Is it me or has this been Trae's best defensive effort since being in the league?

[RedDawg#8]

7 minutes ago, Atlantaholic said:

I mean JC absolutely benefitted tremendously from playing next to Capella and OO vs Alex Len Damien Jones early on in his career. But I think it's a little column A a little column B, obviously experience and practice etc help too. At the end of the day defense is always a team effort and tough to quantify and measure at the individual level. 

True, a poor defender next to 4 strong defenders will look better than a good defender next to 4 weak defenders. But it’s no secret, veterans have an advantage on defense from sheer reps and experience. They may lack energy, effort and even athleticism, but they usually know what spots to be in. Getting there is another story.

[Atlantaholic]

10 hours ago, RedDawg#8 said:

True, a poor defender next to 4 strong defenders will look better than a good defender next to 4 weak defenders. But it’s no secret, veterans have an advantage on defense from sheer reps and experience. They may lack energy, effort and even athleticism, but they usually know what spots to be in. Getting there is another story.

I think the big leaps comes after years 1 and 2 as far as getting all of the understandings of the sort of angles you need to take in certain situations and digesting the speed of offenseses to make proper rotations and some familiarity with players (at least conference rival players) and their tendencies.  After that it's really up to the player how much effort and energy he is willing to expand to improve in that side of the floor, we see lots of players in the NBA that just stay "bad" on defense. After the four + years of seeing Trae show absolutely no improvement defensively I was starting to have legitimate concerns but we are starting to see Trae take a jump in his defensive impact which is huge for him and us as a team.  It very well could be that playing alongside DJM (and overall better defensive lineups) has helped him some.

[benhillboy]

Yesterday he was getting into guys.  Martin and Vincent, the latter who had been scoring very well of late.  He even forced Jimmy off the ball a couple times, who usually has no regard for Trae as a deterrent.

Trae has always been a pretty good positional guy, my gripe has always been the amount of pressure he can apply when in said position.  He wasn’t allowing easy entry passes and perimeter swings; I want him to continue to see how much that releases pressure on his mates and gets the opposing offense off schedule.  Steals are cool but cutting off passing lanes throughout the course of a game is far more impactful.  He can show some good cut defense too when staying with guys.  His quickness on offense has to translate over and it has been lately.

He’s talking more and helping get guys matched up; I think a study of his defense lately would highlight a much improved team transition defense than we’re used to.

I just hope this isn’t another fleeting moment.  It’s far too late in the game to be seeing him close to his rookie season first half floor (sh!tty shooting and pissy defense) like the first couple months.  I think out of 4 1/2 seasons we’ve seen him at peak performance (primary focus on distribution and good team defense, All NBA second-team level) for only about a good season’s worth.  Whoever’s gotten into his ear about this increased effort they need to stay there.

[JayBirdHawk]

3 minutes ago, benhillboy said:

I just hope this isn’t another fleeting moment.

I hope not, because has much as he isn't a great defender - the team needs him engaged and giving effort.

[shakes]

11 hours ago, Atlantaholic said:

 

According to Raptor of the regular rotation guys it's Bogi who is really killing us on defense with the -2.9 rating which is a massive drop from his career of around -0.5

I didn't realize Raptor was my new nickname.

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

@Wurider05

 

 

[macdaddy]

1 minute ago, JayBirdHawk said:

@Wurider05

 

 

 

No one is interested in seeing anything that disrupts their narratives.  

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[Wretch]

On 12/23/2022 at 3:09 PM, Wretch said:

I made a mention of it earlier in the season, so I've definitely noticed him putting more effort out there.  FWIW, this narrative is not going away...no matter what he does.  If we start winning, there will be less of it.  Though honestly, I can see a realistic scenario where we'd be in the finals and people would still be going on about it.  Meanwhile his peers, who also have questionable defensive IQ, won't get the same scrutiny...because they are so offensively gifted.

One thing I would like to see more of is Trae getting into the passing lanes.  Every now and again you'll see him make a good play on the ball and come up with a nice steal.

[benhillboy]

His activity on ball and in the lanes has been considerably improved.  Quinn is asking a lot more in terms of effort.  I can’t recall him blatantly lingering in the backcourt during a defensive transition possession since the coaching change.  Trae can be quick and aware on back cuts too when he wants to be.  He’s drawn what seems like a couple illegal screen calls a game, which are huge.

With consistent effort he can fall somewhere between Mike Conley (career +.3 DBPM) and Dennis (-.8 DBPM).  That would be a monumental improvement for the team defensive chain.

In a perfect utopian universe Trae uses his sneakiness and quickness to lead the league in steals at 2.5.  I can dream can’t I?

Edited March 7, 2023 by benhillboy

[Wretch]

11 hours ago, benhillboy said:

In a perfect utopian universe Trae uses his sneakiness and quickness to lead the league in steals at 2.5.  I can dream can’t I?

I mean, this is the ask if we're being honest because if he's going to be of any use on the defensive end, he'll have to use his size and speed to his advantage.  This is exactly what Mookie Blaylock was - and he was shorter. 

He did have Deke cleaning up behind him, which is a massive tilt.

[benhillboy]

14 minutes ago, Wretch said:

I mean, this is the ask if we're being honest because if he's going to be of any use on the defensive end, he'll have to use his size and speed to his advantage.  This is exactly what Mookie Blaylock was - and he was shorter. 

He did have Deke cleaning up behind him, which is a massive tilt.

True, it can be done in multiple ways.  Steph led the league once by using his length on smaller PGs.  Iverson mostly jumped passing lanes: not ideal but his team needed all the extra possessions they could get.  I like that Trae doesn’t do that.  
 

I’d like to see him dig on posting Bigs blind side a little more.  Just like he did on Randle and Embiid during the Nate Honeymoon.  Make good, non-fouling swipes if he’s around an opposing rebounding Big like Kyle Lowry always does wouldn’t hurt either.  Quinn may be the first coach to drive home the fact that his low center of gravity is a significant advantage when pressuring dribble.
 

Yesterday Supes and Diesel got into a debate (can you believe it! lol) that involved Mugsy Bogues somehow.  He’d aslo be another great Quinn teaching tool for Trae to absorb.  The effort shouldn’t be a question going forward, I’m sure Quinn had a heart-to-heart and made him fully understand what a real coach expects given his contract.

Edited March 7, 2023 by benhillboy

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[AHF]

Trae has two main tools on defense:  (1) quickness and (2) his vision.  He should be able to better understand when passing lanes open, etc. and use that to get a jump.

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[Spud2nique]

1 minute ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

No I’m wide awake that lil mitten workin it!

[MarylandHawk]

Tonight was another great defensive game by Young. 

[NBASupes]

First time I've seen Trae's RAPTOR under -1.0 since he was in the positive game 3 the year after the ECF run. That quickly ended 

[Diesel]

They used to say that Trae is not among the elites because he doesn't play defense. 

 

What will they say now??