Interesting read on keys to good defense

NBA.com with a nice read on the philosophical changes SAS has made to their defense this year.

RC Buford on Boston as a model

quote:

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While they were really high in defensive efficiency, they weren’t very high in defensive rebounding. And that was a big part of where our emphasis was, and it made us question is that really where we should be paying attention. And those were discussions that were then brought to Pop from our coaches and from our analytics team. And some great discussions came from that, that ended up having us reevaluate what was important to us.”

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Writer summing up the Spurs:

quote:

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So, using the Celtics for comparison, Popovich and crew went back to the drawing board, knowing they needed to adjust their defensive priorities. Contesting shots became the new focus, even if it meant more fouls or fewer rebounds.

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The Spurs defense has been much better this year.

Definitely something to think about.

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