remember when sheed left robert horry open in game 5?


this happened no less than 7 times last night, with far too many of em belonging to villanueva. it's one thing to just get beat off the dribble or something, but it was sickening watching guys lose track of three point shooters. it beats me who they were watching in the paint, considering the bucks' big men suck. just a total lack of focus


i wish this was one of those issues where i could charge it to the preseason, but this aspect of defense should be common sense. and even worse is that i was hoping all the bad things i heard about villanueva's D was just overexaggeration, but he definitely lived up to em last nite


ben wallace & kwame seem to be the only ones who have any kind of dignity on the defensive end. if the rest of the guys make their effort from yesterday a habit, we're definitely in the lotto

Get used to it. This is something they will be battling all season I am afraid.

I had that same sinking feeling watching them last night. It looks like CV's defense is as advertised. It looks like he's trying, but he's bad at moving his feet. And it looks like BG wil be getting beat off the dribble often, then making up for it on the other end by hitting three off balanced jumpers in a row. Get ready for a long season of that.

In just a couple seasons Rip went from maybe our worst starting defender to maybe our best. That's not good.

i'll agree that our defense wasn't good last night, but i think it's a chemistry problem more than a lack of effort or ability problem. if you noticed we did a lot of switching last night, because most of our guys can guard multiple positions, the problem came when our help side D stepped up, our defensive rotation was late when the bucks swung the ball back around. It did happen, yes, but i like what kuester has been doing defensively strategically, it's just going to take time. I also think they Tay and Kwame being in there will help A LOT not necessarily because of their skills but because of their defensive IQ. I think the problem will still be defensive rebounding opposed to our defense itself. We gave up too many offensive boards last night...

quote:

Originally posted by Dr. Evil:
Get used to it. This is something they will be battling all season I am afraid.

That's how I have prepared for this season. No expectations.

And also waiting for a trade/s in the middle of the season.

quote:

Originally posted by Afflalo2theMax:
I had that same sinking feeling watching them last night. It looks like CV's defense is as advertised. It looks like he's trying, but he's bad at moving his feet. And it looks like BG wil be getting beat off the dribble often, then making up for it on the other end by hitting three off balanced jumpers in a row. Get ready for a long season of that.

In just a couple seasons Rip went from maybe our worst starting defender to maybe our best. That's not good.

Agreed, but the good thing is that we have a surplus of offensive talent. We need to ship some of those guys off for quality defenders (role players), and work it up from there.

quote:

Originally posted by TheFutureisStuckey:
i'll agree that our defense wasn't good last night, but i think it's a chemistry problem more than a lack of effort or ability problem. if you noticed we did a lot of switching last night, because most of our guys can guard multiple positions, the problem came when our help side D stepped up, our defensive rotation was late when the bucks swung the ball back around. It did happen, yes, but i like what kuester has been doing defensively strategically, it's just going to take time. I also think they Tay and Kwame being in there will help A LOT not necessarily because of their skills but because of their defensive IQ. I think the problem will still be defensive rebounding opposed to our defense itself. We gave up too many offensive boards last night...

Chemistry is definitely a factor when some many faces are new, but I still think that ability and size play a larger factor. I can't say whether the effort was there, but if you're 6'2, 6'3 SG, then you're gonna get shot over quite a bit.

I thought the defense wasn't that bad. Obviously, it's still a work in process, but to me, it wasn't horrible. I saw effort for the most part. With guys like Gordon and Wilcox, I think they just have bad habits and need better coaching on technique, stance, awareness. That can be coached. But there was adequate effort for the most part.

As for all the switching, I didn't see it as too bad either. There were guys late a few times, but Milwaukee was moving the ball well. If a team is moving the ball on offense, attacking the paint and then swinging out, that forces defenses to scramble and rotate. If an offense swings the ball enough times, the rotations cannot keep up. A pass will almost always travel faster than a player. You find the best defensive teams in the league and you make them defend against a good passing team that moves the ball well, they will break down in rotations also.

The defense wasn't spectacular, not great, probably not even good. But, I don't think it was horrible or embarrassing.

And, Kwame is a solid defensive big man, but I don't know about praising him for his defensive IQ. That might be taking it bit too far.

Our defense was not embarrassing last night, we won. It's embarrassing when they gave up 122 to minnesota. Milwaukee was held to 93 which really isn't bad. We just should have been able to score more than 95. Both the defense and offense will get better as the 9 new players on this team get used to the 6 returning players, a new coach, and new system.