Originally Posted by
CDu
There's an important difference between getting beaten back-door (as is referenced in the article) and getting beaten off the dribble.
Getting beaten back door is a calculated gamble. You take the chance that the overplay of the passing lane will result in a steal and breakaway layup/dunk. The correspoding risk is the backdoor cut. In that scenario, it's not the "fault" of the perimeter defender, but merely a function of the approach. The help defense is then supposed to come over and provide help.
Getting beaten off the dribble is a much different animal. In this scenario, you're guarding the ball, and the guy with the ball gets by you. In pretty much any circumstance, that is a failure of the on-the-ball defender, as you've now given the offense an advantage and are effectively guarding no one. You are correct that it is now the help defender's job to help. And if the help defense does not rotate properly, it is ALSO their fault. But fault still lies with the perimeter defender who could not stay in front of his man.
The common misconception is that it's okay for the on-ball defender to be beaten off the dribble because the help defense should help. This is not true. The fact that Duke plays great help defense does mitigate some of the downside of being beaten off the dribble, but it doesn't make it okay to be beaten off the dribble. Being beaten off the dribble exposes the underbelly of the defense and requires you to effectively play 4-on-5 or 4.5-on-5, as the man beaten is then either chasing the ball or trying to find someone to switch to in the progression. A good ballhandler should make even the best help defense pay for such a mistake with either a shot of his own or an open look for a teammate who is freed by the scrambling rotation.
Yes and no. There are degrees to which a defense sacrifices ability to not get beaten off the dribble for other things. Take, for example, a traditional Wisconsin defense (though not necessarily this year's). They play a man-to-man that does not extend very far, if at all, past the three point line. The on-ball defender is usually off his man by a step or two so that he can react more easily to a drive and make it more difficult for the guy to penetrate. What that sacrifices is ball pressure on the pass, and (to a lesser extent) on the jump shot.
Duke plays man-to-man with the on ball defender right up in the grille of the ball handler. This is part of Duke's pressure on passes - not only do we try to cut off passing lanes with the off-ball defender, we want to make it more difficult for the ball handler to make passes, both entry passes and passes around the perimeter. It also means that it's rare to see guys take pull-up threes off the dribble against Duke, because there's no cushion for them to shoot it. But the consequence of playing up so tight is that it is easier to get beaten off the dribble. If you get one step on a guy who's right up on you, you're past him, whereas if they defender is not playing with such tight pressure, one step won't be enough.
Now, Duke's at its best when we have perimeter defenders who can fully sell out on playing up tight and still stop guys from getting that first step in penetration. We have a few of those this year, and it's one of the reasons the defense has been so strong. But I think there's an understanding that our extreme pressure on the perimeter does make it more likely that guys will get beat off the dribble, and that's where the help and rotation comes in. On balance, we accept the risk of dribble penetration that comes with the benefits of denying easy passes and easy perimeter shots.
I agree with you that it's not "okay" for a defender to get beaten off the dribble, and that it's the defender's job to play very tight and stop penetration. But I think part of our defensive scheme is structured around a recognition that we are more exposed to dribble penetration than other styles of defense, and need to have high quality rotation and help in place to prevent that from hurting us as much as possible.
Just be you. You is enough. - K, 4/5/10, 0:13.8 to play, 60-59 Duke.
You're all jealous hypocrites. - Titus on Laettner
You see those guys? Animals. They're animals. - SIU Coach Chris Lowery, on Duke