Game #34: Toronto Raptors 104 - Charlotte Hornets 94

[mcHAPPY]

No system would have worked last year when we had the worst perimeter defenders in the NBA.

The three players with the worst on-court defensive ratings last season (who played significant minutes) were Terrence Ross, Jonas Valanciunas and Patrick Patterson. Somehow all three are posting much better numbers this year.

When Vasquez was off the court last season, the team had a 104.9 DRTG. With Lou on the bench, a 105.1 DRTG. These are not good numbers. Methinks your blame is misplaced. The system was absolute garbage.

DanH summed up nicely.

[thead]

No system would have worked last year when we had the worst perimeter defenders in the NBA.

3/2 Zone would have worked

[Demographic Shift]

No, it doesn't skew at all, was what I was trying to say. Not even a little bit.

Got it.

[Chr1s1anL]

This is a bit over a month old, but an interesting analytic read on Biz and Jonas and our new D system.

http://www1.vantagesports.com/Articl...wX6SEAACAAY_EU

Thanks for sharing some good stuff there

[Chr1s1anL]

That is a perfect example of the danger of the whole "all these NBA coaches know best"


How many people were on these boards last year begging and pleading for a shift in defensive philosophy - yet Casey continued to pound that rock.


Well well well...... Who knew?

Do you know how hard it is to change your whole defensive system in the middle of season. When you barely have any practise time. How often do you hear about teams changing their whole defensive system in the middle of the year?

[Chr1s1anL]

Jonas Valanciunas has an on-court net rating of +19.5 in 4th Q's this season (in 73 minutes over his 15 games played, about 5 minutes per game).

Bismack Biyombo has an on-court net rating of -0.2 in 4th Q's this season (in 184 minutes over his 28 games played, about 6.5 minutes per game).

Clearly Jonas cannot finish games, and Biyombo is the key to crunch time success.

Didn't +/- stat say that the raptors were better with JV off the court? Now this year its saying the total opposite. Why would you trust a stat that changes year to year like that.

[DanH]

Didn't +/- stat say that the raptors were better with JV off the court? Now this year its saying the total opposite. Why would you trust a stat that changes year to year like that.

Because the team was better with him off the court last year?

Do you not remember last year? He was a fish out of water in that insane defensive system.

And, no it is not easy to change defensive systems mid-season. However, if that defensive system were pitched to a room of 10 basketball fans before the season, nine could tell you it wouldn't work. No need for a mid season change if they avoided the madness in the first place.

[Chr1s1anL]

Because the team was better with him off the court last year?

Do you not remember last year? He was a fish out of water in that insane defensive system.

And, no it is not easy to change defensive systems mid-season. However, if that defensive system were pitched to a room of 10 basketball fans before the season, nine could tell you it wouldn't work. No need for a mid season change if they avoided the madness in the first place.

Or maybe the D was just no good with JV. Do you know what their drtg was when JV was on the bench?

[Demographic Shift]

I could handle the JV/BB discussion. The DeRozan thread seems to be sorting itself out, I need a new thing to make my head explode

Follow the wit and wisdom of Katy Wynne at Queens Park for a month... that oughta do it.

[KHD]

Or maybe the D was just no good with JV. Do you know what their drtg was when JV was on the bench?

Yes, that's what he said. Problem is, that D is only good with an incredibly rare type of athletic 7-foot center, and finding a guy like that who isn't a total liability everywhere else on the court is even rarer.

Keep trying. Your posts just get more and more inane.

[mcHAPPY]

Do you know how hard it is to change your whole defensive system in the middle of season. When you barely have any practise time. How often do you hear about teams changing their whole defensive system in the middle of the year?

These are professional basketball players and professional coaches.

Grasping the concept of icing the PnR is hardly splitting an atom to these people.

I believe I've read player comments that a big part of better D this year is less confusion on roles and rotations.

Maximizing what you have is the job of the coach. He failed to recognize it early and continued to stick with it. They had nowhere to go but up last season - they were horrible on D.


Keep trying.

[Miekenstien]

These are professional basketball players and professional coaches.

Grasping the concept of icing the PnR is hardly splitting an atom to these people.

I believe I've read player comments that a big part of better D this year is less confusion on roles and rotations.

Maximizing what you have is the job of the coach. He failed to recognize it early and continued to stick with it. They had nowhere to go but up last season - they were horrible on D.


Keep trying.

i think his mistake was overestimating the players last year while underestimating the difficulty in his defensive schemes. i think he thought he had the players capable for the defense he set up last year and then clearly didn't. i think he then just stuck with it because he figured that was better than starting over mid-season. he has done a much better job this season

[DanH]

Or maybe the D was just no good with JV. Do you know what their drtg was when JV was on the bench?

With JV it was 105.6. Without, it was 104. In other words, went from the 25th ranked defence to the 20th.

Let's pause while we bask in the glow of the 20th ranked defence that JV ruined with his terribleness.

[Chr1s1anL]

i think his mistake was overestimating the players last year while underestimating the difficulty in his defensive schemes. i think he thought he had the players capable for the defense he set up last year and then clearly didn't. i think he then just stuck with it because he figured that was better than starting over mid-season. he has done a much better job this season

+1 also losing DD didn't help either. Wasn't the D good and when DD got hurt it just went down hill. That meant more minutes for Lou/GV.

[DanH]

+1 also losing DD didn't help either. Wasn't the D good and when DD got hurt it just went down hill. That meant more minutes for Lou/GV.

Defence started falling off the cliff before DD got hurt. And was pretty consistently terrible between when he was off and when he got back.

Losing DD didn't help, but the problem was, and always was going to be, the system.