JMS
Years ago

Athletic players who struggle on D

I've always found it interesting when you see athletic players who struggle of defence. A player like Kendall Stephens is a perfect example. Can obviously move well, has quick enough reactions and sufficient lateral movement but has been type-cast as a "poor defender" (from reports). It therefore must come down to attitude. Surely rectifying poor defensive traits can be done quite quickly but in many cases this stays throughout the relevant career. As a junior these are basic endeavour skills that somehow get forgotten about due to offensive talent.

Tyler Harvey and Kouat Noi are current examples.

Goulding is a player that may have fallen into this category but was able to turn this around in recent seasons.

Interested in thoughts about these scenarios.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Adel.

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KET
Years ago

I think there's an intelligence a knack and a feel for it as well- Damian Martin had that for sure

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Isaac
Years ago

I think part of it in that case is court smarts applied to team D. Remembering rotations, etc.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Spatial awareness, peripheral vision and anticipation is a big part of it. Some are born with that and some aren't but by far the biggest factor is having heart and willpower to play D.

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Anonymous
Years ago

1 v 1 defending at the top level is about desire and elite athletic ability as no matter the heart if you are Teys you can stay in front of people who are far more athletic its just simple facts

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RobT
Years ago

On the converse side, players NOT known for their athleticism turn out to be quite/very good defenders.

Damien Martin king of this tribe.

Others, Norton, Teys, McCarron, Iverson, Gliddon, Cadee, not necessarily full-court or 1 on 1 defenders, but how many, and how regularly do they get charges and other offensive calls for their teams? Invaluable.

Left a lot of very good defenders out of this list only 'cos they are also athletic.

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Cram
Years ago

Warrick Giddey was the king of this back in the day. very little athletic ability but just played smart positional D, got charges, deflections. Defended almost anyone on the court.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Damian Martin NOT known for his athleticism? What are you on about?

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RobT
Years ago

Yeah! Maybe the title of this thread should have "amian" after the "D".

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Anonymous
Years ago

Cadee a good defender? Someone has got into the dog biscuits

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LV
Years ago

JLA can move well for a big guy, but often gets caught out of position or commits dumb fouls.

Defense is about correct positioning- both in 1 on 1 and zone situations, consistent energy and mental application, reading the play, knowing your opponent and court awareness.

Athleticism helps no doubt, and if you're particularly unathletic and slow then you're very unlikely to become an elite defender. About the best you could aim for is to become elite at the skills I listed and be a moderate or decent defender.

On the other hand, being athletic obviously helps make up for deficiencies in those skills. But to be an elite defender you must be good at those skills.

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LV
Years ago

[Defense is about correct positioning- both in 1 on 1 and zone situations, consistent energy and mental application, reading the play, knowing your opponent and court awareness.]

There's also specific defensive skills of course, like hand-eye and stripping your opponent.

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Anon
Years ago

Good D, yes some with Basketball brain it comes naturally, but at a lot of junior basketball it's all about the points scored not the D at the other end, could be why a lot of junior rep teams end up with lots of attack and no D, and then when they come up against some good D it all falls apart.

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Bol
Years ago

Damo was sneaky athletic! It was easy to forget in the latter stages of his career due to injuries. Was still a great defender though even on one leg

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Hoops

Athletic players who struggle on D

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