Defensive versatility is the NBA buzzword you should know
By Kevin Yeung
We like to characterize the NBA as a three-point league or a small ball league, but if anything, I prefer playmaking league. The corner catch-and-shoot three-pointer is the statistically idealized shot in basketball today, but even more important than the shooters who take that shot are the players who generate it: scorers, post-passers, drive-and-kick point guards, and so on. Existing at the fulcrum of every offense are those players or actions that can direct defensive attention towards one area, imbalancing the floor and birthing open shots.
The basketball zips across the court faster than ever now, as do the players on both sides of it. In this environment, “defensive versatility” have become the NBA’s key buzzwords. There are many manners of playmaking, and the best teams take advantage of them all to pick apart weaknesses. For that reason, being able to defend them all and snuff out the actions that create open shots around the floor is more desirable than ever.
As one of the building blocks of offense, the pick-and-roll is a fascinating case study for the virtues of defensive versatility. More and more teams have found switching to be an effective way to contain it without doubling up on the ball-handler and risk springing leaks elsewhere. There’s something of a stigma when it comes to switching, because defending a big with a small and a small with a big sounds plainly counterintuitive, but that isn’t a problem when your small and your big can defend multiple positions.
Who better to tell you that than Steve Kerr, coach of possibly the most versatile defender that the league has ever seen.
“[Draymond Green] is the key figure [of our defense],” Kerr told NBA.com in February, “because as the power forward, he’s frequently involved in screen-and-rolls. And because he’s quick enough and active enough to switch out onto a point guard, we’re able to stifle a lot of the first options out of the opponent’s attacks. And when that happens and the shot clock starts to wind down, we’re able to stay in front of people and force a tough shot.”
Of all teams, nobody advances this concept more than the Golden State Warriors. Partly because teams will always assimilate bits of whatever works into their own identity, but maybe even more because how in the world are you supposed to beat the Warriors if you can’t defend them? They present a unique challenge, wherein Green’s ability to defend big men allows him to play center and unlocks the much vaunted Death Lineup: a five-out look filled to the brim with shooters, passers and playmaking talent.
Nobody has cracked that lineup yet, and putting together a five-man unit to beat it is an exercise in theoretical versatility. First, you need personnel able to tango with Steph Curry on the outside, which is its own challenge entirely. But if you throw multiple defenders at him, then you need defenders that can rotate on a string to keep up with the ball as it flies from Green to Klay Thompson to Harrison Barnes to Andre Iguodala – each of whom can take smaller defenders down to the post if you so dare them.
Given the degree of lineup malleability in the league right now, being able to defend multiple players is a supremely valuable trait. To some degree, it’s even necessary. Not every team wants to switch on picks, but their big man better be able to navigate the perimeter, lest they become fodder for stretch 4s and pick-and-rolls. That forms the entire basis of the small ball trend. Rim protection is a critical part of defense – you need something to shut down drives, roll men and cutters – but if your rim protector is a stiff, then teams will pace and space him to death.
On the flip side, players who can defend across positions, like Green, enable all sorts of lineup permutations. Does positionless basketball exist? Not quite, but so long as your bases are covered on defense, you can play whichever way you want on offense. The Indiana Pacers’ makeover as a small ball team has been made possible by the 6’6” C.J. Miles holding down the low post against big men.
Power forward is the pivotal position that marks the difference between small ball and a more traditional look, and for that same reason, many of the most versatile defenders play there. More than at any other position, it blends a variety of matchup types – both small and big. If/when the pendulum swings away from small ball, the power forward will be ground zero. Seven-footers that can do their jig along the perimeter are the exciting future of the league, and it’s going to look an awful lot like Karl-Anthony Towns and Kristaps Porzingis playing next to Gorgui Dieng and Robin Lopez.
At a point in time where weaknesses are magnified and exploited more than ever, being able to do as much as possible is key. You see this on both sides of the ball, but defense, as always, plays catch up. It takes a league-wide emphasis on playmaking to drive the value of stifling plays, and now, teams place a premium on defensive versatility. It factors into player development, whether through the way players like Towns and Porzingis were brought along before the NBA or teams trying to discover the next Green.
I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to a league of do-it-alls.