Defense?.....or just bad basketball

[Freelance]

I'm sick of the "Dallas and Phoenix play no defense" nonsense.

I watched Detroit and Indiana yesterday. NO imagination on offense. Boring, methodical offensive schemes. Give it to one guy, send two guys back on defense, then throw up a hope and try to get an offensive rebound and jack it up again. Dribble the clock out every possession. Yuck.

Just because the scores are low doesn't mean good defense is being played. Scared, unimaginitive offense and poor shooting don't equal good defense.

Dallas is just as good of a defensive team as Indiana or Miami, and just a shade under Detroit. Phoenix will be better defensively when they get a little older and work together over the offseason, but the Suns can still run Detroit or Indiana out of the gym right now with relative ease.

[jmood88]

Re: Defense?.....or just bad basketball

Hasn't this been discussed already?

[BoA]

Re: Defense?.....or just bad basketball

Dallas is just as good of a defensive team as Indiana or Miami, and just a shade under Detroit. Phoenix will be better defensively when they get a little older and work together over the offseason, but the Suns can still run Detroit or Indiana out of the gym right now with relative ease.

[Freelance]

Re: Defense?.....or just bad basketball

Laugh all you want. Good western teams have no trouble scoring on these supposedly great eastern defensive teams. Look it up.

[aholbert32]

Re: Defense?.....or just bad basketball

Laugh all you want. Good western teams have no trouble scoring on these supposedly great eastern defensive teams. Look it up.

LOL, Well Erod. I took your advice and looked it up and you are wrong. Phoenix averaged 110.4 a game and only scored 100 and 80 against Detroit. Dallas averaged 102.5 and scored 85 and 95 against Detroit. So I think its a bit of an overstatement to say Western teams have no trouble scoring against the East. I guess this is another case of you making a statement without facts to back it up.

[Sully]

Re: Defense?.....or just bad basketball

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. Steve Nash waltzed right through the Dallas defense last night. I don't want to hear "that's what Dallas wanted him to do". It was sickening how many uncontested layups Nash had. The same goes for Phoenix on the other end. Dallas pretty much did what they wanted to offensively. I'll give credit to both teams, they are arguably the two best offenses in the league. However, to suggest that Dallas is just as good defensively as Indiana and Miami, or to consider them a "shade under Detroit", is laughable.

[Freelance]

Re: Defense?.....or just bad basketball

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. Steve Nash waltzed right through the Dallas defense last night. I don't want to hear "that's what Dallas wanted him to do". It was sickening how many uncontested layups Nash had. The same goes for Phoenix on the other end. Dallas pretty much did what they wanted to offensively. I'll give credit to both teams, they are arguably the two best offenses in the league. However, to suggest that Dallas is just as good defensively as Indiana and Miami, or to consider them a "shade under Detroit", is laughable.

Phoenix scored just as much on those teams. They put 100+ on Miami in both meetings.

Dallas focused on Stoudemire and Marion and let Nash roam free. It worked. Nash made some ridiculous fallaways and some 3-pointers, so his scoring went nuts. The Mavs are willing to give Nash 35 and hold Stoudemire to 15 any night. That spells trouble for the Suns.

[Freelance]

Re: Defense?.....or just bad basketball

LOL, Well Erod. I took your advice and looked it up and you are wrong. Phoenix averaged 110.4 a game and only scored 100 and 80 against Detroit. Dallas averaged 102.5 and scored 85 and 95 against Detroit. So I think its a bit of an overstatement to say Western teams have no trouble scoring against the East. I guess this is another case of you making a statement without facts to back it up.

That's because both teams play slow down so much slow down that you run out of time to score.

Average points is a bogus stat anyway. Look at shooting percentage. That gives you a good defensive perspective.

[jmood88]

Re: Defense?.....or just bad basketball

That's because both teams play slow down so much slow down that you run out of time to score.

Average points is a bogus stat anyway. Look at shooting percentage. That gives you a good defensive perspective.

You just said look it up and now you're making excuses. You said they had no trouble scoring, what happened?

[Sully]

Re: Defense?.....or just bad basketball

Phoenix scored just as much on those teams. They put 100+ on Miami in both meetings.

Dallas focused on Stoudemire and Marion and let Nash roam free. It worked. Nash made some ridiculous fallaways and some 3-pointers, so his scoring went nuts. The Mavs are willing to give Nash 35 and hold Stoudemire to 15 any night. That spells trouble for the Suns.

Phoenix had 124 and 83 in two meetings with the Pacers. Dallas had 121 and 94. I guess 50% isn't bad.

I really don't think last night spells trouble for the Suns. The shots just weren't falling...kind of like they weren't falling in game 3 for the Mavs.

[Sully]

Re: Defense?.....or just bad basketball

That's because both teams play slow down so much slow down that you run out of time to score.

Average points is a bogus stat anyway. Look at shooting percentage. That gives you a good defensive perspective.

Against Detroit, Phoenix shot 46% from the field in one game, 36% in the other.
Dallas shot 46% in one game, 34% in the other.

[Freelance]

Re: Defense?.....or just bad basketball

Phoenix had 124 and 83 in two meetings with the Pacers. Dallas had 121 and 94. I guess 50% isn't bad.

I really don't think last night spells trouble for the Suns. The shots just weren't falling...kind of like they weren't falling in game 3 for the Mavs.

Points don't tell the story.

Indiana and Detroit aren't scoring in the 70s and 80s because each plays great defense. It's because both wear the clock down and don't shoot particularly well. It's their style.

You get a ton of possessions against Phoenix because they shoot quickly. But if you want to exhaust your 24 seconds all game, you can hold the Suns score down.

If Phoenix scores 85 points, but shoots 48 percent, you haven't exactly defended them well.

[Vince]

Re: Defense?.....or just bad basketball

That's because both teams play slow down so much slow down that you run out of time to score.

I won't even respond to that

Average points is a bogus stat anyway. Look at shooting percentage. That gives you a good defensive perspective.

I agree with that in a way.

[aholbert32]

Re: Defense?.....or just bad basketball

That's because both teams play slow down so much slow down that you run out of time to score.

Average points is a bogus stat anyway. Look at shooting percentage. That gives you a good defensive perspective.

Will do. Here you go. Dallas averaged .445 this year form the field. In the two games against Det, they shot 33% and 45.9% from the field which averages out to be less then the season average. Phoenix averaged .477 this year form the field. In the two games against Det, they shot 46% and 35.4% from the field which averages out to be less then the season average.

I guess next you'll say shooting percentage doesnt count either. Is there another stat you would like me to look up?

[Vince]

Re: Defense?.....or just bad basketball

Will do. Here you go. Dallas averaged .445 this year form the field. In the two games against Det, they shot 33% and 45.9% from the field which averages out to be less then the season average. Phoenix averaged .477 this year form the field. In the two games against Det, they shot 46% and 35.4% from the field which averages out to be less then the season average.

I guess next you'll say shooting percentage doesnt count either. Is there another stat you would like me to look up?

I'm guessing the home games were the ones where PHX and Dallas got the higher shooting percentages...