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Message: [QUOTE="CardiacCuse, post: 5398107, member: 6979"] its a big leap hoping starling will automatically become a good defender when he never has been. he constantly just loses track of what is happening (and he also struggles to just stay in front of his man when he is driving) and allows his man to score easy buckets...i am [I]hopeful[/I] that will change but dont assume it will. a rim protector will help mask that deficiency but it wont magically fix it. I dont know why that happens to starling so often. it looks like effort...but maybe it is simply lack of ability to lock in and focus. if its that, unless he gets some kind of mental focus training, he likely wont improve on defense. i dont think it is a physical issue...its mental with him. freeman should be improved but he has to get stronger. i think [I]if [/I]he is stronger, he will be better on defense because I think most of his problems were just getting outmuscled by older stronger players...but he "gets" it (unlike starling)...so I actually do assume he will be better not really remembering george very well...but if he has roughly the same dbpm as carlos...yikes! at least he is 6' 3 so he isnt the shrimp that carlos was trying to pretend to play defense out there...and he may be able to at least do something to defend breakaways (unlike carlos)...transition defense was horrifc this year and that starts with the point guard. that will be key. kingz should be a big upgrade over bell...i read kingz hgh school coach saying kingz was a great defender so that makes me hopeful with him yeah kyle seems good ...but is he the starter? is he even capable of starting and playing big minutes? ucla opted to play him as their 3rd stringer, no? and they wanted that to continue this year, as well. his highlights look good. rim protection with him should be a lot better...but hes a 30% foul shooter...i dont know how you can play a guy like that heavy minutes so yeah, overall, upgrades on defense...but the defense was [I]so bad[/I] merely upgrading shouldnt be the question - will the defense be [I][B]good?[/B][/I] thats the real question - and its a lot more iffy. with all this length, i could see red going for zone - but none of these guys have played zone...so it could easily be another year of peaking in March...and looking clueless until then...defense is about scheme and coordination...its about knowing where to be and where your teammates are and coordination of movements...red hasnt shown he can make that happen before feb/march or so (if that) going zone would make it much more likely that the defense doesnt gel until the season is over again. whatever defense they play they need to finally hit the ground running...the portal era is about 1 year cycles...and not slow builds every single season. and you mentioned houston...well yeah...defense wins championships...and they are in the title game for a reason..."we wont be houston"...ok...well we should try. [/QUOTE]

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