re: The change in Will Wade is defense

I agree, people put way too much into metrics. You think the Bill Russell’s , Oscar Robertson’s , Larry bird, Magic and MJ worried about metrics? Hell no, they played with instinct, knowledge and their God given abilities and the numbers and wins piled up. Nowadays, the game is played with a way higher emphasis on offense and there is not a whole hell of a lot of pride put into trying to stop your man/opponent ( it’s a shame ). Wade’s defensive philosophy and rotations suck and it puts his players in bad positions. I totally agree with madking in his assessment of their half arse full and 3/4 press. They are a little better in the half court trap but not much. Like he said, you have to be ultra aggressive in closing/ trapping and then everyone else better know exactly who they are rotating to. WW obviously doesn’t know how to fix it but I’ll give him credit for trying different defenses to alleviate the problem. He shows a willingness to grow and get better. I actually understand him trying zone ( they are bad man to man, on ball defenders ), but the players have to be on their toes, communicate well, aggressive and use good fundamentals when rebounding and they aren’t doing those things. Players depend too much on their athletic abilities these days and not enough on fundamentals. Take Larry Bird for example, 6’9” and had a 6” vertical. He got rebounds all the time in front of the Dominique’s,James Worthy’s and others because he sealed them off far enough from the basket that the ball came off the rim in front of him not over his head. The opponent would have to go over his back/foul, to win the rebound. Hopefully he finds the right formula.