Even with this well-reasoned, well-articulated, at times revelatory analysis, I still don't see how they're doing it. Yes, Kneuppel is the real deal. Miller is way way better than I thought. But Bridges is erratic and disappears often. And Ball, the guy at the helm, remains a below-average defender, a high-volume, low-percentage shooter who is unfocused and easily flustered and consistent in only one aspect of his game: making sure to celebrate EVERY SINGLE three he happens to make, regardless of the situation. But this turns out to be a formula for success. Thanks for shedding some light on something that utterly perplexes me.
Confused me too, that's why I wanted to dig in. There's some shooting luck involved here, and the bench is defending at a higher level than the starters, but it still feels like there's a decent-ish foundation to build upon. If Bridges is replaced by someone more productive, you'll have four decent-to-good defenders surrounding Ball, who at least contributes to the rebounding side of things if nothing else.
I went into this assuming this would be a classic exercise in exemplary shooting luck, but the underlying stuff looks more solid than I expected.
Great breakdown. Interesting that two of the surprise teams of the season, the Hornets and Suns, have really done it by changing their defensive culture, effort, and to some extent personnel without a total roster overhaul.
Even with this well-reasoned, well-articulated, at times revelatory analysis, I still don't see how they're doing it. Yes, Kneuppel is the real deal. Miller is way way better than I thought. But Bridges is erratic and disappears often. And Ball, the guy at the helm, remains a below-average defender, a high-volume, low-percentage shooter who is unfocused and easily flustered and consistent in only one aspect of his game: making sure to celebrate EVERY SINGLE three he happens to make, regardless of the situation. But this turns out to be a formula for success. Thanks for shedding some light on something that utterly perplexes me.
Confused me too, that's why I wanted to dig in. There's some shooting luck involved here, and the bench is defending at a higher level than the starters, but it still feels like there's a decent-ish foundation to build upon. If Bridges is replaced by someone more productive, you'll have four decent-to-good defenders surrounding Ball, who at least contributes to the rebounding side of things if nothing else.
I went into this assuming this would be a classic exercise in exemplary shooting luck, but the underlying stuff looks more solid than I expected.
Great work Mike.
Thanks!
Star Hornets player Kon Kneuppel just broke a NBA record! Check it out:
https://fgpsports.substack.com/p/kon-knueppal-makes-history-tonight?r=7naprt
Great breakdown. Interesting that two of the surprise teams of the season, the Hornets and Suns, have really done it by changing their defensive culture, effort, and to some extent personnel without a total roster overhaul.