All along, the defense has not had the visual impact brought by the gorgeous offense, nor the smooth viewing of wonderful assists, on the contrary, the defense is mostly "dirty and tiring" that consumes the body and mind. So in the eyes of both fans and players, defense is the most overlooked presence on the basketball court.
Tough defense will always attract a lot of criticism, because fierce physical confrontation always can't avoid the possibility of accidental injury. Whether it's Patrick Beverley or Drummond Green below, they're always met with mixed reviews for their "extremely tough" defense.
Beverly's defense is extremely aggressive and oppressive, and he will always give a fierce physical confrontation regardless of whether his opponent holds the ball or not, and this state of affairs will last from the beginning of the game jump to the last second of the game. He even sometimes deliberately does something that is not necessary at all, in order to provoke the opponent and make the latter unable to handle the ball soberly and rationally.
Today, Beverley has become an indispensable key part of the team's winning, and it also holds a large contract with an annual salary of tens of millions. As a second-round show, he is talented, has not yet a stable attack, and is destined to be a wandering road full of hardships at the beginning of his career, and it is not easy to achieve today's achievements.
He was selected by the Lakers with the twelfth overall pick in the second round in 2009, and it was not until the 2012-13 season that he really started his NBA career. During these three years, he was forced to play overseas to make ends meet. In the 2012-13 season, the desperate Houston Rockets gave him a chance to prove himself, and he won a steady playing time for himself with his desperate defense and super high investment in the game, and gradually sat firmly in the starting lineup.
Beverley's defensive philosophy is to do everything possible to disrupt the rhythm and state of the opponent, consuming and tearing the opponent through tough confrontation and maintaining the trash words of the whole field. In fact, many times it is not his defense that limits the opponent's play, but chooses to let the opponent limit himself, so that they lose their minds and cannot find the rhythm they are accustomed to.
For Beverly, it is very difficult to win the respect of so many people through his own defense, and his height of 185cm is no advantage in the NBA, even if the lateral speed is excellent, it is not the top, the only praise is his terrifying power that does not match his body. His physical talent dictates that he will be slightly unable to keep up with the pace of defending against skilled opponents such as Paul and Rondo.
He prefers to face tough "body" opponents, who can be limited by his excellent strength and willpower without fear of confrontation. Even against James and Durant, who are taller than him, he can do a good job of defending in addition to his inability to do in height.
Some people think that defense may only rely entirely on hard work and hard work, but in fact, if you want to be a good defender, a positive defensive attitude and excellent physical fitness are indispensable. And Drummond Green is the best player to have both. He has the height, weight and frame quality of the interior line, as well as the flexible footsteps and movement speed of small players. So whether it's an inside player or an outside player, it's hard to score under Green's defense.
When facing inside players, he can use his strong body to make it difficult for opponents to get stuck in a good offensive position, even if the opponent has a good interior position, Green can also use his body to make the opponent lose rhythm before the ball is played, and even complete a fast and accurate cut. His excellent mobility has allowed him to play well against most of the league's defenders, and small players are rarely able to use their speed advantage to get past Green's defense.
And Green's excellent defense is not only reflected in the one-man defense, but also reflects his excellent mobility, that is, excellent assisted defense ability. Continuous change of defense is his housekeeping skill, and his excellent movement ability allows him to quickly change defenses from the three-point line to the bottom corner of the two sides with ease. Even he can defend five players in a row in one offensive round and can do a good job of defending.
However, Green's success is also thanks to this era, the small ball era has lower and lower height requirements for the interior line, which allows Green to face most of the league's interior line. This era magnified the advantages of his mobility and masked his shortcomings of low height inside and large weight on the outside.
Smart has extraordinary dedication and hard work on the defensive end, and winning the 2018-19 Season Fighting of the Year Award is the best affirmation of the huge amount of energy he has invested in the defensive end. His defense is not just a tough physical confrontation, but also a set of self-created and unique defensive techniques. Compared with other defenders, Smart is more like using his brain to defend, he has calm judgment and reading ability on the field, and can adjust his defensive skills according to the characteristics of different opponents.
Its positive defensive attitude and tough defensive style are obvious to all in the league. In addition, he can also squeeze through the opponent's big players well when blocking and dismantling people to catch the ball, and always keep up with the opponent who intends to catch the ball. In addition, Smart also has his own unique insight into creating offensive fouls against opponents, and he has a strong prejudgment of the attacker's offensive route and even offensive method.
To be precise, Smart is a super strong forward-guard swinging defender. His height of 1.93m, his arm span of 2.06m, combined with his outstanding strength, keep him behind any front and defender in the league. His weight of 200 pounds allows him to be easily pushed off even against interior players. Unfortunately, he is not a perfect existence, due to his height limitations, it is difficult to limit the opponent's play when facing insiders with shooting ability, perhaps this is his biggest weakness.
When you realize Green's deterrence on the defensive end, you can easily understand Gobert's horror on the defensive end, he is an enlarged version of Green. With his excellent height and arm span, (Gobert is 2.16m tall and 2.35m arm span, literally built for defense), he can make the Salt Lake City no-fly zone a no-fly zone that is difficult for anyone to leap over.
Gobert has a very good ability to move, which allows him to cope perfectly in front of some small players. Although the speed is still slightly inferior to the defenders, because of his huge defensive area, even the league's top point guards cannot easily score in front of the French tower.
Gobert's achievements on the defensive end are inseparable from the Jazz's defensive system, and the two sides can be described as complementary and mutually successful. Even if the opponent has the outside defense that tears the Jazz apart, the latter's inside line and Gobert can make up for it at any time, and his defense of the inside line is not only guarding the rebound, but also guarding the entire interior area.
Defense, like offense, is an essential key ingredient in winning, and it's rare that they can stay passionate about defense in this frivolous era. So please applaud the many wonderful attacks, and don't forget every defender's moment of struggle.