fishmike wrote:BigDaddyG wrote:Nalod wrote:Knixkik wrote:blkexec wrote:All great post on Brunson. I’ll start with I agree with everybody and we probably lose this game without him. But pump the breaks a little. He made Dennis smith jr look like a valuable nba player for any team. I was actually thinking we need deuce off the bench to ruff up DSJ a bit and shake up his confidence. Because DSJ was able to do whatever he wanted against JB. Thank God DSJ still can’t shoot 3s or we lose this game. JB should get the AI treatment. Pair JB with a defensive guard and let the defensive guard defend the best guard. The problem is Umbre is 6’7 ish so JB couldn’t guard him so Cam was our best option. But this reveals our weakness at the guard positions and why EF should play more with the second unit and put JB next to Grimes or Cam.
I still think grimes will fill that role and solve a lot of those issues.
In theory, but then who is Brunson guarding still? If he is a liability on Defense other teams can and will counter.
They'll just have to float him around to whatever player poses the lesser threat on offense. It's done all the time. We saw it two years ago when the Hawks stuck Trade on Bullock. The good thing is that JB still gives the effort and physicality. The coaches will have to figure out schemes to lessen JBs defensive weaknesses.
exactly. He plays really hard so while he's got some shortcomings guarding players he's a guy who will get steals, deflections, make good switches, fight over/through screens. Brunson is NOT a 4/5 defense... I wouldnt say he's a good defensive player but I would say he can surely be a part of a top notch defense.
Here's the thing - I genuinely believe that Thibs can increase a player's defensive abilities through both improved fundamentals and defensive schemes. I think defense is a team responsibility more than a player responsibility - like an umbrella. Only need one hole for the umbrella to stop working.
Brunson is a student of the game. A skill player with a focus on offense. He can't lob a floater of a guy with an 7'8 foot wingspan and he probably will have trouble defending a 3 pointer from a 7 foot player. So, aside from ball denial, he probably should not be matched up with Bol Bol.
I think he has good defensive fundamentals though. As Clyde said last night, you defend with your feet, not with your hands. I think he has the footwork to stay in front of his man. He fights over screens. And he plays with tenacity.
He probably doesn't get as many steals per minute as Quickley with his length -- and he is not exactly clogging the passing lanes, but fundamentally, Brunson has a huge basketball intelligence. I would expect him to be in the right place at the right time as much as possible - as the scheme requires. I would expect him to fight over screens as required by the defensive scheme and to rotate properly. Compare this to Fournier who tends to get lost watching the play unravel and loses track of his guy, Brunson tends to rotate better and close weakside gaps a bit better (small sample set). He won't deceive folks with his long hands to interrupt the passing lane the way IQ does, but he will be positioned better to cover his man more often than not.
I think we should be talking about Fournier's defense and not Brunson's. I need Fournier to be more presently aware of the game on defense. I can see BBRRR coming to a theater near us soon as Reddish's defense has been pretty solid.
10/27/2022 10:41 AM
