What do the great modern team defenses have in common?

by Idog1976 on Apr 19, 2009 1:04 PM PDT

I would say that all of the most effective teams in the league have two things in common:

Number One: Collapse on the paint and deploy the octopus arms of death defense in which multiple players all rake the arms of the penetrator and attempt to swipe at the ball also bodying the penetrator.

Number Two: After a super aggressive defensive set you also employ the dreaded flop. Mixing up the octopus in the paint with flops on screens and the perimeter is a deadly and aggravating combo.

Until the league gets serious about stopping flopping it will continue to be a huge part of the game. Really, to stop flopping you would need a $100,000 fine or more based on tape replays and technical fouls for when it is caught in real time. The way to solve flopping aside the Blazers have to deal with the reality of it. You can't just flop whenever you feel contact or else you run the risk of your player taking it to the hole. You have to first really bump the crap out of the other guy and when he responds then you flop mightily. Look at Luis Scola, he is a master of tough D and then when you get him in deep he flops like an Oscar winning method actor.

It's funny because the roundly considered best defensive player on the Blazers is the only guy who employs the flop. That is one Joel Przybilla. For every true charge he takes there are two flop-o-rama "charges" that he takes. Basically, if the Blazers want to be as good as they can be they will have to employ the Octopus and the Flop-o-matic 3,000 defenses. It sucks but that's what ALL the big NBA teams do: Celtics, L@kers, Utah, Houston just to name a few all do the Octopus and the Flop-o-rama. It's a sad state of affairs but it's part of the game until Sith-lord Stern does something about flopping.

On a side note I loved what I saw from Oden last night and think he will thrive in the playoffs. He really enjoys the physicality of the playoffs and just needs to not get too physical on the perimeter and save the heavy banging for a bit deeper in the post. Also, they need to get him the damn ball!

Tweet Comment 11 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

lol

Look at Luis Scola, he is a master of tough D and then when you get him in deep he flops like an Oscar winning method actor.

I like this line. Don’t agree maybe on how good a defender Luis is, but good line.

I know less than half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

by haildablazer on Apr 19, 2009 2:10 PM PDT reply actions

Scola's a solid defender; the scary part is that he's the 3rd best defender at PF on Houston's roster

Aldridge needs to be able to score on him.

by jksnake99 on Apr 19, 2009 2:23 PM PDT up reply actions

Agreed

LMA has brought only the weakest of sauces…

"Death is not final," Gita says. "If any man thinks that he slays, and if another thinks that he is slain, neither knows the truth. The Eternal in man cannot kill: the Eternal in man cannot die. The soul in man is neither born nor does it die. Weapons cannot cut it; fire cannot burn it. .. What makes you think that you can destroy the soul?"

The Bhagavad Gita

by Idog1976 on Apr 19, 2009 2:30 PM PDT up reply actions

When it comes to salsa, hot is superior to mild.

by AK1984 on Apr 19, 2009 3:20 PM PDT up reply actions

LMA

was difficult to see last night due to several hundred feet of hoary ice surrounding him. Glaciers are warmer then he was horrible.

The Bhagavad Gita

by Idog1976 on Apr 19, 2009 3:50 PM PDT up reply actions

Which is odd, given how much LMA likes BBQ.

I know less than half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

by haildablazer on Apr 19, 2009 3:35 PM PDT up reply actions

not only is it flopping

but modern “great” defenses are allowed to get away with alot more than they should

by cloudydays on Apr 19, 2009 3:30 PM PDT reply actions

They get away with it

Because they do that sort of stuff year after year until the Refs are used to it and no longer call the foul.

I know less than half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

by haildablazer on Apr 19, 2009 3:37 PM PDT up reply actions

that's garbage

just because they do it all the time doesn’t mean the rules should be bent in their favor.

by cloudydays on Apr 19, 2009 4:03 PM PDT up reply actions

The refs don't "Get Used" to flopping

Look at the Spurs, they flop like rag dolls and they’ve been doing it for almost a decade!

I all honesty, Rudy knows how to flop. All Europeans understand the importance of developing Flop skills. It seems that perhaps some players in the US are too proud to flop, or they recognize that if you flop against Shaq when he lowers his shoulder and charges you — you’ll either get a defensive foul, or no call (and you look like an idiot when he jams over your horizontal body on the floor).

Still, getting fouls called when none has been committed is a skill, too.

by anim8r on Apr 19, 2009 4:25 PM PDT up reply actions

Sadly it appears that to become an

elite defensive team you have to develop the flopping skill. We also have GOT to learn how to collapse the middle the way elite teams do. Their is no pride lost collapsing like Boston and Houston do so that one is a no-brainer and is on the coaching staff and players.

The Bhagavad Gita

by Idog1976 on Apr 19, 2009 6:25 PM PDT up reply actions