You just know another season of NBA Basketball is about to get cranked up when all 30 teams are openly discussing the importance of—and emphasis on—defense during training camps. And even though once the season starts less than one-third of the teams will actually play any, all teams know the more successful ones have limiting the opposition’s scoring opportunities as one of their top priorities. At all levels of the game, the physical act of playing defense is met with resistance from many of its participants. There are several reasons for this, but with rare exceptions the defensive end of the basketball court is usually a time to conserve energy for use on the offensive end. We’ve seen our share of players—even in the NBA—who think basketball defense is for other people, the dirty work to be done by those with less than stellar offensive skills. Toss in some rules designed to enhance scoring, and you have a nightmare for defenders, including those who try.
THE EARLY YEARS
If you’ve ever attended a youth basketball game, at the youngest ages you’ll see the poor kid with the basketball rapidly and aggressively surrounded by all five members of the team on defense as soon as he touches it, unless there are rules in place to discourage it. No one could argue that the kids on defense merely want to be close to the ball in an attempt to steal it and find themselves back on the offense as quickly as possible. But for now, let’s give the kids the benefit of the doubt and credit their defensive efforts, for in a few years there will be a rapid decline in that area.
Many of the youngsters who progress to the higher levels of their recreational leagues followed by high school and college basketball will find themselves playing zone defenses. Of course, all zone defenses are not the same, ranging from a ball-hawking style with active feet and hands, to a more passive style where the defenders are merely facing the ball with their arms outstretched while manning certain areas on the defensive end of the court, only showing any real movement when the ball is in their immediate area. This often comes back to bite in later years when asked to guard skilled offensive players one-on-one without the requisite defensive training.
At the lower levels, often times the talent gap is so wide it doesn’t matter if the more talented squad plays defense or not. Sometimes the other team couldn’t score if they were out there by themselves. But as you advance, lazy defense will get you embarrassed.
“SO, WHAT DID YOU WORK ON DURING THE OFFSEASON?”
We’ve all seen the standard interview at the beginning of the season during media day or at the practice site. A reporter asks a player what part of his game he worked on over the summer. In most cases, the player will respond by mentioning something involving strength, conditioning or some offensive maneuver, including the seven-footer working on his three-point shot accuracy.. It’s the rare player who will mention defense, though we’ve seen enough players improve in that area to believe it’s at least a part of the off-season regimen.
I almost fell out of my chair last night when I saw a young Knicks’ player admit he needed to improve on the defensive end and studied film on the subject over the summer.
THE 2018-19 TORONTO RAPTORS
The Toronto Raptors won the NBA championship in 2019. Regardless of who we thought the probable winner would be were both finalists at full strength, the Raptors made it to the finals based their defensive efforts. An examination of the history of each of the players in the Raptors’ starting unit reveals that every one of them played defense willingly; it was part of their makeup.
Sure, their were probably nights where the coach had to do some prodding, especially where a tight, travel-laden schedule was involved. But one could easily imagine it being a lot easier to coach players who defend because it’s what they do, and the Raptors had several.
THAT THREE-POINT LINE, AGAIN
Before the three-pointer became a true game-changing scoring weapon, offensive players would try to get as close to the hoop as possible for a high-percentage shot. You’d end up with ten players in close quarters within 15 feet of the basket.
The three-pointer’s popularity has changed all of that. The top perimeter defenders now have to chase scorers well over twenty feet away from the basket or face the threat of a long-distance splash on their defensive records. The post defender actually risks losing minutes if matched up against a team that launches threes as a matter of style.
OFFENSE GETS THE GLORY
Offense is considered cool. Offense gets the glory. Scorers get paid. The game’s high scorers get mentioned during the recaps and the best offensive plays are featured on the nightly news and sports programming. A player’s mix tape or off-season workout video will largely consist of standout offensive maneuvers. Kids on the playground emulate the offensive moves of their favorite players; it’s the rare kid who watches how Kawhi Leonard plays defense and implements the positioning and footwork during a pickup game.
Only dominant defensive players like Bill Russell, Dennis Rodman and others gain recognition for consistently shutting down opponents. But the skeptics among us will still reference the offensive statistics of those players as the true measure of their worth, and will downgrade them accordingly.
GOTTA HAVE DEFENSIVE PLAYERS THOUGH
Basketball Hall of Famer and long-time coach Larry Brown was known for being a stickler for defensive fundamentals. He won a championship in Detroit without a dominant offensive player. The roster consisted of a collection of athletes who were at least adequate on defense with several who excelled, and they were molded into a championship team by locking down opponents while scoring just enough to win. A couple of seasons later in New York, he coached a collection of talented but mismatched offensive-minded players to a 23-59 record. This defensive-minded coach spent an entire season trying to convince a group offensive-minded players to value possessions and defend. It didn’t work, and the coach could be heard after most games reminding reporters that he wasn’t accustomed to having to coach effort.
We witnessed a similar situation in Minnesota with Tom Thibodeau, who came in with a defensive reputation and left after failing to get his young squad to defend. Meanwhile, the Houston Rockets, coached by a guy with a reputation for being defensively-challenged, strengthened their chances for a deep playoff run a couple of years ago by signing several perimeter defenders to complement James Harden and Chris Paul, and saw those chances diminished last year after not retaining them during the summer of 2018.
These types of player acquisitions are usually referred to as “under-the-radar” signings involving players who don’t really excite the masses and are brought in to complement the scorers. Defense once again plays second fiddle, but we know better.
EVEN IN PICKUP BALL, DEFENSE IS FOR OTHER PEOPLE
We certainly weren’t interested in playing defense during pickup games. But if you weren’t the type who was aggressive about getting the ball and scoring (even if you were a volume shooter) defense and rebounding is what would keep you on the court. Otherwise, you’d be rendered useless if you got picked at all. And you’d usually get picked last.
No, we weren’t interested in playing defense, but we would up the intensity if we were getting embarrassed, playing against someone we didn’t like or faced with getting kicked off the court after a loss. And if you were the complementary player, you’d go largely unnoticed even if you were shutting down the other team’s best scorer.
Until he scored. (“Yo, whose man is that?”)
BALANCE IS THE KEY
None of this is to suggest that only defensive teams win titles. Offense means little if you can’t stop your opponent; defense means little if you can’t score. This is why the so-called “two-way player” is so important, especially at the highest levels of the sport. Teams covet them, but there simply aren’t enough to go around. But if you can somehow get your hands on a few of them like the recent editions of the Golden State Warriors did, you can send the majority of your opponents home as losers, like the recent editions of the Golden State Warriors did.
Teams with championship aspirations would be wise to copy what works.
Better guard somebody.
Photo by Freddie Collins on Unsplash
