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Can Donovan be a Good Defender

Can he?

  • Yes

    Votes: 24 70.6%

  • No

    Votes: 10 29.4%
  • Total voters
    34
Handlogten's Heros

Handlogten's Heros

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Don came into the league billed as a good defender... at times he has mentioned he wants to be a good defender... well can he be one?

Some context... not every player with athleticism can be a good defender. Demar Derozan is a good example of this. It requires IQ, focus, desire, and the physical tools.

Some make excuses for him about energy and saving it for offense. Plenty of guys have had to carry the load offensively and are still top notch on defense. Prime Lebron, CP3, Kawhi... hell Rudy has to cover all our guys asses and he likely expends more energy than anyone on offense between the multiple picks and dives to the rim.
 
Most first options talk about saving their selves for offense. I think that has sunk into The Don. At times when hes engaged we see great defense from him. He has only recently entered Stardom and it may have gone to his head some.
 
I think he has the tools. Question is does he have the drive and IQ to do it? The first we have seen that he obviously doesn't prioritize it. The second is something I have really been questioning this year in general. I just don't think he is a high b-ball IQ guy in general. He is very talented and skilled which covers it up some but he doesn't always make the best reads and gets himself in trouble, and takes us out of our offense, too often.
 
CAN he? Yes.
WILL he? I'd look at past history for predictions on future performance.

He played really good D for the first 10 or so games of last season.
 
Can he be a good defender? Yes
Why hasn't he been? Because our playoffs have shown that he has to be superman on offense

There really aren't that many examples of score first All Star quality small guards who are also really good at defense. Yes we want more from Don on defense, but how many players in the league are really good at both ends? Kawhi? Giannis? Even LeBron, Durant, Harden and others are just average on defense.

We don't need Don to be a "good defender". We just need him to be average especially if he's going to put up 25+ and 6+apg on the other end. Come playoff time, that probably goes to 30+ and 7+. We need for Don to get a teammate that is a really good defender. Look at Steph - amazing on offense, average on defense,.500 record without Klay. Isiah Thomas was at his best when the team around him was stocked with defenders. Iverson's best run was when Eric Snow and Derrick McKey were guarding the perimeter.

Anybody expecting Don to be dominate on both ends needs to slow down expectations. Nobody can be expected to do both.
 
LoPo said:
Can he be a good defender? Yes
Why hasn't he been? Because our playoffs have shown that he has to be superman on offense

There really aren't that many examples of score first All Star quality small guards who are also really good at defense. Yes we want more from Don on defense, but how many players in the league are really good at both ends? Kawhi? Giannis? Even LeBron, Durant, Harden and others are just average on defense.

We don't need Don to be a "good defender". We just need him to be average especially if he's going to put up 25+ and 6+apg on the other end. Come playoff time, that probably goes to 30+ and 7+. We need for Don to get a teammate that is a really good defender. Look at Steph - amazing on offense, average on defense,.500 record without Klay. Isiah Thomas was at his best when the team around him was stocked with defenders. Iverson's best run was when Eric Snow and Derrick McKey were guarding the perimeter.

Anybody expecting Don to be dominate on both ends needs to slow down expectations. Nobody can be expected to do both.
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CP is another elite defender... Lebron and Durant have been very good at defense and elite when locked in. Miami Lebron was one of the best defenders in the league. KD's commitment would waiver but he was one of the most versatile defenders out there.

Plenty of guys play both sides of the court... hell Tatum was playing great defense for a while there... still very good.

If he doesn't have the mental focus or the understanding then that is one thing. If he doesn't want to give the effort or doesn't have the energy thats another.
 
Handlogten's Heros said:
CP is another elite defender... Lebron and Durant have been very good at defense and elite when locked in. Miami Lebron was one of the best defenders in the league. KD's commitment would waiver but he was one of the most versatile defenders out there.

Plenty of guys play both sides of the court... hell Tatum was playing great defense for a while there... still very good.

If he doesn't have the mental focus or the understanding then that is one thing. If he doesn't want to give the effort or doesn't have the energy thats another.
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CP3 is a valid point. The guy can't win big playoff games, but he's a good example of a small guy who is great on both ends. CP3, Stockton, and I can't think of many others who are top notch defenders while also being very important on the offensive end.

LeBron is a top 3 player of all time. Back in the day, he was a phenomenal defender. Should have been DPOY. I was talking about current LeBron though. He's average on D. Durant looked good on GS playing defense, but he had Klay and Draymond there for cover on defense while Curry helped tire people out on offense. He's still just an average defender.

I think Don wants to show the effort, but we also can't expect him to be an All Star on both ends. Those guys are so incredibly rare. MJ was a good defender, but he got to watch Pippen to do the heavy lifting on defense. MJ won 1 playoff game in 11 tries when he played without Pippen. Don doesn't have the luxury of a Pippen, Klay, Joe Dumars, etc.. We don't have a player on the roster who can stop the bleeding. None. Expecting Don to do it is as ridiculous as expecting Clarkson to do it.

We need an elite perimeter defender.
 
I don't see any reason why he can't. When the Jazz drafted him they were very high on his defense and talked about what a good defender he was in college. He's quick, athletic, has a long wingspsan...he has the tools to be able to defend. I also really hate the excuse that he shouldn't be expected to be a good defender because he's asked to do so much offensively. There are plenty of guys throughout the history of the league that have carried just as much of the burden offensively as Donovan does and still managed to be really good defenders.
 
LoPo said:
CP3 is a valid point. The guy can't win big playoff games, but he's a good example of a small guy who is great on both ends. CP3, Stockton, and I can't think of many others who are top notch defenders while also being very important on the offensive end.

LeBron is a top 3 player of all time. Back in the day, he was a phenomenal defender. Should have been DPOY. I was talking about current LeBron though. He's average on D. Durant looked good on GS playing defense, but he had Klay and Draymond there for cover on defense while Curry helped tire people out on offense. He's still just an average defender.

I think Don wants to show the effort, but we also can't expect him to be an All Star on both ends. Those guys are so incredibly rare. MJ was a good defender, but he got to watch Pippen to do the heavy lifting on defense. MJ won 1 playoff game in 11 tries when he played without Pippen. Don doesn't have the luxury of a Pippen, Klay, Joe Dumars, etc.. We don't have a player on the roster who can stop the bleeding. None. Expecting Don to do it is as ridiculous as expecting Clarkson to do it.

We need an elite perimeter defender.
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Fair... I guess to win a title I think he needs to be a good defender. Those guys are rare but so are championships.
 
Main question is does he really want to be. I would also love to know if the coaching staff sees it as the priority or do they concentrate more on developping his offensive game and playmaking skills.
 
I voted yes and I think he has the athletic tools to become near elite defender but I am not sure he will ever be a plus defender for a full game after that egregious mistake losing Lowry for the 3. Dude looked everywhere but at Lowry, he was totally lost.
 
Of course he can be a good defender. He has already been a good defender like he was as a rookie. Will he be a good defender again? I keep hoping for it, but I think that ship has sailed. As his career has gone on, he keeps molding himself into this idealistic view of what a "superstar" is. He's completely abandoned effort on defense in favor of trying to do too much on offense. Spending less energy on offense might actually help him be more efficient because he would have to resort to less no pass possessions and have more spot up and system baskets.

He doesn't have the BBIQ or size to be a passively good defender. He has to do it with effort, but I just don't think he's willing to do that. It is true that many superstars conserve energy on defense, but that doesn't mean they become horrific defenders. They are still smart and positionally sound. They also ramp up their defense in the playoffs. Even a guy like Harden is tough to attack. Yeah he's resting guarding the worst player all the time, but if you do decide to attack him, it's not easy because he can guard inside and outside and he also creates turnovers with good hands. Same goes for most superstars.

Mitchell is also not remotely close to being an offensive superstar. If he was Damian Lillard good, I wouldn't care. But he's basically Collin Sexton good on offense (if that) while also giving 2% effort on defense.
 
Thought he was solid at times tonight... big mess up just walking away from Kyle as he shot three but saw some effort. There were a couple other plays I didn’t love but there was better effort.
 
KqWIN said:
Of course he can be a good defender. He has already been a good defender like he was as a rookie. Will he be a good defender again? I keep hoping for it, but I think that ship has sailed. As his career has gone on, he keeps molding himself into this idealistic view of what a "superstar" is. He's completely abandoned effort on defense in favor of trying to do too much on offense. Spending less energy on offense might actually help him be more efficient because he would have to resort to less no pass possessions and have more spot up and system baskets.

He doesn't have the BBIQ or size to be a passively good defender. He has to do it with effort, but I just don't think he's willing to do that. It is true that many superstars conserve energy on defense, but that doesn't mean they become horrific defenders. They are still smart and positionally sound. They also ramp up their defense in the playoffs. Even a guy like Harden is tough to attack. Yeah he's resting guarding the worst player all the time, but if you do decide to attack him, it's not easy because he can guard inside and outside and he also creates turnovers with good hands. Same goes for most superstars.

Mitchell is also not remotely close to being an offensive superstar. If he was Damian Lillard good, I wouldn't care. But he's basically Collin Sexton good on offense (if that) while also giving 2% effort on defense.
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Dude you're such a douche it's comical

With all due respect


Sent from my SM-G970U using JazzFanz mobile app
 
KqWIN said:
Of course he can be a good defender. He has already been a good defender like he was as a rookie. Will he be a good defender again? I keep hoping for it, but I think that ship has sailed. As his career has gone on, he keeps molding himself into this idealistic view of what a "superstar" is. He's completely abandoned effort on defense in favor of trying to do too much on offense. Spending less energy on offense might actually help him be more efficient because he would have to resort to less no pass possessions and have more spot up and system baskets.

He doesn't have the BBIQ or size to be a passively good defender. He has to do it with effort, but I just don't think he's willing to do that. It is true that many superstars conserve energy on defense, but that doesn't mean they become horrific defenders. They are still smart and positionally sound. They also ramp up their defense in the playoffs. Even a guy like Harden is tough to attack. Yeah he's resting guarding the worst player all the time, but if you do decide to attack him, it's not easy because he can guard inside and outside and he also creates turnovers with good hands. Same goes for most superstars.

Mitchell is also not remotely close to being an offensive superstar. If he was Damian Lillard good, I wouldn't care. But he's basically Collin Sexton good on offense (if that) while also giving 2% effort on defense.
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Geez man. Just trade in your Jazz fan card and walk away. No reason for anyone to be so negative. It’s not healthy.
 
Some discussion might be nice, but I’m not going to apologize for hurting someone’s feelings.

If it makes you happy to blindly support players, more power to ya. I don’t get to choose how others are fans and I’m not going to allow others to police me for having objective opinions.

If you don’t think Mitchell can get more out of his talent, you’re really selling him short. With his talent he can and should be a much more effective player than he is.
 
Handlogten's Heros said:
Don came into the league billed as a good defender... at times he has mentioned he wants to be a good defender... well can he be one?

Some context... not every player with athleticism can be a good defender. Demar Derozan is a good example of this. It requires IQ, focus, desire, and the physical tools.

Some make excuses for him about energy and saving it for offense. Plenty of guys have had to carry the load offensively and are still top notch on defense. Prime Lebron, CP3, Kawhi... hell Rudy has to cover all our guys asses and he likely expends more energy than anyone on offense between the multiple picks and dives to the rim.
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My son and I discuss this every game we watch together. What happened to the defensive minded person we got out of Louisville? He certainly has the length and athleticism but it never seems to show up. I dont get it.
 
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