Kaleb Joseph as a defender?

[SoBeCuse]

Watching Napier and Boatwright last night in the 1H harass the UK guards made me envious of that style. Anybody know how KJ is as a defender? I'm frankly sick and tired of teams rolling the ball up and getting a free pass to initiate their offense. I will NEVER forget that Dayton play where the guy lost it looking at Miller and it rolled five feet forward and Ennis just let him have it back. I would love to see more pressure applied at least occasionally by an SU guard to a ballhandler before we fall back into the zone. Just to let them know that we're around and not going to always let them bring the ball up constantly unimpeded. I'm not saying VCU or Louisville style but just an occasional 'escort' or light hounding in either side of the court.

 

[Brooky03]

I think our lack of pressue defense this season was a result of poor depth, especially in the backcourt.

I have no idea how good a defender Joseph is, since it's not the sort of thing highlight tapes focus on, but I do know that he's one of the more athletic guards we've landed in a while, with length. That usually adds up to being a pretty good defender. The perfect scenario in my opinion would be Joseph and Gbinije coming off the bench to play really aggressively for 4-6 minute spurts, to see if we can break open some games. Obviously, though, that would require Ennis to come back which is a pipe dream at this point.

 

[iommi]

Kaleb needs to improve defensively. He is very quick and agile, which helps him get into passing lanes. He tends to gamble a lot; I'd describe his defense as high risk/ high reward. He has the tools to be a great defender but he'll need to stay within the framework of our zone.

Another positive is when he gets steals he is a one-man fast break because he is lightning fast and will finish breaks like Dion did--above the rim.

 

[DSellers12]

Supposedly in a scouting report I was reading he is one of the best on ball defenders in High School which is surprising that he has elected to come to a strictly 2-3 zone defense program.

 

[iommi]

Supposedly in a scouting report I was reading he is one of the best on ball defenders in High School which is surprising that he has elected to come to a strictly 2-3 zone defense program.

That is true; my concern is when he's off the ball, he gambles for steals way too much.

 

[RF2044]

Supposedly in a scouting report I was reading he is one of the best on ball defenders in High School which is surprising that he has elected to come to a strictly 2-3 zone defense program.

This isn't a knock against your post, because I think it raises an important point about whether we can extrapolate high school success to the next level: I never trust high school scouting reports of defense. Remember when Paul Harris was attributed to be such a great defender coming out of high school? I think he famously said something like: "Man...zone...whatever. I just know my main ain't scoring."

Well, it didn't quite work out that way. Hopefully Joseph has the requisite athleticism to cover some ground in the zone. Time will tell.

 

[dollarbill44]

Defense is more about attitude than anything else. If he is as athletic as people say (judging from his highlights, he is) then his attitude will determine how good of a defender he is.

Dennis Rodman wasn't the best basketball player, or even the most athletic, but he was the best defender in the NBA for a solid decade because he made it his mission to be the best defender (and rebounder too). On offense, you can be lazy and still put up a lot of points. You can't be lazy on defense and be any good at it.

 

[Madbiker]

Watching Napier and Boatwright last night in the 1H harass the UK guards made me envious of that style. Anybody know how KJ is as a defender? I'm frankly sick and tired of teams rolling the ball up and getting a free pass to initiate their offense. I will NEVER forget that Dayton play where the guy lost it looking at Miller and it rolled five feet forward and Ennis just let him have it back. I would love to see more pressure applied at least occasionally by an SU guard to a ballhandler before we fall back into the zone. Just to let them know that we're around and not going to always let them bring the ball up constantly unimpeded. I'm not saying VCU or Louisville style but just an occasional 'escort' or light hounding in either side of the court.

Has nothing to do with our players. It's a coaching decision to fall back and not pressure. We could have MJ out there but if he came up and challenged he'd be yanked immediately. It's not going to change.

 

[Col. Bleep]

Watching Napier and Boatwright last night in the 1H harass the UK guards made me envious of that style. Anybody know how KJ is as a defender? I'm frankly sick and tired of teams rolling the ball up and getting a free pass to initiate their offense. I will NEVER forget that Dayton play where the guy lost it looking at Miller and it rolled five feet forward and Ennis just let him have it back. I would love to see more pressure applied at least occasionally by an SU guard to a ballhandler before we fall back into the zone. Just to let them know that we're around and not going to always let them bring the ball up constantly unimpeded. I'm not saying VCU or Louisville style but just an occasional 'escort' or light hounding in either side of the court.

Absolutely agree that we allow that time saving "ball roll" WAAAAY too often.

Did you notice the final Kentucky possession last night?
Down 6...25.7 seconds to go.
And UConn PRESSURED the ball in the backcourt.
It took Kentucky a good ten seconds just to get into position for a 3-pointer.

You know what would have happened if the Orange were the defensive team in that situation.
They'd be back in the 2-3 and Kentucky could just roll the ball to halfcourt.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Has nothing to do with our players. It's a coaching decision to fall back and not pressure. We could have MJ out there but if he came up and challenged he'd be yanked immediately. It's not going to change.

I'm not that stupid. It was a hypothetical question and scenario. One can dream.

 

[Toga]

Watching Napier and Boatwright last night in the 1H harass the UK guards made me envious of that style. Anybody know how KJ is as a defender? I'm frankly sick and tired of teams rolling the ball up and getting a free pass to initiate their offense. I will NEVER forget that Dayton play where the guy lost it looking at Miller and it rolled five feet forward and Ennis just let him have it back. I would love to see more pressure applied at least occasionally by an SU guard to a ballhandler before we fall back into the zone. Just to let them know that we're around and not going to always let them bring the ball up constantly unimpeded. I'm not saying VCU or Louisville style but just an occasional 'escort' or light hounding in either side of the court.

Like I said in another thread - at least use token pressure! It doesn't require much energy and it automatically reduces the length of time you need to defend in the half court by a good 5 seconds.