Every time in Boston, there will be a player who is desperate to throw himself on the floorball, and these players will dangle like a shadow on the spliced floor of Boston Garden Arena from time to time - Larry Bird grabbed, Pierce grabbed, KG grabbed, Rondo, Tony Allen, Bradley... Now Smart.
Today we will talk about the Green Army in recent years, defenders who have been excellent defensively.
Tony Allen
Tony Allen has been called the "Godfather of Crushing" and it's hard to imagine that he was once a star scorer. In the '06-07 season, Allen averaged 18.9 points per game for a month or so because of Pierce's injury. In fact, during Allen's college career, he was also an all-around wing scorer, averaging 22 points per game in a two-year junior college, and at Oklahoma, he took the team all the way to the NCAA Final Four.
But while Allen has shown strong one-defense ability in the Green Army, he really showed dominance on the defensive end during his time with the Grizzlies.
What Allen did could be described as "unaesthetic". Like the entire Grizzlies, his best way of playing is ugly and boring, constantly disrupting the opponent's rhythmic small movements, constantly running against his defensive objects, constantly using his strong body to squeeze the opponent's shooting space, and then waiting for the opponent to miss the shot and collect the rebound.
And in terms of quality defensive habit development, the experience of training with Gasol Jr. has benefited Allen a lot. When defending players who are taller than himself, Allen has mastered an amazing ability to predict starts; On Batil's side, he no longer relies solely on physical confrontation, lateral movement, flying tackles, etc. to defeat opponents as in the past, but adds more content. He carefully studies his opponent's videotapes, looks for his opponent's weaknesses with the protagonist, and exploits them on the field.
All in all, Allen's pressure on defenders is superficial.
Avery Bradley
Bradley, who joined the Celtics in the 10-11 season, became the backbone of the post-"Big Three" team
In those years of continuous confrontation with the Heat, Bradley gradually came to prominence, and he became a reliable weak side attack point for the Celtics with solid and fierce outside defense and decisive and steady outside shooting. More importantly, his youthful and fast pace and strong and precise defense have breathed new life into the already slightly aging Celtics.
During his seven years with the Celtics, Bradley gradually became a well-known defensive stalwart and "3D" top player in the league.
As the league's top No. 2 defender, he was named to the All-Defensive Team twice. (2nd team in 12-13 season, first team in 15-16 season)
In the '16-17 season, the Celtics won the Eastern Conference regular season championship again with 53-29, Thomas Jr. became the absolute core of the team with 28.9 points and 5.9 assists, and Bradley became the team's second scorer with 16.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals.
Especially in the Eastern Conference Finals, when Thomas Jr. was suppressed by the Cavaliers, Bradley stepped up and cut 19.2 points to score first in the series, and snatched the only victory for the Celtics in Game 3 with a three-point shoot.
At the time, Smart was like a playmaker version of Green, able to do the dirty work, but without the weak side attack function of Bradley, the team's second scorer, and the defensive style was different: Smart could go from one defense to four, but he couldn't help the speed guard, and Bradley, who had excellent traversing and quick pace, was a nightmare for a small guard.
Marcus Smart
In the 21-22 season, Smart finally carried on Garnett's mantle and won the second best defensive player award in team history.
"The DPOY trophy, back in the hands of the defenders."
Smart is decisive for the Green Army's defensive system, in addition to excellent single defense, high ball quotient, good at grasping the timing of the change of defense, on the spot judgment, filling and command is even top.
He would sneak out of nowhere to reward a big hat when Zubac was misplaced on his back;
He can also grab the ball and make a quick attack on a two-man passing route alone;
Then the low position is still able to defend various types of No. 4 positions;
And even if his hand, back, foot, and leg injuries just came back, he will still pounce on the floorball without hesitation, even if the risk of injury to the floorball himself will be greater.
Because he only cares about one thing, grab the ball and win the game.
It was Smart who made the Celtics jump from 16th in defensive efficiency to No. 1 at the beginning of last season;
It was Smart who snatched back one offensive round after another for the team with one fall after another;
It is Smart who has taken the lead in challenging various stars again and again;
And these are excluded by the data and wonderful footage.
Defending relies on enduring rigor, and many of the blocks and steals are not good defensive masters. Smart, on the other hand, treats defense as fun, keeps improving, and executes consistently, so he's the best.