Still doubt the switching defense?

[TheNorthCydeRises]

"It was almost too easy . . . ( referring to the Wizards early lead) . . . Because what happened is, we were like 'It's going to be an easy one tonight.' And then they put a little bit more pressure on and we turned the ball over, and then they made a quick run. They began to gain control of the game in the second quarter when they locked in defensively."

- Flip Saunders ( Wizards Coach )

"It's impressive how good they are defensively. They're playing some of the best basketball in the league right now. They continued to put pressure on us with their drives, and . . . attacking the paint."

- Jeff Bower ( Hornets Coach/GM )

"Atlanta forces me to become more of a jump shooter. They know that once I'm in the paint, I become a playmaker so they did a good job of forcing me out of the paint. I got some good looks at shots that I could normally make in my sleep, but I just couldn't knock them down."

- Dwyane Wade ( Heat guard )

"Once again, we struggled to shoot the ball and some of that certainly was Atlanta. They have length and they are hard to score against."

- Rick Carlisle ( Mavericks Coach )

"We just couldn't find any way to get through their defense. They're long and athletic. They kept us out of the paint."

- Jason Terry ( Mavericks guard )

"We tried to stay with them early on, but our turnovers got us. We struggled being able to convert and not putting any pressure on the ball. The Hawks are long, athletic and young. I'm sure that it helped that they've been off since Saturday."

- Vinny Del Negro ( Bulls Coach )

"They are hard to match up against, they're very athletic, and they do a good job of diversifying what they're doing. They have unique talent. We don't have that kind of versatility. Youth had nothing to do with that. It was turning the ball over, and letting them have layups, and not executing very well. You can't defend layups."

- Lionel Hollins ( Grizzlies Coach )

"We just couldn't do anything with their athleticism. The way they switched and boxed out hurt us tonight. Al Horford is a great offensive rebounder, and Josh Smith is coming from the outside to box out."

- Marc Gasol ( Grizzlies center )

"I'm used to them putting Joe [Johnson] on me because a lot of teams put big guys on me. They switched everything tonight, and that is what really took us out of our rhythm."

- Deron Williams ( Jazz guard )

Edited December 19, 2009 by northcyde

[tremor]

Switch defense, when applied properly, is a good weapon. All the whining came from situations when after switching Bibs was isolated against bigger opponent, so it wasn't switch d that was criticized, but bad execution.

[HawkNJersey]

Our switching worked better last tonight, because Al and Smoove remained in the paint. On many occasions, I saw Smoove feeding the wing players, that were passing thru the lane, back to our wing players, allowing him to stay in the paint. Smoove was playing like a NFL safety last night. His anticipation, was like something I've seen from Ed Reed. He was only credited with 5 steals, but how many others did he cause? IMO, it's not the normal switching technique that we use, that causes us the most problems. It's when we double team post players, that we make ourselves vulnerable and seemingly have players open at the 3 point line and Bibby matched up on a big in the post.

[mrhonline]

It's not the switching defense that teams are referring to. It's the length and athleticism that rapidly clogs up passing lanes, protects the perimeter, and defends soft shots inside.

[GameTime]

It's not the switching defense that teams are referring to. It's the length and athleticism that rapidly clogs up passing lanes, protects the perimeter, and defends soft shots inside.

Josh Smith is our Polamalu. With him we are world-beaters. Without him we couldn't beat a dog.

[Johnnybravo4]

I think that both Deron and Wade directly mentioned our switching as causing problems. It is almost like we create a fence that you cant get around.

[DJlaysitup]

Josh Smith is our Polamalu. With him we are world-beaters. Without him we couldn't beat a dog.

I wouldn't go quite that far GT...but you are right in that he is certainly the key and the scary guy inside on defense. There are ways that teams have gameplanned to keep more on the perimeter in the past but it seems like Woody has figured out how to keep him near the basket. With Smoove near the basket most players don't even try to go up against him. Horford is blocking some shots too and Marvin has even been seen jumping recently.

I like Smoove gambling a bit in the passing lanes inside. He has quick hands and can tip balls away from their targets. The other guys seem to be doing that as well. One key thing is that we can get away with that a bit now since we have enough shooters to overcome the occasional mistake that results is a dunk/layup for opponents.

P.S. - Defense generates offense - but sometimes offense (the ability to score the ball) can generate more confidence on defense.

Edited December 20, 2009 by DJlaysitup

[Buzzard]

We do play great D some nights and we also match well with Utah, Miami, Chicago, and Dallas. We have played those four playoff caliber teams tough for two or more seasons; so its about damn time they noticed...

Edited December 20, 2009 by Buzzard

[Buzzard]

We do play great D some nights and we also match well with Utah, Miami, Chicago, and Dallas. We have played those four playoff caliber teams tough for two or more seasons; so its about damn time they noticed...

Wanted to add this:

I think the teams that cause us the most problems are the ones that have a good to great SG. Then the matchup off the switch sucks for Bibby.

[Plainview1981]

Deng and Rose had no problems crapping on the Hawks mediocre defense.

[niremetal]

http://blogs.ajc.com/hawks/2009/12/19/six-in-a-row/#comment-46303

You don’t seem to understand there are difference in the way we switch when playing both DEF’s. You heard the word switch and automatically seized the opportunity to try and justify your position, while employing very little thought process in your response. Allow me to explaing something you’ve obviously failed to recognize.

Even when we play straight man to man DEF we switch if the DEF player is unable to get over the pick. However, we almost immediately switch back once the player gets past the pick, thus eliminating any potential mismatch. There are occasions when they are unable to switch back and each player stays with the player he switched to until they are able to switch back again.

It doesn’t take much basketball knowledge or understanding to read between the lines of DWilliams comments. There’s absolutely no way he was talking about having difficulty with Horford, Zaza or Smoove switching off and guarding him, or having Bibby, Teague or Crawford switching off and guarding Boozer or Okur. He was referring to us switching on the successful picks and then switching back before they could take advantage of the mismatches, like teams do when we play the perpetually switching DEF.

In the constantly switching DEF, the player that switches stays with the player he switches to, which creates constant mismatches which usually favors the opposition. Read OBRIEN’S 5:19pm post and get an idea of what is meant by making adjustments, especially during gms, and using strategy. A good HC will often make certain adjustments and changes to meet certain situations rather than stubbornly sticking to something that isn’t working effectively, just because it’s worked before.