Why does everyone think that the Hawks defense will slip?

[aali34]

Hey, its been a while since I've been on this site, been busy traveling but now I'm back and have some stuff on my mind.

After signing Dwight Howard everyone is convinced that while the rebounding and shot blocking will increase, the defense will fall down a notch or two. I don't see how that will happen since we have Dwight Howard as our rim protector.

I know what Al Horford brought to the Hawks with his mobility and switching ability, because of the versatility displayed by him and Paul Millsap the team was able to preform quick and efficient defense by covering for each other. But this was exploited by smart teams that shot a lot of threes. I think this seasons defense will be more similar to the spurs defense of last year, which was Kawhi and Danny Green chasing opposing players off the three point line and funneling them towards the rim with Tim Duncan and Lamarcus Aldridge waiting there. This forced teams to take more pull up mid range jumpers which is the most inefficient shot to take for most players. The video below goes into more depth of the spurs defense. I know we don't have a Kawhi Leonard (fingers crossed Taurean Prince) but i think that the team can implement this defense since they have a better rim protector now

 

Edited August 24, 2016 by aali34

[Lurker]

1 hour ago, aali34 said:

Kawhi and Danny Green

Korver isn't Danny Green, his team defense is solid but he's still pretty slow afoot and can be exploited. Bazemore is good defensively but he isn't Kawhi. Baaaadddd comp.

[thecampster]

For me the defense is all about what happens when we play Cleveland in the playoffs. Cleveland flawlessly forced us to overcompensate when they cleared out for Lebron isos. Horford was not strong enough or aware enough to handle double duty on Lebron's drives. It always required help. Dwight will not need help to stop Lebron once he powers past his man off the dribble. Way less rotating which means no more JR Smith camping 3.

[BigDog90]

I read somewhere Al helped out on defense on the perimeter to assist Teague and Korver.

Dwight could do the same if needed but I think with Dwight, Bud will probably redo his defensive scheme.

[thecampster]

Dennis won't need as much help on the perimeter and by midseason, Korver will be coming off the bench.

[hawkman]

6 hours ago, thecampster said:

Dennis won't need as much help on the perimeter and by midseason, Korver will be coming off the bench.

Hopefully. But that depends on how THJr and the Rookies develop.

[aali34]

12 hours ago, Lurker said:

Korver isn't Danny Green, his team defense is solid but he's still pretty slow afoot and can be exploited. Bazemore is good defensively but he isn't Kawhi. Baaaadddd comp.

But Millsap is better than Aldridge and Schröder is better than Parker on defense.

 

[benhillboy]

We were #1 in FG% against.  Maybe you should've played some video of last year's Hawks instead of the Spurs to demonstrate.  

If it falls off a little it'll still be dominant in the regular season at least.  I think the general consensus as to why it'll fall a bit is Dwight's career-long battle with team chemistry and injuries.  While still much more athletic than Duncan or Al, he's nowhere near as savvy as an anchor.  Asking him to execute that middle PNR corral has led to countless arguments between he and his teammates over the years.  And I'm pretty sure if there were figures on how far Bigs venture out the paint on defense, he'd be one of the least traveled for sure. 

If we drop out of the Top 5, the blame can be placed squarely on Bud, who I hold wholly responsible for everything Dwight does or doesn't do this season.  He's his foster parent.

I have an issue with running every player off the three line.  Some of them you want shooing.  The Spurs were better equipped to to stop dribble penetration off a pump fake or hard close out from the arc than we were.  Too many times the scrambling led to much higher percentage shots than the one that was chased off.

From what I saw in Summer League, I'm very encouraged that Prince and Bremby will bring the lateral quickness, ball denials, and arms in passing lanes that are integral to building championship-level defenses.  

Edited August 25, 2016 by benhillboy

[Sothron]

Dwight can't switch like Al did. That is the only thing that troubles me defensively was that Al was truly elite at switching and with his defensive movements in helping on the weak side or getting in front of people. Every thing else Dwight does equally as well or far better. Only switching concerns me. I still think we are better defensively with Dwight than with Al.

[Watchman]

I'd rather take my chances with Dwight trying to stop Lebron's drives to the basket, versus Al.

[aali34]

We still have this guy

 

[Guest]

and this...

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Sothron said:

Dwight can't switch like Al did. That is the only thing that troubles me defensively was that Al was truly elite at switching and with his defensive movements in helping on the weak side or getting in front of people. Every thing else Dwight does equally as well or far better. Only switching concerns me. I still think we are better defensively with Dwight than with Al.

True.

Our defensive philosophy was to prevent players from getting to the paint to begin with - we had the personnel to that because Al could easily switch and he was a great help and team defender.  Dwight is different, his strength in defense comes as a deterrent at the rim.

The defensive philosophy will change.

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

and this...

 

Ummmm Bob, I would never correct you but that wasn't Smart taking it to the hole....it was baby midget wannabe Zeke...:-|

 

Millsap: GET THAT SH!T OUTTA THERE!!!!!

[ATLien_]

18 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

True.

Our defensive philosophy was to prevent players from getting to the paint to begin with - we had the personnel to that because Al could easily switch and he was a great help and team defender.  Dwight is different, his strength in defense comes as a deterrent at the rim.

The defensive philosophy will change.

Bingo if we try to play the same defense we did with Al we will be worse. I think shedding olay Teague improves the defense if Dennis is focused and not gambling too much. Last year covering for Teague  and Korver left Al out of rebounding position too often, and got us exploited in the playoffs. 

I'm really hoping Korver is on the bench, so we can play straight up D,  We should be fine with him starting  because we only have 1 weak  perimeter player now. I suspect we will funnel his man to Dwight if he gets beat instead of trapping and hedging. Will see our old defense some, but situationaly late in shot clocks when teams won't have enough time to take advantage of  Dwight's perimeter foot speed.