Our Defensive Identity

[Swatguy]

What is or will be our defensive identity? Will we force tempo with tight trapping in the half or mostly dictated by the opponents? I'm curious about the rotations. Will we use Este and Shell to disrupt as a rule forcing opponents to play ugly.

I recall the showtime Lakers, they always played tight "D" with a lot of forced turnovers with fastbreaks. I hope to see 48 minutes of pressure "D". I believe the personnel enables frequent substitutions, keeping opponents off balenced.

Whatayathink?

[HawksFan87]

We already know that Smoove and Shelden are our best defensive post players and when the games are tight they need to be in the game together in the post, Same goes for Chill who is our best defender at guard along with JJ.

[Packfill]

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What is or will be our defensive identity? Will we force tempo with tight trapping in the half or mostly dictated by the opponents? I'm curious about the rotations. Will we use Este and Shell to disrupt as a rule forcing opponents to play ugly.

I recall the showtime Lakers, they always played tight "D" with a lot of forced turnovers with fastbreaks. I hope to see 48 minutes of pressure "D". I believe the personnel enables frequent substitutions, keeping opponents off balenced.

Whatayathink?

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Based on last year, the Hawks defensive identity is that they do not play any defense.

Hopefully, this year will be different as a few players do have potential to be good defenders.

[Yeti]

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We already know that Smoove and Shelden are our best defensive post players ...

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I agree on Smoove, but Shelden still has to prove himself in the NBA. Did fine in college, stunk in summer league, but it's a new season now. I'm not counting on a rookie until he shows he can do it - who knows he may turnout great but it may take him a year or two to adjust. Just like Smoove and Marvin. But to start with I don't see him ahead of Lo or Este. It would be interesting to see SW and Este mix it up.

[Johnnybravo4]

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We already know that Smoove and Shelden are our best defensive post players ...

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I agree on Smoove, but Shelden still has to prove himself in the NBA. Did fine in college, stunk in summer league, but it's a new season now. I'm not counting on a rookie until he shows he can do it - who knows he may turnout great but it may take him a year or two to adjust. Just like Smoove and Marvin. But to start with I don't see him ahead of Lo or Este. It would be interesting to see SW and Este mix it up.

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This is why we need Bonzi. He'd give us a defensive identity.

[Lascar78]

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We already know that Smoove and Shelden are our best defensive post players

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We really don't know that. While Smoove has shown his excellent shot blocking skills, he hasn't really proven himself as a post defender yet. I expect him to be a very good post defender, but it's not like it's a done deal. Similarly with Shelden, that's what he was brought here for, but we don't yet know how much his standing reach will impair him in the NBA.

I think that what's clear is that with Smith, Shelden, and Batista, we at least should be a lot tougher on the inside, maybe wear some guys out. We'll never be a defensive team unless Zaza's D improves significantly, but now we have other players to make up for it.

Speedy-JJ will be a great defensive backcourt, and either Marvin or Smith will be good at the 3. The big question is how much the 5 will hurt us.

In any event, we've gone from having 3 positions of clear defensive weakness (PG, PF, C), to probably just one ©, so there should be SIGNIFICANT progress.

[ATLBob]

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In any event, we've gone from having 3 positions of clear defensive weakness (PG, PF, C), to probably just one ©, so there should be SIGNIFICANT progress.

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Lets hope so, becasue if we can reduce our opponents 'in the paint' scoring by 20%, we'll see a REAL difference in the W-L column ...

[CBAreject]

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In any event, we've gone from having 3 positions of clear defensive weakness (PG, PF, C), to probably just one ©, so there should be SIGNIFICANT progress.

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That just reminds me how much we'll miss Al Harrington's staunch defense at the 4.