In Part 1 of this mini-series, I attempted to frame some concepts about basketball defense. Now let’s consider whether the Toronto Raptors are a better defensive team following the astonishing degree of churn in the team’s roster since season’s end.
More From Issues & Problems
There are many subtle clues which inform whether a defense is functional. Lots of chatter, active hands (grab that errant pass!), making the right decisions against the high pick-&-roll, big men mobile enough to harass the ball handlers – the Raptors will need to be above-average in all these non-statistical phases of the game.