Nate most recently interned for the Brooklyn Nets. Prior to that, he worked with Binghamton Basketball for three seasons, where he received his undergraduate degree. You could say he loves basketball, but that would be a huge understatement.

Warriors Fight on Defense

The NBA Champion Golden State Warriors put together one of the best offensive seasons in recent memory last year. But, their defense was also #1 in the NBA last year.

The Warriors defensive system last season was based off their ability to switch on screens with pretty much any of their players. If their power forward, not that positions matter much in this system, had to switch onto their point guard’s man, they were usually content with the matchup and didn’t have to scramble. This is huge for an NBA defense to be able to switch without trouble. Most defenses will resort to other techniques to guard plays like the pick and roll such as hedging, blitzing, etc., which all have weaknesses. For example, switching keeps the defense intact, but it allows the offense to dictate which matchup they’ll get. The Warriors are just fine with giving them that option.

Draymond Green or Harrison Barnes can stick with quicker point guards and Klay Thompson has the size/strength to hold his own versus larger forwards. And when Shaun Livingston entered the game for Stephen Curry, the Warriors ability to switch improved last season.

Example: Warriors vs. Rockets in Western Conference Finals

Using the 2015 Western Conference Finals as an example, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green could all cover any of the Rockets perimeter threats without giving Houston a distinct advantage. For contrast, the Clippers who lost to the Rockets, lacked this ability and were decimated through mismatched defenders. James Harden hit 67 free throws in the series, including 26 in the final two games. Harden would get a matchup he liked and then either scored or drew a foul with ease. Los Angeles had some versatility with Blake Griffin being so athletic, but J.J. Reddick, Jamaal Crawford and Chris Paul all regularly played and had no real flexibility in switching. DeAndre Jordan was always a solid anchor and Chris Paul is one of the best defensive point guards in the NBA, but the meat of their lineup can’t stack up with Golden State’s. Houston was able to create mismatches easily on Houston took advantage. Golden State won their series versus Houston in five games. Adding just one Andre Iguodala or Shaun Livingston could have greatly improved how the Clippers matched up with the Rockets.

This video shows Draymond Green switching to guard James Harden. Green can keep Harden in front of him easily, and the lazy shot is swatted. Green thrived in these scenarios, only allowing a league low 0.58 points per possession in isolation situations (minimum 100 possessions).  Livingston, Barnes, Iguodala and to an extent Thompson can all do the same thing.

Also important is Thompson’s off ball defense on Donatas Montiejunas. An average-sized defender at Thompson’s position would normally struggle guarding a 7-footer, especially when the ball handler is as great of a passer as Harden is. Thompson is able to use his speed and size to ensure Harden can’t feed him on the roll to the rim and Klay stays completely in front of Montiejunas on his first hard cut. Thompson isn’t giving up much space and Harden resorts to his one-on-one play versus Draymond Green (bad idea).

Height Wingspan
Curry 6’3 6’4
Livingston 6’7 6’11”
Thompson 6’7″ 6’9″
Barnes 6’8″ 6’11”
Iguodala 6’6″ 6’11”
Green 6’7″ 7’1″

If a player decides to try to get a shot off from distance chances are they weren’t met with much of an opening either. At any time, the Dubs can have at least three players with a wingspan 6’11” or greater on the floor, without giving up much speed or lateral quickness.

The Warriors impressive defensive attack doesn’t end there. Even when their forwards get burned by guards or guards out-powered by bigger forwards they have a backup plan. Their defense forces the ball in the direction of their big man, Andrew Bogut. He’s an elite rim protector, opponents only scored on 41.4 percent of their field goal attempts at the rim while defended by him, third best among NBA centers.

Rank Name Opp-FG% rim
1 Gobert (UTAH) 40.4
2 Ibaka (OKC) 40.8
3 Bogut (GS) 41.4

Will the Warriors Keep It Up This Season?

With so much versatility, they should be able to maintain their defensive ranking this season. They don’t run an overly complicated system, they just trust their players to cover multiple positions with their extraordinary length.

They have four players who could earn playing time on another squad purely because of their defensive contribution and they still thrive on offense. It’s no surprise Draymond Green is making $82 million over the next five seasons. When looking at the best defensive three man combinations in the NBA, the Warriors have seven of the top 10. Every starter shows up in at least two of these lineups.

3-Man Lineup (at least 35 GP) Team D-Rating
Exum,Dante – Gobert,Rudy – Hayward,Gordon UTA 93.4
Antetokounmpo,Giannis – Middleton,Khris – Pachulia,Zaza MIL 94.1
Green,Draymond – Iguodala,Andre – Thompson,Klay GSW 94.4
Barnes,Harrison – Curry,Stephen – Green,Draymond GSW 94.7
Barnes,Harrison – Bogut,Andrew – Curry,Stephen GSW 94.8
Bogut,Andrew – Green,Draymond – Thompson,Klay GSW 94.8
Barnes,Harrison – Bogut,Andrew – Green,Draymond GSW 94.8
Bogut,Andrew – Curry,Stephen – Green,Draymond GSW 94.9
Barnes,Harrison – Bogut,Andrew – Thompson,Klay GSW 95.1
Duncan,Tim – Green,Danny – Leonard,Kawhi SAS 95.2

Theses guys are in short supply on most teams, except for one: the Milwaukee Bucks.

Milwaukee’s “Hands Up” Defense

Milwaukee is stacked with versatile defenders. Last season, they lacked consistency with the injury to Jabari Parker and midseason trade for Michael Carter-Williams, but the guys who played all year made an impact. Their three-man lineup finished second in defensive rating, just ahead of Golden State’s combinations.

14-15 MIL 15-16
Carter-Williams PG Carter-Williams
Middleton SG Middleton
Antetokounmpo SF Antetokounmpo
Ilyasova PF Parker
Pachulia C Monroe
Mayo Bench Mayo
Henson Henson

Individually, Khris Middleton is just as good as Draymond Green at defending isolation situations, and Carter-Williams is right up there as well, as he had a better points per possession against in isolation situations, but was in 69 less isolation situations. John Henson and Giannis Antetokounmpo both have surprising results, for different reasons. Henson performed quite well in these situations, as he was third best among players who have been in at least 30 isolations. The Greek Freak will definitely need to improve (still in the top half of the NBA), but he has all of the potential to be on par with the earlier mentioned players.

Team PPP Iso
Green GSW 0.58
Middleton MIL 0.60
Carter-Williams MIL 0.57
Henson MIL 0.45
Antetokounmpo MIL 0.82

Moving Forward in Milwaukee

This year, the Bucks expect Parker to be healthy and will be able to take further advantage of Carter-Williams’ athletic ability. They also added Greg Monroe, who is not the rim protector that Pachulia was, but has the tools to be along with an established rim protecter in Henson. If he can improve his defense at the basket, Milwaukee has a great chance to improve on what was already one of the NBA’s premier defenses.

Height Wingspan
Carter-Williams 6’6″ 6’7″
Middleton 6’8″ 6’11”
Antetokounmpo 6’11” 7’3″
Parker 6’8″ 7’0″
Monroe 6’11” 7’2″
Henson 6’10” 7’5”

They have multiple guys who can guard every position, and they are coached by an ex-player who has employed a switching defense most of his (short) coaching career in Jason Kidd. While coaching in Brooklyn, he used a lineup that turned Paul PIerce, a shooting guard/small forward his entire career, into a power forward, so that he could start Shaun Livingston. Kidd was able to use him in all sorts of ways. If Livingston was defending the ball handler in the pick and roll, Kidd had no problem allowing him to switch. The goal would be to force the ball handler to either make a bad pass or play one-on-one. One player who could defend multiple positions and cause havoc with his length turned a mediocre defensive team into an effective one. Jason Kidd now has somewhere between 3-5 of these guys.

It’s not all perfect though. To find continued success, the Bucks will need to improve on a squad that faded out in the second half of last season. Many of their players are still improving, and they are a young team with a future to look forward to.

They also didn’t play the same exact style as Golden State. Last year, the Bucks were still in a situation where they couldn’t fill the floor with athletic wings. They had their share and they used them very well, especially to interrupt passing lanes, but they still could get stuck in uncomfortable situations like Ersan Ilyasova switching to a speedy guard. They liked to create situations where the ball handler would have to make a quick decision and a defender would take advantage. With this year’s roster, they should be able to revert to a simpler defense with Parker replacing Ilyasova.

Milwaukee has built their team in a similar fashion to the Golden State Warriors. While the champs have showed no signs of slowing down, it’s pretty clear that Milwaukee is on their tail defensively. The Bucks have a chance to improve on what was already a fantastic defense. Both teams started last season very well on D, but the Warriors led the league wire to wire. It will be interesting to see where these two teams rank once we get underway.


Sources

http://stats.nba.com/playtype/#!/isolation/?OD=defensive&dir=-1&sort=PPP&CF=TeamNameAbbreviation*E*gsw&Season=2014-15&SeasonType=Regular%20Season

http://stats.nba.com/league/lineups/#!/advanced/?sort=DEF_RATING&dir=-1&CF=GP*GE*35%7CTEAM_ABBREVIATION*E*&Season=2014-15&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&GroupQuantity=3

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2015/7/1/8810369/Draymond-green-contract-golden-state-warriors-nba-free-agency-2015

http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/player/defense/?sort=FGP_DEFEND_RIM&dir=-1&CF=GP*GE*60%7CTEAM_ABBREVIATION*E*

Image: Carter-Williams vs. the Warriors

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