http://www.basketball-reference.com/blog/?p=8696 They D is 6.94 points per 100 possessions better than average, and 1.27 points per 100 poss better than the 2nd best team. These numbers are schedule-adjusted, btw. All this with Noah out for a big chunk of the season (Noah has played 43% of all available minutes so far) and Kurt Thomas being his primary replacement. People talk about the Rockets not being good on D due to the lack of an anchor C. How do the Bulls do it with old and short Kurt Thomas as their "anchor"?
i just stated in the same thing in the GARM in the coaching thread. people on this board complains about this all the time. sure it's a legit complaint. but if your coach focuses on defense, your defense will be at least above average regardless of personnel. i truly think adelman believes that the only way to win this year is to outscore people. i don't think he puts an excessive emphasis on defense to compensate for our lack of interior size.
we are not giving the effort that we have in the past. players are more worried about scoring and getting accolades from their offensive impact, and less about commiting to cutting off lanes, funneling to help and staying in-front of their opposition. and that's not even touching our lack of transition d. tib's is a good coach that can really shine this year, especially if they do well in the playoffs. it is well deserved and somewhat unfortunate that we won't be able to enjoy it in houston.
Having Tom Thibodeau as head coach and Ron Adams as an assistant guarantees your team will max out it's defensive abilities. The only thing I'm surprised about is how fast it all came together. Adams is the kind of guy that will stay in the face of the Bulls' players about sticking to the schemes. Him and Thibs on the same staff is almost overkill. The Bulls have a legit chance to make the Finals. I'd still put them behind the Heat and Celts for now, but any two of these three in the ECFs will be off the charts.
I can't believe how much Tom T makes a difference in one season. This was essentially the same team last year minus Boozy. COTY and MVP from the same team would be a first if it happens.
I remember suggesting Kthomas a while back and apparently everyone though he was "washed up"....he's always been solid defensively without being athletic. It helps to have defenders at every position though.
Thibbs is the heart and soul of that team. There talent is not even good. Bench is awful talent wise but is doing good.
1. Kurt Thomas is not 6'5. 2. Tom Thibodeau is a great defensive coach. 3. The bulls' rotation has far more defensive talent. We can rationalize it however we want but Aaron Brooks, Kevin Martin, Luis Scola, and Jordan Hill have been poor defenders their entire NBA careers. I don't think it's possible to be a good defensive team (or a contending team) with all of them playing major minutes.
If Tom T was head coach assisted by Ron Adams, those four would play a lot better defense than they do now. Neither Rose nor Boozer played legit defense their entire career until this season.
Been using the Bulls are a yard stick to compare to Houston's defense in the GARM. Besides Noah, you really dont have much physically different from the Rockets personel to the Bulls, the main difference is coaching. I believe the Rockets have the ability to be a good defensive unit with the roster they have if they are coached right. The main difference in their defense and the Rockets is dribble penetration, good clean rotations, and pressure on the ball carrier. Blocks are a result of good defense, not the other way around. Bringing in a shot blocker wont solve any problems if they are constantly in foul trouble from dribble penetration.
Noah played more than Kurt Thomas. I"ll take 6'11" Noah(1.6 blocks) for 24 games, 6'10" Kurt Thomas(1 block) and 6'9" Taj Gibson(1.6 blocks) for defense in the paint over 6'5" Chuck Hayes(0.7 blocks). I would like to see how good they are with Scola, Hayes and Jordan Hill, while we take Noah and Kurt Thomas and Taj Gibson. Our lineup is a complete joke for interior D compared to the Bulls. There are is virtually no shotblocking or shot altering.
Good deal CH. Attention to detail and defensive schemes. Most of those defensive coaches have a higher attention to detail defensively. The year the heat lost Zo to the kidney issue, they were still top 3 in defense with brian grant at center. Not to mention, they dont have a team full of poor defenders. Korver is their worse defender,but he tries. They play to their quickness,they push you to a side, cut down ball reversal,box out,contest.
It does show that you can be a very good defensive team without a towering shot-blocker in the middle. Kurt Thomas has a few inches on Chuck Hayes, but (IMO) they have similar strengths on the defensive end. Having a Yao-like presence helps tremendously, but our players shouldn't use that as an excuse. Lack of attention to detail and lack of toughness is just as big a factor, if not more so.
Thibodeaux has made Deng into a very tenacious, disruptive defensive force. They are able to extend on the perimeter with him and Rose and also Ronnie. That makes them tough. Then if the offense penetrates the paint, Thibodeaux actually has gotten Boozer and the other bigs to do a good job of moving their feet, absorbing the contact, and changing shots in there. Very effective and Tom deserves a ton of credit.......as does Jeff Van Gundy, who tutored Tom.
Sure, but how good is a lot better for those 4 players? I think the best he could do is make that group just below average. Rose and Booz are both big strong athletes for their position who always had potential (especially Rose) to be good defensively. Those four rockets really have no chance of being GOOD defenders. They're either greatly overmatched in size/strength or in lateral quickness.
jopa, Deng has always been a good defender. Durvasa, thats what I've been saying. Martin gets stuck on screens, then gives up and leak out before the rebound. Scola closes with his hands down. Lowry cant stay in front of anyone this year. Thats 3 of the starting 5 breaking down and the coach doesnt mind.
boozer has gotten benched twice this year for poor defensive rotation (once benched in the 4th i believe).
Yes, Deng has been a good defender. Thibodeaux has made him into one of the best SF defenders in the league. I'd rate his perimeter defense in the same category with Lebron and Shane. Tom has made him a lot better.
