What are the keys to a suffocating defense?

Agree with your post. The great coaches of the past always demanded full commitment to defense by all of their players regardless of their position and star status. Pat Riley, PJ, JVG, Pop, Chuck Daly, etc. were excellent defensive coaches but they also demanded full commitment to defense by their players no matter who they were, including MJ. It is true that the MJ Bulls studied their opponents initially and then, at a certain stage in the game, they decide how and whom to stop in the opposing team and then crush decisively with a lethal combination of suffocating defense and fearsome offense. In the end, great defense is a total team effort, commitment and mind-set, from the owner down to the lowest rung in the organization. As the Bulls' gm, Jerry Krause, always said, organizations win championships.