It's no coincidence that the Chicago Bulls have been the best defensive team in the NBA since they hired Tom Thibodeau to replace Vinny Del Negro as the head coach in 2010. Thibodeau has long been one of the foremost masterminds among the league's sideline ranks, having fashioned top-10 defenses on 13 occasions in 18 seasons as an assistant or head coach.
But what is it that makes Thibs' defenses tick?
In short, it's part scheme and part scream.
Strategically speaking, Thibs' teams tend to go to great lengths (extreme ones, in some cases) to keep the opposition out of the middle of the floor, where the highest-percentage shots can be found. The surest way to secure victory, then, is to limit these shots, particularly in the paint, and force teams to take difficult ones instead. Also, it's much easier to defend a player if one leaves him only one direction in which to move.
This applies to nearly everything the Bulls do defensively. Here, for instance, we see Kyle Korver (now of the Atlanta Hawks) stepping up to his man:
Korver quickly exaggerates his stance to the left so as to take away the middle ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Josh Martin
Chicago Bulls: What Makes Tom Thibodeau’s Defense the Best in the NBA?
August 21st, 2012 by Josh Martin Leave a reply »
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