Post by DERRENMATTS on Jul 4, 2006 3:39:00 GMT -5
Our offense continues to improve with the addition of 2 playmaking PG's and a second round pick who averaged 20 ppg in college as a post up scorer. Plus, we get back a healthy Wally Szczerbiak, a healthy Tony Allen, and an improved Al Jefferson. And this could be Gerald Green's breakout season as he tries to be a scoring weapon off the bench (and I'm one of those who feel like he can be what Ricky Davis was a couple of years ago--a scoring dynamo off the bench). All this adds up to an even more entertaining offense unit that is sure to excite the fans. And don't forget the promise to be more uptempo!
But defense remains our top priority this offseason. If we want to make significant progress as a team, we need to become a better defensive unit. We were easily beaten in the halfcourt last season and we were constantly burned on the perimeter as shot after shot hit nothing but net. Too many points were given up in the paint off of second chances and too many guys were getting to the bucket untouched. Our guys were often scrambling to cover multiple sections of the court, and that left a lot players open to capitalize on our poor defensive executions.
Plaver development is but one focus this offseason. But that's not enough. Our coaching staff needs to tighten up our defensive assignments and make it effective. Doc needs to motivate the players to be passionate about playing defense. They must want to shut down teams and get frequent stops.
Getting Theo Ratliff is a good start. When healthy, he's a pretty solid shot blocker. At one point, he was a league leading shot blocking machine, but those days may be gone. But he may still be enough of a factor to help stabilize our interior defense.
Clifford Ray has been working out our young Bigs and hopefully he's helped them with their positioning on the blocks. Perkins, Jefferson, Gomes, and Dwayne Jones need to protect their real estate in the paint and own their position in the low blocks. Too many opposing big men were getting deep into the paint, which allowed them to take higher percentage shots. Our bigs need to secure the paint and force opposing bigs to get the ball further away from the blocks and get them to take tough shots.
As a team, all of our players need to do a better job of moving their feet to stay in front of their man. Defense is not only about blocking shots and getting steals--its about forcing teams to take lower percentage shots and keeping them off rhythm.
We will always be a better offensive team, just because of our personel. But being 60% offensive and 40% defensive can still equal banner #17. But right now, its 80 - 20 and that won't cut it. We need to be much better statistically on the boards (for many years now, we've been in the bottom 5 for rebounding), and for opposing team FG%. We need to seriously focus on improving these two categories from this year forward.
But defense remains our top priority this offseason. If we want to make significant progress as a team, we need to become a better defensive unit. We were easily beaten in the halfcourt last season and we were constantly burned on the perimeter as shot after shot hit nothing but net. Too many points were given up in the paint off of second chances and too many guys were getting to the bucket untouched. Our guys were often scrambling to cover multiple sections of the court, and that left a lot players open to capitalize on our poor defensive executions.
Plaver development is but one focus this offseason. But that's not enough. Our coaching staff needs to tighten up our defensive assignments and make it effective. Doc needs to motivate the players to be passionate about playing defense. They must want to shut down teams and get frequent stops.
Getting Theo Ratliff is a good start. When healthy, he's a pretty solid shot blocker. At one point, he was a league leading shot blocking machine, but those days may be gone. But he may still be enough of a factor to help stabilize our interior defense.
Clifford Ray has been working out our young Bigs and hopefully he's helped them with their positioning on the blocks. Perkins, Jefferson, Gomes, and Dwayne Jones need to protect their real estate in the paint and own their position in the low blocks. Too many opposing big men were getting deep into the paint, which allowed them to take higher percentage shots. Our bigs need to secure the paint and force opposing bigs to get the ball further away from the blocks and get them to take tough shots.
As a team, all of our players need to do a better job of moving their feet to stay in front of their man. Defense is not only about blocking shots and getting steals--its about forcing teams to take lower percentage shots and keeping them off rhythm.
We will always be a better offensive team, just because of our personel. But being 60% offensive and 40% defensive can still equal banner #17. But right now, its 80 - 20 and that won't cut it. We need to be much better statistically on the boards (for many years now, we've been in the bottom 5 for rebounding), and for opposing team FG%. We need to seriously focus on improving these two categories from this year forward.