets players go by him, because he has so much confidence he can block their layups from behind,) it's cutting off angles. There's something to be said for needing both help defenders and man defenders, but I think Gasol does both of them very well all around. Ibaka definitely doesn't, and some of the other big blockers don't either. I agree Dwight was mostly just annoyed at his placement in the voting, but part of the Lakers' team defense problems were on him as well. He was pretty slow to react during most of the season and he bit a lot, the same way Ibaka does. He doesn't have good reason to trust his teammates, but he still needed to. There were some really outrageous plays involving double teaming players who should never be double teamed, and leaving a wide open dunk behind him. Ideally you really need a versatile/athletic guy who can do both, and another who excels in either one or the other. Ben Wallace looked terrific on the Pistons but he was set up by Sheed, who usually had the more difficult man assignment and was a lot more conservative on help defense. What sets Gasol apart is that I think you can stick him into almost any defensive situation and he'll be equipped to handle it and usually make the appropriate decision (at least more than anyone else.) Healthy Dwight is there, too. Big Ben was. Hibbert's getting there. Ibaka isn't, Anthony Davis isn't. Side note: they should really start tracking Goaltends and add that to stat databases. | ||
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Jibba
United States22883 Posts
Minimum: 10 blocks 1. Pape Sow, 0.450, 9, 20 2. Josh Powell, 0.388, 26, 67 3. Jeff Pendergraph, 0.375, 6, 16 4. Esteban Batista, 0.364, 4, 11 5. Joey Dorsey, 0.316, 6, 19 6. Cole Aldrich, 0.286, 4, 14 7. JaVale McGee, 0.252, 115, 457 8. Malik Hairston, 0.250, 4, 16 8. Cheikh Samb, 0.250, 3, 12 10. Justin Williams, 0.238, 5, 21 10. Byron Mullens, 0.238, 5, 21 12. Eric Bledsoe, 0.231, 6, 26 13. Eddy Curry, 0.230, 29, 126 14. Christian Eyenga, 0.219, 7, 32 15. Leandro Barbosa, 0.214, 15, 70 16. DeMar DeRozan, 0.207, 12, 58 17. Ike Diogu, 0.200, 13, 65 17. Pat Burke, 0.200, 3, 15 19. Dwight Howard, 0.199, 233, 1169 20. DJ Mbenga, 0.199, 27, 136 Goaltends per game (player, goaltends per game, goaltends, games) 2006: Samuel Dalembert, 0.485, 32, 66 2007: Pape Sow, 0.286, 2, 7 2008: Dwight Howard, 0.683, 56, 82 2009: Dwight Howard, 0.595, 47, 79 2010: Dwight Howard, 0.512, 42, 82 2011: JaVale McGee, 0.696, 55, 79 2012: JaVale McGee, 0.667, 22, 33 http://basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=2105 | ||
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MassHysteria
United States3678 Posts
My main point is more of a theoretical one in a sense. What I mean is that as teams around the league get used to better defenses and they all start practicing better defenses themselves, then the teams that have the shot-blockers and the ones that don't will become more apparent. If they are smart defenders in general and they are shot-blockers, then those teams will start to stand out more than the ones who play great D but aren't really blockers. As an example in this current season: the Spurs play a great defense but they don't have a GREAT defense. If Timmy D was the old Timmy or was more of a shot-blocker, then they would just be more scary to teams on that end. He is smart enough to play D and know when to block. Even then, I am speaking more in the future sense bc in the current NBA, the teams with good defensive-strategies is still not that high although it has been increasing since 2008. I agree with a lot of the stuff you said though, but I was keeping that in mind also with what I said. I will say about Howard though that you can't even judge him really in the first few months of this season. I really have blocked myself from doing that for him because he came back really early and he was very stiff out there. Props to him on that side of things. | ||
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andrewlt
United States7702 Posts
On April 26 2013 00:43 Roggay wrote: I don't understand how you can play basketball professionnally and still think that. JaVale McGee says hi. | ||
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Jibba
United States22883 Posts
Per 36 it's #1.I think shot blocking is a luxury for already great defensive teams, but it's not particularly meaningful if the rest of your defense isn't solid. | ||
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MassHysteria
United States3678 Posts
On April 26 2013 03:15 Jibba wrote: Duncan's actually having one of his best years for blocks per game. Per 36 it's #1.I think shot blocking is a luxury for already great defensive teams, but it's not particularly meaningful if the rest of your defense isn't solid. And that is because he is fucking smart. Credit to him really ^^. And I definitely agree the rest of the defense has to be solid. | ||
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MassHysteria
United States3678 Posts
Side-note: did not watch game 2 for LAL-Spurs. Had no faith :x | ||
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Jerubaal
United States7684 Posts
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Lebron yet. I'm also surprised Spoelstra didn't come out and say Lebron could play 5 on 1 and win if he wanted to. He was a reasonable candidate but my previous paragraph. Isn't the best defensive player the one that doesn't get any blocks because no one will go within 8 feet of him? Like I said, the Spurs defense against Howard was really interesting, but eventually he just took himself out of the game with a bunch of dumb fouls. As far as Spurs injuries, Manu has looked good in the short minutes. Parker seems fast enough, but doesn't seem to quite have the lift. This has been apparent when he's left his nearly automatic floaters a little short. | ||
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TwoToneTerran
United States8841 Posts
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