Basketball Free For All

Ask any casual NBA fan (weekend warriors who get their basketball news from Gametime) to name the top three defenses in the League and you’ll usually get some combination of the Boston Celtics, the San Antonio Spurs, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Orlando Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers. How many people mention the Charlotte Bobcats? Well, only those with their finger on the pulse of the Association, as the Bobcats have clawed their way to the the top of the defensive food chain under the guidance of hall of fame head coach Larry Brown.

Last season, Charlotte finished the season as the seventh best defense overall and finished outside the playoffs after being very much in the hunt with a few weeks left in the season. They ended up 35-47 with the tenth best record in the Eastern Conference after losing seven of their last eight games of the season. If the playoffs were to start today, the Bobcats would be the sixth seed in the East after their victory over the Sacramento Kings on MLK Jr. Day.

Oh, and did I mention that it would mark the first time in franchise history that the Bobcats made the playoffs?

This season is shaping up to be a truly historic one for the Bobcats, who have undergone dramatic changes since joining the League in 2004 as an expansion team. Only Gerald Wallace remains from the original roster. As presently constructed, Crash is the heart and soul of the entire Bobcats franchise and will be representing the Bobcats at ASG weekend in Dallas. As of now, he is only participating in the Slam Dunk Contest but will most likely be a coach’s selection as a reserve (overdue). The co-leader of Charlotte is the newly-acquired Stephen Jackson, who plays the role of complementary star very well, playing physical defense in Coach Brown’s system alongside Gerald.

Charlotte’s Defense

Charlotte’s defense has been getting more aggressive as the season progresses and centers around tons of ball pressure. They have been putting lots of pressure on the ball in the backcourt, and having been doing so early and often. They have also been trapping hard and have even been able to trap successfully in the middle of the court, which is extremely difficult to do successfully. In the paint, the Bobcats’ help defense is exceptional with the athletic wings playing the passing lanes and blocking shots and the other players rotating accordingly. On pick and rolls, Charlotte is able to switch, as virtually all of their players can guard multiple positions effectively.

In short, the Charlotte Bobcats are the Bizarro Phoenix Suns. No, seriously. Charlotte is 2nd in defense and 26th on offense. The Suns are first in offense and 29th in defense. Both teams play significantly better at home, with their records being pretty similar at home. Charlotte’s main problem is finding a way to win on the road and finding a way to bring the same defensive intensity in other teams’ buildings.

Focusing in on Charlotte’s defense further, the Bobcats have a defensive rating of 101.2, which puts them behind only the Los Angeles Lakers in defensive efficiency this season. Compared to the League average of 106.8, this provides a differential of -5.6, which puts the Bobcats and Lakers on pace to finish somewhere near the top thirty in terms of defensive efficiency differential over the past 25 years. Not bad at all.

Using Dean Oliver’ four factor analysis, we can break down the Bobcats’ defense further to see what the numbers can tell us about their defense and what makes it special. To summarize his analysis, Oliver posited that the four most important factors for team success is shooting, rebounding, turnovers and fouls. On the defensive end of the spectrum, the analysis is how well Charlotte can stymie the other team’s pursuit of the four factors.

Effective Field Goal Percentage

Charlotte is an above-average team in terms of effective field goal percentage allowed, allowing an eFG% of .490, which is good for eleventh overall. This is not what makes their defense elite, but is certainly not a detriment. Looking closer, Charlotte plays better defense at certain zones of the court. At the rim, the Bobcats allow opponents to shoot .593, which is the eleventh best at this area. From outside the rim to ten feet, Charlotte forces a measley .390 field goal percentage, good for fifth overall and agrees with the general perception that they defend the paint well. From ten to fifteen feet, the Bobcats allow .395 FG%, which is good for 16th overall. From 16 to 23 feet, they allow only .387 percent of shots to go in, putting them at tenth overall. On the perimeter, they allow .508 eFG%, making them the eighth best team at contesting the three. In terms of limiting opponents from getting high percentage looks, the only area of the court that Charlotte excels in defending is the paint. Everywhere else they are generally above-average but not exceptional.

Turnover Percent

The second of Oliver’s four factors is turnovers, with us being interested in how well Charlotte forces turnovers. Here is where Charlotte’s defense is at it’s best. The Bobcats force opponent turnovers on .156 percent of their possessions, which is the second best mark in the League after only the Golden State Warriors. In contrast, the Warriors gamble in order to force their turnovers with the end result often being a Warrior ending up way out of position and giving up an easy bucket to the other team. The Bobcats force turnovers without gambling through aggressive ball pressure, playing the passing lanes and effective trapping by their athletic guards and wings.

In terms of individuals, take a look at some of the team leaders in steal percentage. The team’s starting point guard, Raymond Felton, leads the team, stealing the ball on 2.9 percent of the opposing team’s possessions. Fittingly, Jax and G-Wall are tied for second on the team, coming up with the steal on 2.1 percent of the opposing team’s possessions. For Wallace, this can actually be considered a down year for him in terms of his thievery, as he set a career high in both steals per game (2.5) and steal percentage (3.7) in 2005-06. This is Charlotte’s bread and butter on the defensive end of the floor and what makes their defense truly special.

Rebounding

The next factor is rebounding, or more specifically, defensive rebounding. Despite missing Tyson Chandler for significant portions of the season (only appeared in 25 of 39 games), the Bobcats have still played the defensive glass extremely well, snagging .750 percent of the defensive boards (sixth overall). Considering the other players to log time at center for the Bobcats (Nazr Mohammed, Boris Diaw and Dasagana Diop) and their defensive rebound percentages, it is hard to imagine how they are sixth overall. The main reason? Gerald Wallace. In fact, his defensive rebounding statistical improvement in his ninth season is considered to be one of the greatest statistical aberrations in basketball. Wallace currently stands at fourth in the Association in defensive rebounding, eighth in total rebounds, fifth in rebounds per game and ninth in defensive rebounding percentage.

Free Throws (Fouls)

The final factor is free throws, but can be also be viewed in terms of fouls. From the offensive side, Oliver pointed out the frequency of free throw attempts and the rate at which they are converted are vitally important to team success. This is expressed as FT/FGA. On the defensive end, team’s are successful by playing hard-nosed defense without fouling. As a team, the Bobcats have a FT/FGA rate of .207, which is good for seventh in the League. Again, not elite but definitely above-average. In terms of individuals, the Bobcats main defensive players do not foul frequently. Tyson Chandler (when healthy) averages 3.2 fouls per game, Wallace 2.8 and Diaw 2.7, which is impressive considering their aggressive style of defensive play.

Conclusion

Recently, the national basketball audience is starting to warm up to the Bobcats, and with good reason. Recently, the Bobcats embarassed both the San Antonio Spurs (92-76) and the Phoenix Suns (125-99) en route to winning eight of their last nine games. The Bobcats deserve to be respected, especially at home, where they are 17-4 for the fourth best home record in the League. The respect is a good start for a franchise that has been completely devoid of it for virtually their entire history.

Beyond simple respect, Gerald Wallace deserves to be considered for the Defensive Player of the Year Award for his role as the defensive leader of the second best defense in the Association. In terms of individual Defensive Rating, Gerald’s 97.2 is second only to reigning DPOY Winner, Dwight Howard. In terms of Defensive Win Shares, Wallace is first overall with his defense contributing an estimated 3.5 wins to the Bobcats 20 wins this season.

Crash is a game changer on both ends of the floors and is about to break out onto the national stage in Dallas (if his recent ankle injury isn’t too serious). Wallace should be rewarded with DPOY award due to Bobcats’ team success and his role as leader on the defensive end of the floor.