some thoughts about the defense
1. rim protection is the missing ingredient
love what eddie brings to the team - the passing, the fire, the confidence...a bit under the radar, too, maybe, that he has shut down opposing centers defensively as well. if he could play above the rim and protect the rim, he'd probably get drafted.
the team badly needs some rim protection...and eddie doesnt offer it. freeman might be able to a bit but or now hes still figruing out how to guard his man. naheem offers rim protection but almost nothing else...hasnt learned to rotate in a team scheme and hasnt gotten off of reds bench yet...
could eddie and naheem play together??? could be interesting to see...
almost every single player on the roster cannot keep their man in front of them in man t man defense...its insane how easily opponents get past their man. which is why a rim protector is so necessary for this team. if there was an anchor behind everyone to clean up the messes...i think the defense would all of a sudden be pretty good.
2. defensive stance/technique
the players dont get DOWN in defensive stance...they are upright and casual...like they are playing in a pickup game. do the coaches bother to teach technique?? or is it just assumed at this level of basketball that they all know the proper form and technique?
i think the team could really benefit from basic elementary level teaching on how to properly guard a amn and what form and technique to use...JJ, Bell, Freeman, Carlos, Moore etc are all getting abused mostly when they try to guard someone...I shudder to think what p5 teams will do agains these guys.
3. Carlos
im perpelxed how he won conference defensve player of the year, even in CAA. hes a huge liability on defense...he makes girard and gillon look like defensive stars. he just too small to even foul on transition defense...if hes the last man back,...just give the opponent 2 points. and his man seems to feast. colgate pg had career high...and his man had 8 points to tie it up last minute of overtime. hes a huge liability on defense (and is also too small to don anything off the dribble as well)...doesnt bring enough to the table to play, imo...
im sure hes the kinda guy coaches love persoanlity wise...but i just cant see it.
i cant see the defense being good with him involved, unfortunately.
4. Naheem
ive been very critical of his movement and help defense...but he may be the only hope this team has of playing good defense...by protecting the rim.
Im cautiously optimistic that red is keeping things very vanilla and will greatly expand the schemes and plans throughout the season.
why isnt he playing?
petar cannot guard the post at this level at all.
whoever is working with naheem should be focusing on rim protection and playing like the center in the zone ...just staying close to the hoop, imo...have him watch tapes of Rudy Gobert
5. decision making
make opponents score difficult twos...or long contested threes...NOT wide open layups...guys arent helping and just giving up wide opn dunks and 2s religiously...and it makes no sense. players need to know what to prioritize and how and when to help and it seems they have no clue a lot of the time...which is embarassing at this level of the sport.
protect the rim and guard the 3...live and die with longer 2 point shots, imo
also, if youre going to get burned gambling on the perimeter and getting abused off the dribble...at least get some steals...this team has very few steals ...very very few forced turnovers...so they rarely score in transition...as such they shouldnt be getting abused off the dribble...let your man hit long jumpers before getting beat to the rim, imo
a lot of times it seems the orange defender gambles for high risk low reward...instead of just playing sound and making opponents lives difficult. stay in position and keep it basic. make em hit a couple jumpers before you start jumpng at every pump fake.
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