Lawrence Frank clashed with Pistons last season over defensive learning curve
Terry Foster of The Detroit News:
Everybody felt rushed and frazzled. That included Frank, who tried to implement a new defensive system. Players complained that it took a while to learn it. Frank countered that it was not rocket science and they should learn more quickly.
There’s a fine line between disarray and a constructive, ongoing conversation between coach and players. I’m not sure we have enough context to tell how often this issue fell on which side of the line, but I’d guess it was some of both.
Without question, something clearly went wrong with the Pistons’ defense last season, even if there were signs of progress later in the year.
Is Frank’s defense too complicated? I’m not sure. But the results weren’t pretty in a season-opening loss to the Rockets, and I’ll be watching closely now how quickly the new players absorb it this season.
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Nov 1, 2012 • 12:49 pm
by gtg
Help me out here. In a nutshell (if that’s possible), what *is* this sophisticated, complicated defense? How is it supposed to be–basically–run? What is the goal (other than “Don’t allow more points than we get.”)? Seriously, I don’t know.
Nov 1, 2012 • 5:41 pm
by Scott Free
From what I saw last night, Franks’ defensive strategy is to never man up on All Stars… avoid trapping lapse prone ballhandlers like Lin… and lope along during transition. That was one of the poorest defensive showings I’ve seen recently (and not just because Harden was a good player)