Key points:
People have whined about no defense being played for 50 years.
Teams are far more efficient today. The 1988 (edit, I believe it was 1986-87) Los Angeles Lakers set the record for efficiency that lasted 30 years. Today the AVERAGE team is as efficient as those Lakers.
Players are far too skilled across the floor where nearly everyone can beat you in ways only 1 or 2 players could in the old days.
League rules and modern officiating don’t allow defenses to be as assertive. Or at least not in the ways they could be in past eras.
He concludes that defense is better than ever. It’s only that offenses have gotten so good that it’s hard for people to grasp how good the defense is within that context.
The video is more detailed and nuanced than that. And I would encourage you to watch it. Don’t be dissuaded by the 27 mins of the video. It goes by very quickly as Ben has conversations with Stan van Gundy and Shane Battier.
People have whined about no defense being played for 50 years.
Teams are far more efficient today. The 1988 (edit, I believe it was 1986-87) Los Angeles Lakers set the record for efficiency that lasted 30 years. Today the AVERAGE team is as efficient as those Lakers.
Players are far too skilled across the floor where nearly everyone can beat you in ways only 1 or 2 players could in the old days.
League rules and modern officiating don’t allow defenses to be as assertive. Or at least not in the ways they could be in past eras.
He concludes that defense is better than ever. It’s only that offenses have gotten so good that it’s hard for people to grasp how good the defense is within that context.
The video is more detailed and nuanced than that. And I would encourage you to watch it. Don’t be dissuaded by the 27 mins of the video. It goes by very quickly as Ben has conversations with Stan van Gundy and Shane Battier.
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