Defense and Hustle Tracking: 2023 - 24 season

[JayBirdHawk]

Yo @TheNorthCydeRises...I'm making need you do a 1st half and a 2nd half break down. Please and thanks  

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

23 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Yo @TheNorthCydeRises...I'm making need you do a 1st half and a 2nd half break down. Please and thanks  

Give me about an hour or less.

Edited November 1, 2023 by TheNorthCydeRises

[TheNorthCydeRises]

vs Minnesota ( 10/30 )

 

Defense

https://www.nba.com/game/min-vs-atl-0022300104/box-score?type=defense

 

1) Jalen Johnson 1st half ( 5 - 7 DFG ) . . 2nd half ( 1 - 12 DFG ) - As noted by some in the game thread, JJ was getting bullied a bit trying to guard KAT in the 1st half. It was obvious that his size was bothering JJ and he needed a little time to adjust to KAT's superior offense. Reid also had a nice drive vs Jalen where he took him right off the dribble and got to the rim. 

In the 2nd half, a completely different story. Instead of JJ waiting on KAT to initiate the contact in the post, JJ got right up on him, forcing him to make a move . . right into Capela. Once KAT wasn't scoring inside, he tried to do it on the perimeter, with no avail. JJ also ran out on a few 3 point shooters, who missed all 4 shots. Once again, he's credited with defending the most FG attempts ( 19 ).

2) Capela block party - With 5 blocks and 10 contested shots, Clint's rim protection was definitely needed last night. The big thing the Hawks did in the 2nd half, is not give up if they were somewhat beat off the dribble. They stayed with their man and funneled them straight to Capela, who either blocked or contested the shot.  Trae specifically did this a few times after Conley had gotten a little past him.  Trae stayed on Mike's hip, and Capela was able to contest the shot at the rim.

3) Murray forcing turnovers - He grabbed 2 steals, but he's credited for 4 forced turnovers and had 3 deflections. Murray has always been good at keeping his hands up and tipping passes.  3 of those turnovers turned into very nice fast break opportunities for the Hawks.  The best one coming in the 3rd quarter. He sticks to Ant-Man like glue with Ant trying a cross court pass that got picked off by Dre. Dre pushed the ball to half court and passes it to DJ running in front of him. DJ does a great touch pass to a streaking JJ on the other side for an easy dunk.

4) Okongwu 1st half ( 4 - 5 DFG ) .. 2nd half ( 2 - 9 DFG ) - OO gave up a team high 4 made 3s last night.  2 of them were simply Ant-Man rising up and knocking them down in his face.  The other 2 came from Nas Reid, in which OO either lost sight of him, or didn't realize that he had that kind of range.  That 3 point % could've even been higher, had Mike Conley made the open 3s he had with OO 5 feet from him. He defended a high number of shots vs Ant-Man ( 4 - 6 FG ).  A mixed bag defensively from OO, but he came through big time in the 2nd half as the Hawks were streaking past the T-Wolves.

 

Hustle

https://www.nba.com/game/min-vs-atl-0022300104/box-score?type=hustle&period=1stHalf

 

Only 9 deflections in that game, mainly because Minnesota had their way with the team in the 1st half.  In the 2nd half, the defense was much more active.  12 contested 3s out of 33 attempts ( 36% ), which I would think is normally a recipe for a loss. 

Minnesota only made 4 - 15 three point attempts in the 2nd half and shot 29.5% FG, after blistering the Hawks on 12 - 18 three point shooting and 67% FG in the 1st half.  A truly crazy game.  Props to the team for sticking it out.

[SalvorMallow]

2 hours ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

vs Minnesota ( 10/30 )

 

Defense

https://www.nba.com/game/min-vs-atl-0022300104/box-score?type=defense

 

1) Jalen Johnson 1st half ( 5 - 7 DFG ) . . 2nd half ( 1 - 12 DFG ) - As noted by some in the game thread, JJ was getting bullied a bit trying to guard KAT in the 1st half. It was obvious that his size was bothering JJ and he needed a little time to adjust to KAT's superior offense. Reid also had a nice drive vs Jalen where he took him right off the dribble and got to the rim. 

In the 2nd half, a completely different story. Instead of JJ waiting on KAT to initiate the contact in the post, JJ got right up on him, forcing him to make a move . . right into Capela. Once KAT wasn't scoring inside, he tried to do it on the perimeter, with no avail. JJ also ran out on a few 3 point shooters, who missed all 4 shots. Once again, he's credited with defending the most FG attempts ( 19 ).

2) Capela block party - With 5 blocks and 10 contested shots, Clint's rim protection was definitely needed last night. The big thing the Hawks did in the 2nd half, is not give up if they were somewhat beat off the dribble. They stayed with their man and funneled them straight to Capela, who either blocked or contested the shot.  Trae specifically did this a few times after Conley had gotten a little past him.  Trae stayed on Mike's hip, and Capela was able to contest the shot at the rim.

3) Murray forcing turnovers - He grabbed 2 steals, but he's credited for 4 forced turnovers and had 3 deflections. Murray has always been good at keeping his hands up and tipping passes.  3 of those turnovers turned into very nice fast break opportunities for the Hawks.  The best one coming in the 3rd quarter. He sticks to Ant-Man like glue with Ant trying a cross court pass that got picked off by Dre. Dre pushed the ball to half court and passes it to DJ running in front of him. DJ does a great touch pass to a streaking JJ on the other side for an easy dunk.

4) Okongwu 1st half ( 4 - 5 DFG ) .. 2nd half ( 2 - 9 DFG ) - OO gave up a team high 4 made 3s last night.  2 of them were simply Ant-Man rising up and knocking them down in his face.  The other 2 came from Nas Reid, in which OO either lost sight of him, or didn't realize that he had that kind of range.  That 3 point % could've even been higher, had Mike Conley made the open 3s he had with OO 5 feet from him. He defended a high number of shots vs Ant-Man ( 4 - 6 FG ).  A mixed bag defensively from OO, but he came through big time in the 2nd half as the Hawks were streaking past the T-Wolves.

 

Hustle

https://www.nba.com/game/min-vs-atl-0022300104/box-score?type=hustle&period=1stHalf

 

Only 9 deflections in that game, mainly because Minnesota had their way with the team in the 1st half.  In the 2nd half, the defense was much more active.  12 contested 3s out of 33 attempts ( 36% ), which I would think is normally a recipe for a loss. 

Minnesota only made 4 - 15 three point attempts in the 2nd half and shot 29.5% FG, after blistering the Hawks on 12 - 18 three point shooting and 67% FG in the 1st half.  A truly crazy game.  Props to the team for sticking it out.

Hunter's defensive numbers are awful.

[Phunkabilly]

I'm somehow just now seeing this thread.  I echo others' sentiments, @TheNorthCydeRises.  Excellent job, please keep it up!

[TheNorthCydeRises]

30 minutes ago, SalvorMallow said:

Hunter's defensive numbers are awful.

Hunter's defensive possessions in which a shot was taken

https://www.nba.com/stats/events?CFID=&CFPARAMS=&ContextMeasure=DEF_FGA&EndPeriod=0&EndRange=28800&GameID=0022300104&PlayerID=1629631&RangeType=0&Season=2023-24&SeasonType=Regular Season&StartPeriod=0&StartRange=0&TeamID=1610612737&flag=1&sct=plot&section=game

[SalvorMallow]

24 minutes ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

Hunter's defensive possessions in which a shot was taken

https://www.nba.com/stats/events?CFID=&CFPARAMS=&ContextMeasure=DEF_FGA&EndPeriod=0&EndRange=28800&GameID=0022300104&PlayerID=1629631&RangeType=0&Season=2023-24&SeasonType=Regular Season&StartPeriod=0&StartRange=0&TeamID=1610612737&flag=1&sct=plot&section=game

He was definitely playing the "sag to double" D with late closeouts to the 3 pt line on a few of these.

 

 

Here he gets torched by Ant

 

Super late recovery after a switch

No mans land

 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

5 hours ago, SalvorMallow said:

He was definitely playing the "sag to double" D with late closeouts to the 3 pt line on a few of these.

 

 

Here he gets torched by Ant

 

Super late recovery after a switch

No mans land

 

 

I think this is the defensive scheme.  Players are sagging in the paint, then expand to get to the shooters.  It's just that players need to understand the personnel that's on the court. 

Dre has traditionally been a man to man, stick with your guy type of defender.  The Hawks seem to be playing an almost 1990s UNLV amoeba defense type of zone.  I forget who on here described it as such, but that's what it looks like at times.

The guys are ball watching too much, and aren't reacting quick enough to get to shooters.  Having said that, Ant-Man was in Superstar mode in that first half. Dre was in the area, but Edwards was just too good at times. 

So unlike the Knicks game in which he had multiple breakdowns defensively with leaving shooters open, I can't ding him too much in this game, despite giving up 75% FG, but on a low number of attempts ( 8 ). He's shown to be a better help defender in this scheme, while still not being a true lockdown defender.

 

[JayBirdHawk]

[theheroatl]

On 11/1/2023 at 7:30 AM, TheNorthCydeRises said:

 

I think this is the defensive scheme.  Players are sagging in the paint, then expand to get to the shooters.  It's just that players need to understand the personnel that's on the court. 

Dre has traditionally been a man to man, stick with your guy type of defender.  The Hawks seem to be playing an almost 1990s UNLV amoeba defense type of zone.  I forget who on here described it as such, but that's what it looks like at times.

The guys are ball watching too much, and aren't reacting quick enough to get to shooters.  Having said that, Ant-Man was in Superstar mode in that first half. Dre was in the area, but Edwards was just too good at times. 

So unlike the Knicks game in which he had multiple breakdowns defensively with leaving shooters open, I can't ding him too much in this game, despite giving up 75% FG, but on a low number of attempts ( 8 ). He's shown to be a better help defender in this scheme, while still not being a true lockdown defender.

 

You’re right on.. it’s a zone-man hybrid… the backcourt players are still responsible for a man but they have a zone which takes precedent. They are looking to sag in then chase out shooters.

 

that’s why we are seeing so many running close outs on 3 pt shooters

Edited November 5, 2023 by theheroatl

[theheroatl]

15 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

If we can get that first half rating down to equal the 2nd we have a contending squad.

 

I’ve always believed that a top 15 defense with our consistent top 5 offense is contender material.

[JayBirdHawk]

5 minutes ago, theheroatl said:

If we can get that first half rating down to equal the 2nd we have a contending squad.

 

I’ve always believed that a top 15 defense with our consistent top 5 offense is contender material.

I think as the season goes along and players become better with Q's offense and defense, those ratings will adjust.

[Final_quest]

I just looked at the last four games defensive rating and even in the wins our defensive rating is 20th in the league.  

We're winning with pace, fast breaks, turnovers, and offense in general.  #2 offense right now.  

As good as the defense looks at times, the data says our offense is the strength of the team.  

[thecampster]

The only player sub 100 in defensive rtg and highest net rating.

The kid put in a ton of work this off-season.

 

[theheroatl]

1 hour ago, Final_quest said:

I just looked at the last four games defensive rating and even in the wins our defensive rating is 20th in the league.  

We're winning with pace, fast breaks, turnovers, and offense in general.  #2 offense right now.  

As good as the defense looks at times, the data says our offense is the strength of the team.  

Yes that is true but we absolutely have to be better on defense. We have to get there..

 

Or else we will suffer the same fate as the last two seasons.

[thecampster]

1 hour ago, thecampster said:

The only player sub 100 in defensive rtg and highest net rating.

The kid put in a ton of work this off-season.

 

For comparison, John Collins stats so far this season.

 

Collins last season

[JeffS17]

I know people think we didnt get a good enough return for Collins but imo we are lucky we didnt have to attach picks to that contract to send him out.

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

A very interesting listen regarding defensive strategies: 75% buy in and 25% effort.