biggest difference last year vs this year is ........

[bauman]

Two things, 1) Desire and 2) You never see defense on ESPN highlights. Maybe # 2 causes # 1.

[Sheltiedave]

There are very few NBA players who get huge contracts because they rebound and defend like madmen. The trend may switch a little because Detroit won last year as the best defensive team in the playoffs, but I doubt it. Maurice Jeffers was a superior defender, but he won't make it on defense only at this time.

[kwyjibo]

I think "desire" is important but in this context is really overrated. Anyone who has actually played basketball knows it is very hard to maintain both the physical and mental intensity necessary to play good defense, let alone maintain that intensity on both ends.

On the defensive end you are usually only as good as your worst matchup during the whole of the possession, in other words 5 can play great defense 98% of the time, but if the offense can consistently exploit that 2% lapse you are not playing good defense. On offense, you can do all the wrong things 98% of the time, but if you make a great pass/shot/move that 2% of the time you can score and be considered "good offense".

So, it is really a matter of knowing what you can do consistently on defense and knowing what flashes you can provide on offense. These are different things and us "hobgoblins of consistency" tend to play D and coast on offense and the more "fanciful" types get it done in flashes on the offensive end (even when the have lots of "flashes" per game).

Desire is hard to measure and even "harder" to observe. Usually, a fan claiming someone is lacking desire is really that fan has the wrong expectations for that player.

[billiken_roy]

i was just giving perspective to thicks expectations of v newborne is going to average less turnovers per game than chris sloan. imo a bold statement.

[billiken_roy]

since this is a for iscussion only topic and not about any specific billiken, i think that so many of the good scoring guards have been given the free ride on the other end of the court for so long in their basketball career that when they are asked to actually play defense, they just dont have the strong mindset necessary to do just that. i blame the poor aau and high school coaching that a player got up to that point. it is tough to break old habits.

[billiken_roy]

kwyjibo, i think you are far too forgiving. i have watched kevin lisch since he was 8 years old lay it all out 100% of the time. all of his sisters and his younger brother are the same way as well. they have been coached by their father to play the same way and it has become a habit to go all out whenever they dont have a ball in their hands. i have watched them workout by themselves doing defensive slides for 5-10 minutes straight, playing full court man to man where the emphasis is on defending full court, and listened to family discussions that always center on defense.

on the other hand, you and i go out to the backyard hoop with our kids, we shoot. we dribble, we talk about scoring. it is a mindset. nothing less. and until you train your mind to be able to think like that on automatic pilot, it isnt going to happen.

[tseugnekillib]

broy, not surprising that you would blame the aau coach or the high school coach.

When do you blame the college junior or the college senior or the college redshirt senior (5yrs of defensive instruction) for not be willing to play good defense?

Most incoming freshmen have no clue about the intensity of D1 college basketball. I give them about a three month transition period. After that, imo it a mental matter of really wanting to play good defense and then making the sacrifices to get it done.

[billiken_roy]

the fact we have witnessed that soderberg, romar and spoon are/were able to get players to come in and become better than average defenders is what i base my statement on. now if they never got better, then i wouldnt say that. i would say it is just the kid. but more than less past billikens have tremendously improved defensively after they get to the college level.

[kwyjibo]

I think my original post was pretty muddled but I think we are in agreement here. Obviously, you can teach a lot of skills and you can get a lot of experience with playing defense and get a lot more efficient.

My post above was really just trying to say that the offensive and defensive mindsets are different. Which I should just leave at that because my post above was a bit confusing.

The thing I do not like is too many fans thinking they can discern who is giving effort and who is not. I am sure many on this board know and see enough to make a good judgement on the Billikens, but it is hard to discern the level of effort exactly even to many knowledgable fans. It is best to make criticisms based on position, effectiveness, etc. Effort is just too hard to observe and often misleading when it is (sure a player can obviously dog it but that is not what I am talking about).

Take a simple example of a player who leaves his match-up to make a steal in a passing lane--that player may "appear" to be giving a lot of "effort", but besides making a potentially stupid play, what credit does the player who rotates over to cover a teammates mistake get for "effort" from the average fan. The player who went for the steal may even take their time getting back to a man and the average fan will not notice that "lack of effort".

[ACE]

I expect us to turn the ball over more, but on the flip side create more turnovers, rebound better and get more easy baskets in transition. I sure hope I'm right about that.

[Tonka]

I don't see RB being the leader on the team vocally, but I'm not so sure that's a bad thing. I think RB is going to have a monster offensive year. Last year, a lot of weight was put on RB's shoulders and that was a lot to ask of a guy coming in, learning a new system, etc. Being a leader on the floor can take a lot out of you. I hope RB doesn't feel he has to be the leader. I think he'll be a silent leader and will lead by example. I want him to get in his rythm every night and score! He may not be where we want him to be defensively, but i think he'll be better than last year and continue to get better through the year. I don't see us having anybody that will be a defensive stopper to put on an opposing team's number one scorer. We will have to make our mark defensively as a team.

Somebody mentions IO as being strong. That's certainly not a word I would use for IO. I hope something got into him in the offseason, but I do not want to put up with another underperforming year by him. I know many of you disagree, but I would like to see AD be the sixth man. I don't think he's a consistent starter, but I think off the bench he can come in a game and provide a great spark, both defensively and offensively.

I'm not sure a leader will ever emerge. I think a different leader will show up at different times. I see the leadership being more balanced, but we'll see.

[brehms13]

Have u ever played basketball? Defense is a lot of work, some are very good at it, others are not. Defense is also learned, it doesn't happen overnight. I don't agree that a person was getting a free ride at the other end for so long, that now they have to work (as someone else said not yourself)....that's just not true, I also don't agree that its anyone's fault, a coach, the player, it has to be learned. If Basketball was that easy, we would have a waiting list for the NBA, it's not that easy to master all of the skills of basketball by a certain time. Some may ask Shaq the same question, why is it so hard to shoot a free throw, some may ask Tom that......it's just not their strong points in basketball, it's essential to their game as big men, who will get the foul calls, but they haven't mastered it. But Shaq shows proof, that u can have weaknesses in a sport and still make millions. That's the bottom line, u're not getting paid for college ball, u're still learning, u're still progressing. My point is go with what skills the player already has and work hard to improve on the ones he/she may be lacking. That's all u can do.