December 1st - New Orleans Pelicans vs San Antonio Spurs - 10-9

[Pelicanidae]

Show me a team where every player plays both sides of the court all the time. Take a look at Milwaukee. They trade Jrue, and their defense has fallen off substantially. Steph's no NBA all-defense team type of player either. EVERY team has warts.

Lillard another example of a game changing megastar who plays zero defense. Luka.

The reality is that defense is a team outcome in the majority of instances. There are very few individual players in the league who are impactful enough on defense for them to be singularly important - Herb is one of them and we're very lucky to have him. But for the most part, defense is about the team approach, and we're a top 10 defense over the last 10 games and we were top 6 last year and top 8 the year before. So whatever we're doing is clearly working.

[As I See It]

Lillard another example of a game changing megastar who plays zero defense. Luka.

The reality is that defense is a team outcome in the majority of instances. There are very few individual players in the league who are impactful enough on defense for them to be singularly important - Herb is one of them and we're very lucky to have him. But for the most part, defense is about the team approach, and we're a top 10 defense over the last 10 games and we were top 6 last year and top 8 the year before. So whatever we're doing is clearly working.

Absolutely correct; defense is a team concept. If just one of five is taking time off...being a spectator...undisciplined...chasing...playing matador defense, it destroys the team defensively. In the Pelicans case, it's often more than one not holding up their end of the bargain.

And you are right, the Pels are fortunate to have Herb. He's a defensive juggernaut. But, how many times does Herb have to sit early because he's picked up two fouls trying to cover for someone's (no names) laziness?

Now would you like to talk about how defensive rebounding ties into 'team defense'? As we speak, we are in the bottom third of the league in defensive rebounding. I wonder how that translates into second chance points for our opponents.

How many championships has the elite Lillard or Luka (still young) competed for?