Is this year's defense better than last year?

[sinbad]

Here's a couple of comments made about last years defense:

Dwayne Wade: The best defense I've ever faced
Tracy McGrady: Ive never been defended like that before
Allen Iverson: Best defense I've seen
Kobe Bryant: When asked right after the finals if its the best defense he's ever seen, "It's up there"

That's coming from four current or former scoring champs making those statements. These players have led the NBA in scoring in 9 of the last 11 years. Is this years "D" as good as last year? If so we're in good shape.

[TrueGreen]

This year's defense is better because the players have been playing it together for over a year. The chemistry is better. Perk and KG are like joined at the hip. They each know what the other will do and act accordingly. They also know that they can expend more energy on defense because someone will always come up with the offensive energy. Defense is also their identity. When Ray was interviewed by Dickerson after the Pacer game Dickerson was trying to get Ray to talk about his 3 that clinched the game. Ray was talking about his own poor defense on Daniels in the first half and what he did in the 2nd half to improve.

[Roy Hobbs]

So far, the argument can be made that statistically, the defense is virtually identical to last year's (or arguably very slightly better):

Defensive points allowed per 100 possessions:

2007-08: 98.9
2008-09: 98.5

Points allowed per game:

2007-08: 90.3
2008-09: 91.0

Opponent's FG%:

2007-08: 41.9%
2008-09: 41.5%

Opponent's 3PT%:

2007-08: 31.6%
2008-09: 33.2%

The two stats that matter the most are field goal percentage allowed and points allowed per 100 possessions.  In those two areas, the numbers are essentially the same, although this year's team holds very slight advantages.

[Fafnir]

So far, the argument can be made that statistically, the defense is virtually identical to last year's (or arguably very slightly better):

Defensive points allowed per 100 possessions:

2007-08: 98.9
2008-09: 98.5

Points allowed per game:

2007-08: 90.3
2008-09: 91.0

Opponent's FG%:

2007-08: 41.9%
2008-09: 41.5%

Opponent's 3PT%:

2007-08: 31.6%
2008-09: 33.2%

The two stats that matter the most are field goal percentage allowed and points allowed per 100 possessions.  In those two areas, the numbers are essentially the same, although this year's team holds very slight advantages.

Our eFG% is a little better too.

Opponent's eFG%:

2007-08: 45.7%
2008-09: 45.1%

Which means that teams are taking slightly less three's against us since the 3-pt % went up some. Not sure what that means about how teams are attacking us. I really haven't seen teams go at our defense all that differently this year.

[2short]

I would say yes.  No Posey, who was a good defender.  However Perk has been great this year AND most importantly not getting into stupid foul trouble like he did last year.  Tony is healthy and giving us a defensive punch off the bench which is way over Posey's level just at a shorter height.
We are now putting on the court KG-defensive player of the year, RR-best defensive pg in the league, Perk-one of the best defensive centers in league, PP-very good defender who shut down kobe & lebron last year, Ray very underrated defender and TA off the bench.
its all good baby

[crownsy]

I would say yes.  No Posey, who was a good defender.  However Perk has been great this year AND most importantly not getting into stupid foul trouble like he did last year.  Tony is healthy and giving us a defensive punch off the bench which is way over Posey's level just at a shorter height.
We are now putting on the court KG-defensive player of the year, RR-best defensive pg in the league, Perk-one of the best defensive centers in league, PP-very good defender who shut down kobe & lebron last year, Ray very underrated defender and TA off the bench.
its all good baby

I dont really think TA is that much of a better defender than posey, but he has been very good, and your point is taken. The way I see it, The starting 5 are better, the bench is not quite as good, but the improvment to the starters rythem with each other more than makes up for it.

[TatteredOnMySleeve]

It needs to get even better in order to repeat, and it looks like they're on the right track
and no, TA is not a better defender than Posey, I dont know who started that one, but its not true at all

[BudweiserCeltic]

When we're at our best, our defense is better than last year. The only problem is that we don't seem as focused as last year to play excellent defense all four quarters... we've been more prone to defensive lapses. So I think we were more consistent last year in that regard. Of course, when the playoffs come around I don't think we'll have a problem with consistency.

[2short]

My point on Tony to Posey might have been miswritten and misinterpreted.  Tony is a in your face lead defender like Rondo or Garnett.  Posey was a good team defender (like PP) who could do a nice job on opposing players (most).  PP proved to be a better defender than Posey when it mattered.  Tony is disrupting so much when playing great d, posey never did this in his career.  Posey was quick for his size with long arms and understood how to play. 
So my point is tony is what I refer to as a lead defender like KG and RR.  He gives the 2nd unit a lock down defender on either guard or sf (most) and is disrupting the offensive flow of the opposing team.
So tony is not necessarily a better defender but he is adding more to our defensive scheme than Posey did.  Trust me I wish Tony was 6'7".
And for the "record" I like Posey think he did a great job for us last year and was important.  Too many guys think he should have been resigned because we couldn't make up for his loss.  Well we have to a point, I want to see walker as backup sf before the end of the year.
And I think Tony playing well is great but his brain is a bit lacking so I'm not overly high on him.

[Sweet17]

TA is a better defender of guys his size, IMHO.

TA's PER against at SG is 11.4. But the thing is Tony is a 1/2 and Posey a 3/4.
Posey PER against is 13.4 at SF (which is good) and 21.4 at SG. Of course in fairness to Posey he doesn't have KG at his back anymore which is going to screw with anyone's PER against stats.

[BudweiserCeltic]

TA is a better defender of guys his size, IMHO.

TA's PER against at SG is 11.4. But the thing is Tony is a 1/2 and Posey a 3/4.
Posey PER against is 13.4 at SF (which is good) and 21.4 at SG. Of course in fairness to Posey he doesn't have KG at his back anymore which is going to screw with anyone's PER against stats.

If we're going by fairness too, Tony plays a lot more with Powe and Davis at his back... even POB at times.

[Sweet17]

^^^ Right but alot of times he is guarding backups. Still I think TA is actually the flat out best defender in the NBA at the 1/2 spot. Once guys start to get 3 or 4 inches over him he has more trouble. You have to remember TA is really like 6'2.5" or something like that.. That's why Doc always wanted him to play PG. He has the PERFECT body type for an NBA PG. It's too bad he doesn't have PG skills on the offensive end.

[Dybdal]

I see the starting five being sligtly better defensively this year compared to last year.

In regards to Tony Allen, my opinon on him compared to that of James is that we lost our defensive flexability with James but gained a slight edge when guarding quicker Guards, the only thing i've been able to see thus far is that Pierce has to put in alot more work now compared to last year since Tony on a guy like Granger isnt up to par with James on Granger.

It's a trade off, that we will feel when we face Cleveland in a negative way but im positive that TA is a better defender on Kobe.

If i have one thing to say thats been overall negative about our defense then its Rondo' i dont see the advantage of the bulk he built in the offseason thus far on the defensive end, in my eyes he's still relying on the risky backdoor steal when a guard is driving on him way to much, i would have hoped he would become abit more like Devin Harris on the defensive end this year but so far my expectations has not been meet.

[TatteredOnMySleeve]

I find it a little funny how people say we lost Posey and Gained TA....Um TA played in 75 games last regular season and started in 11, averaged 18 minutes to this years 20. Yes I know he's healthier this season, but seriously folks, he was on this team last year and contributed in the regular season, and when he started the team didnt miss a beat, we lost posey and gained a couple d leaguers, and TA basically has no playoff experience at all because of posey

[Roy Hobbs]

In terms of Posey's defense, his defense was very good against small forwards.  However, he wasn't anything special against power forwards, which is where he got most of his playing time.  That's one of the reasons that statistically, the impact of his loss isn't really showing up.  In other words, less "small ball" has led to better defense, even though we lost one of our best defensive players.

(For statistical evidence of the above, see here.  I'm not in love with Opponent's PER as the sole way of evaluating defenders, but in this instance, it backs up what my eyes told me.)