Poll: Is our championship caliber defense a thing of the past?

[Kwhit10]

Well I certainly hope not.  But I can't say I'm pretty worried with how 8 of the first 11 games have gone defense wise.

[Fafnir]

Most observers will tell you that the two best statistical indicators of a team defense are Opponent's FG%, and Points Allowed Per 100 Possessions (i.e., Defensive Efficiency.)

Right now, we rank 21st in Opponent's FG% (44.0% allowed), but 1st in Points Allowed Per 100 Possessions (97.7).  Those numbers seem oddly inconsistent, but one way we're accomplishing it is by forcing the highest percentage of turnovers in the league.  Also, while teams are shooting three pointers at a high percentage against us, they're shooting a relatively low total number compared to other teams.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2010.html

While our FG% is bad, our eFG% is 7th in the league.

But as mentioned, teams are shooting threes very well against us (we're 22nd in the league in 3PT% against).  The area where we've been fairly good is limiting the total number of three pointers attempted against us.

Also, the current defense is a far cry from the championship team, at least as compared to other teams.  Our championship team was 1st in defensive efficiency, 1st in FG% allowed, 1st in 3PT% allowed, 1st in eFG% allowed, and 1st in turnover percentage.  This team isn't there yet, although as mentioned, it's early.

But that defense was with KG/Pierce/Allen two years younger, and as I mentioned it was probably the best of all time. (if not its in the top 3 at worst)

The Celtics can win it all again this year without matching that lofty perch.

[scoop]

It depends on KG- he's not playing as low and quick as he used to and on improving the rebound (right now the team is only 12th in defensive rebounding, which is appallingly bad). If those two things fall in place, it'll be a top-2 defensive team in the league by the end of the season.

[moiso]

I think we're too old to match the defense of 2 years ago over the duration of the entire season.  KG is definitely not on the same dominant level on D or the boards.  And Sheed is supposed to be protecting the hoop for the 2nd unit and so far he's not coming close to replicating the energy of PJ Brown.
I still think we can play good enough D to win it, however.

[Drucci]

Too early to tell. Right now we are not there but we have the talent and the depth to be as good as two years come playoffs time.

[QuinielaBox]

The team is getting familier with each other. If the same poll were presented in March, the results would be more decisively no.

I voted no, believing we will get better and significantly lower our Points Per Possestion statistic.

[LB3533]

I voted "No".

We re-loaded in the off season so we added a few new players to our team.

Sometimes, when there are new additions to a group, there is this psychological or subconscious tendency to distribute or diffuse the responsibility throughout the group.

Actually, in general there is sometimes this phenomenon in any group.

We got off to a pretty hot start this this season for the first 5 or 6 games.

Basically, before our 1st loss of the season we were 6-0 and undefeated.

- Our opponents were shooting 40.7% from the field

- We had not allowed a single team score more than 90 points per game against us.

- 4 out of 6 opposing teams scored 90 or below, the other two only managed to hit the 90 mark.

So what happened?

We ran into a really good offensive team in the Phoenix Suns who play at a much higher game pace than we would like to play at.

What also happened was we got full of ourselves. We bought into what Doc was preaching, we believed we were the best defensive team since the Chicago Bears.

We thought, someone else on our team will do the job and pull us through. We got lazy and we shifted the responsibility of defending to other teammates.

Perk said it right, each player has to play their roles and do their respective jobs. No, one player can slack off.

I think once we return our team's frame of mind back to actually playing defense instead of just believing we were a great defensive team, we'll be back baby.

[Brickowski]

I voted "yes."

Are the capable of playing championship caliber defense?  Yes, and we've seen tantilizing glimpses of it.

Are they playing Championship caliber defense?  No, and sometimes their defense has been putrid.

So that makes championship defense a thing of the past in my book.  Ability without execution means nothing.