The first week of the NBA season was an exciting affair. There was a little bit of everything, including high-flying plays, lights-out shooting, drama, high-scoring games and even some good ol’ fisticuffs.
The one thing the NBA has been missing, however, is defense. Defense in the NBA has been abysmal. Blame it on the offseason. Blame it on the Henny (here’s looking at you J.R. Smith). Blame it on the new shot clock rules.
Defense all around the league is hot garbage. And if teams don’t do something about it, the shoddy play on the defensive and threatens to ruin the league.
Think about this for a minute. Last season, only five teams averaged more than 110 points per game. Those teams were the Golden State Warriors, New Orleans Pelicans, Toronto Raptors, Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets. A week into the 2018-19 season, a whopping 20 teams are currently eclipsing 110 ppg.
Here’s another stat for you. Last season, only five players averaged more than 25 points per game. So far this season, 19 players are averaging more than 25 points per game. The list includes players such as Nikola Mirotic, Zach Lavine and Tim Hardaway Jr.
It’s unlikely that these ridiculous statistics will not hold up for an entire season. However, it does show a disturbing trend throughout the league. What might be more disturbing is that it’s a trend of which the league seems to be in favor.
Remember the shot clock rules I mentioned earlier? The league instituted a change in how the shot clock is reset after an offensive rebound. Previously the clock would reset back to 24 seconds. This season, teams will only have 14 seconds to get up another shot attempt.
The whole point of the rule was to force teams to attempt more shots during the game. The league also wanted to limit the ability of teams to run down the clock during the end of close games. The rule change is working. However, that alone does not explain the spike in scoring.
The league-wide team average for offensive rebounds is 11 per game. That means each team loses almost two minutes they might use to run around in circles doing dribble handoffs. Instead, they are forced to hoist up faster shots after hitting the offensive boards.
Not surprisingly, a bulk of those shots are three-pointers. A season ago, 11 teams averaged more than 30 three-point attempts per game. This season that number has jumped to 19 teams.
Copycat League
What team is not included in that 19? The defending Champion Golden State Warriors. Yes, the team with Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson average just 27.8 3-point attempts.
The Warriors were not the first team to embrace a strategy around the long ball but they were the first to build a dynasty out of three-point threats. However, the Warriors started with two of the greatest three-point shooters to walk the face of the Earth. Then the Warriors added Durant.
In order to remain competitive, other teams began taking (and making) a ton of three-point shots as well. Guards, forwards and centers are all getting in on the three-point action in today’s NBA. It’s as if Oprah brought back her show and started handing out free three-pointers to the entire studio audience.
“You get a three! She gets a three! He gets a three! Everybody gets at three!”
Unfortunately, in this new rush to transition to a long-range attack, nobody has learned how to effectively guard the three-point line. Players repeatedly get wide open shots. Some are the result of terrible defense. Others happen when defenders get pump-faked out of their shoes trying to run the opposing team off the free-throw line. As the defender jumps, flails and flies by the shooter, the shooter is often left with an open three-pointer or an easy dunk.
Charles Caleb Colton once said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”
Steve Kerr and the Warriors must be blushing every day. The entire league has copied not only the Warriors free shooting style of play, but also its “switch everything” style of defense. The problem is, just like there is no other team with shooters as deadly as the Warriors, none have the surplus of quality perimeter defenders. GSW has Thompson, Durant and Draymond Green. Before Durant arrived it was Harrison Barnes. Those players all have the capability to defend four or five positions.
Nearly every team in the NBA now bases its offense around lots of ball screens. Teams run pick-and-roll action until they get a mismatch. The simple solution would be to make players fight over screens whenever possible. Since everybody wants to switch on screens, overmatched defenders routinely get burned and the scoreboard every night show scores of 140-135. 70 or 80 point halves (by a single team) are no longer uncommon in the defenseless NBA.
It’s clear that since the Warriors have taken the league by storm that players around the league are working hard to become better three-point shooters. Coaches are also abandoning the old-school thinking and giving nearly everyone on the court the green light to fire away. I have no gripes with those things.
I am far from a purist. I try hard not to become one of those old fogies who always talks about the olden days. Something has to give though. Somebody somewhere has to play defense. After all, offense wins games, defense wins championships.
Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @ishcreates.
