Defense Coming Along

This is what I’m talking about. Sample size still too small to get excited about but it’s definitely trending in a positive direction.

Credit to Max Christie for taking the challenge of ball hawk but I stand by assertion yesterday: if/when he’s healthy that role is best assigned to Vanderbilt. As it stands, Max is the closest thing we have to a 2 way shooting guard right now.

Bonus appreciation round for Cam Reddish. His stellar D often goes unrecognized and while his offense won’t remind anyone of Steph Curry he does need to apply pressure if some kind on that end to stay effective. If he and the staff can carve out a niche role for him on that end we have a nice foundation of defensive and offensive role players.

Of course it all starts with The Brow. Dude has re-focused his energy and effort on that end after the abysmal road trip but it’s coincided with a drop off in his offense. Luckily LeBron and DLO have been able to pick up the slack but we need AD to remain an elite two-way threat.

Lastly I’m glad we scrapped the switch everything scheme as the default defensive strategy. It certainly has its place but gets overly simplistic when exclusively used. The current zone hybrid has proved effective against teams with a point guard that’s quick and thrives in getting into the paint, a weakness for some time. This scheme will also get scouted so it’s on the coaches to go full Borg and continue adapting.