Good Read on Clipper Defense

[Sħãlïq™]

According to Synergy Sports Technology, the Clippers rank 3rd in the league in Pick & Roll defense, allowing just 0.77 points per possession (PPP). That's insanely good. For reference, here are some other teams (top 6 in defensive efficiency per ESPN):

 

http://i50.tinypic.com/15p60kl.jpg

 

Overall, the Clippers' 3rd-ranked defense is allowing just 0.87 PPP, which was covered by Citizen FlyByKnight in this awesome article he wrote back in mid December. He wondered, at the time, whether this team was actually playing elite defense, or if it was just a result of small sample sizes. Well, almost a month later, while their PPP-allowed is higher than before, they've moved from 4th to 3rd in the rankings—this just indicates that the league is scoring more across the board. So far, they're still elite, and from what I can tell, it appears to be largely due to their pick-and-roll defense. The pick-and-roll makes up about 15% of plays ran against the Clips, which is the second-most-used play against them, and that makes defending it kind of a big deal.

Source

 

Clipper defensive identity:

 

1. Pressure the ball handler

 

2. Top priority is defending the pick and roll

 

3. You cant defend everything, so if you have to give something up, give up long jumpers.

Edited January 13, 2013 by Sħãlïq™