Alright. I have some grievances. I know I'm in the "flip the switch in the playoffs" camp, and I still do believe we have a playoff gear of effort that will dramatically change things defensively.
However, I definitely am really concerned about a couple of things....
1. Defensive Preparation
I'm hoping it's just a function of the overall lack of effort that our defensive preparation on a night-to-night basis from the players is non-existent currently. With extended time to scout specific opponents and tendencies, that will go a long way towards fixing this, but it is still alarming. Our players have NO idea who to force right, who to force left, who to funnel to the bigs and who to force baseline, who to go under the screen and who not to against, who to watch on pet plays like back-cuts, give-n-go's, ya know...simple shit. Not sure who to blame here. Either the players aren't doing any "homework", or aren't being given the proper "homework" to do.
2. Defensive Gameplanning
Our scheme at times, it just, I just....my goodness. If this is the Longabardi "simplified scheme", then I really hope that he is relieved of his duties. Our players have no idea what they're doing sometimes! Are we doubling on post ups or not? Are we shading toward one side or another or not at all? When do we collapse on penetration and how? Who is responsible for back-screen communication? Why the hell are we playing so far inwards on the corners? When are we funneling ball handlers to help defenders, which help defenders are we funneling them to? It's all out of whack. It's not anything near the scheme we ran in the post-season last year. Go watch the tape. The team is not that much different, the scheme is wildly altered. It is perplexing, to say the least. And is there a "weak ass bitch-made useless double-team/trap in order to give up as many wide open threes as possible" memo we haven't heard about?