I think the 2-3 inches KT has on chuck is the difference between being an ok defender at center and a good one. It's the difference between tipping a rebound and grabbing it or playing hand-to-face defense or actually challenging a shot. Chuck's just not as his best at center. I agree a team doesn't need a yao-like presence, but if you're going to send scola, martin, and brooks out there, then a tall shot blocker is going to help the most.
Fair point. Like a sliding scale, it becomes increasingly difficult to make up for lack of length/height.
In Transformers 2 they try to keep the bad guys from getting the Alspark (or something) - its like a super crazy thing that grants powers. Kind of like the gem of Cytorak is to Juggernaut. Anyways. The concept behind those kinds of things is that the person who wields the sacred relic will gain uncontrollable power. You never want that power in the hands of the bad guys. In other words... DO NOT LET THE BULLS GET CHUCK HAYES
Kurt Thomas may be taller than Hayes, but he's also much less athletic. In fact, I think the Bulls will do just as well if they had Hayes playing KT's minutes. As for Deng: I agree he's always been a good defender. Nevertheless, the Bulls were only 11th overall on D last season with largely the same cast of players. There's something different about this year's team (and coaching staff).
It was KT's stellar defense on Dwight that beat the magic yesterday... lol Heck, Thibodeau had to give up on using KT, due to fouls and general lack of ability. What is this place's thing with overrating 7 foot stiffs.
For a slow unathletic big guy, Thomas does pretty well. He is getting twice as many blocks as athletic undersized Chuck. KT was a shotblocking interior defensive specialist for his whole career. A 6'5" center is a handicap for defense. There is no way around it. He may be great at guarding a low post player, but he doesn't take up enough space or provide a shot blocking presence. It doesn't allow the perimeter players to play their man tight and get up on their face. There is no shotblocking presence to take care of the offensive player, if the offensive player blows past Martin and Lowry. They can't gamble or take as many risks. It's why Ariza's gambling defense looks much better with Okafor in the paint than with Hayes.
Actually, Chuck gets 1.1 blk per 36 min this season, and 0.8 for his career, KT gets 1.6 per 36 this year, and is at 1.1 for his career. KT is not exactly a great shot blocker, though he is better than Hayes. Hayes, by the way, is a better shot blocker and overall defender in every respect than Luis Scola, who is really the weak link as far as interior D goes.
Chuck hayes the power forward is more athletic than KT the center. However, chuck hayes the center is not much more athletic than KT the center. I can't emphasize enough how much more limited chuck is at center. Against PFs he uses his athleticism to keep them away from the rim. Against centers that athleticism isn't as much of an advantage because they start closer to the rim, and therefore lack of height becomes a bigger weakness. It's more of a vertical game on the blocks than it is an athletic one. That's why Battier does well there. I agree Scola is a weaker link, but i hate seeing chuck at center. It ruins his defensive prowess.
The Bulls have Derrick Rose, Keith Bogans, Ronnie Brewer, Luol Deng, Taj Gibson, and Carlos Boozer. All of them are pretty good defenders, and thats not even mentioning Noah... They have a lot of length and pretty decent size even though Thomas is playing center.
Deng and Brewer were good (not great) individual defenders before this season; Gibson and Bogans were average defenders; Rose was a bad defender; Boozer was an awful defender. Tom Thibs deserves the credit.
A lot of times, Scola is defending the C while Chuck matches up with the PF. I believe that was the case vs. Dallas, for example.
This. Calling Rose a good defender before this season is crazy. As much as I like him, it was a blatantly obvious weakness in his game. I felt he would step up under Thibs this year because he wants to be great. Calling Boozer a good defender is a complete joke. Can't imagine where that came from.
Kurt Thomas has been on bad and average defensive teams in the past. He is not the main reason the Bulls are playing well. And if our defensive issues are just about size, then how were we able to maintain an average defense last year? Our frontcourt rotation was almost exclusively Hayes, Scola, and Landry. We've gotten bigger and more athletic this year, but the interior defense is much worse.
Boozer is pretty much equal to Scola defensively, in fact Boozer was probably the worst big man defender in recent years. We had an average D last year even with an inferior lineup. Clearly coaching is the difference. My guess is Rick the RUler packed it all up when Yao went down again early in the season.
Rose's everything before this season wasn't all that good, would you credit Thibodeau for the fact he went from a 20-6 offensive player to a 24-8? Or that his 3p% went up 11%? He's improved their team defense, sure, but Rose's improvement is mainly just Rose, he got MUCH better at everything.
His "everything"? To each his own opinion. I don't credit Thibs so much for Rose's improved offense. He worked hard this offseason to improve his outside stroke and it paid off. You could actually argue Rose hasn't improved that much on offense and his PPG is up solely because of more 3-point FGAs. On defense, Thibs clearly has been a major factor. From the day he started in Chicago, he reached out and connected with Rose and has been relentlessly pushing him to increase his effort level and improve his technique on defense. This is what Thibs does. Rose has said on a couple of occasions that Thibs is never satisfied.
Great interior D starts with 1-2 good shotblockers. Boozer has Kurt Thomas and Noah manning the middle and they would have guarded the best post player and allowed the perimeter defenders to gamble more and play up on their other guards. It's amazing how Boozer's defense looks so much better with a C that can block shots, instead of Okur. It's similiar to how the Grizzlies defense have improved with Marc Gasol's improved D and shotblocking. Now Rudy Gay and Randolph look like better defenders. Rockets have 6'5" Hayes, who is fantastic at guarding the best post player, but does not provide the kind of rim protection that Noah and Thomas do. Sure, he guards the best post player, while Scola's poor defense is minimized. Hayes doesn't provide any shotblocking presence. It's not just the shots that Noah and Thomas block, but it's the shots they alter or prevent. It makes it much harder to penetrate against Thomas and Noah, than a 6'5" midget C who is shorter and slower than the penetrating G/F that blew past the perimeter. If somebody beats Derrick Rose, they may think twice with Noah or Thomas in the paint. If they do come into the paint, they have a chance of getting their shot blocked by Noah, Thomas or Gibson. If they beat Brooks, they will run straight into Chuck and try to draw the foul.
Rocket fans have gotten so used to seeing Hayes in the paint that we have forgotten what it's like to have a shotblocking presence like Mutombo, Yao or Hakeem. It's gotten so bad that we argue for the need for Chuck Hayes, when what we need is a 7ft defensive presence. Bring me back to the old days of Mutombo, Yao and Hakeem. You can keep your Hayes.
Why do people look for excuses? Even if they gave effort (it's true they don't) our defense would still bie horrible
