Comments on: Melo thinks the perception of his defense is team-centric http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/10/13/melo-thinks-the-perception-of-his-defense-is-team-centric/ Basketball - NBC Sports Wed, 22 May 2013 11:01:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: dysraw1 http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/10/13/melo-thinks-the-perception-of-his-defense-is-team-centric/comment-page-1/#comment-54533 Sat, 15 Oct 2011 20:43:03 +0000 http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=32925#comment-54533 melo is the man

]]> By: gugurich http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/10/13/melo-thinks-the-perception-of-his-defense-is-team-centric/comment-page-1/#comment-54425 Fri, 14 Oct 2011 02:14:41 +0000 http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=32925#comment-54425 I think there’s more than a negligible defensive difference between Pierce and Carmelo. Pierce in his prime had pretty outstanding lateral quickness and even this past season still moved his feet well laterally, though he’s slowed down. I’d categorize Carmelo’s lateral quickness as below-average. He doesn’t have to be an individual stopper; if he just maintains his focus on team defense, he’d be average.

The mid-career Pierce’s biggest defensive weakness was that he didn’t respect the fringe offensive players he’d go up against some nights. He’d lose sight of them too much that they’d have bigger nights than their average. He always did get up for the big name guys and defended them well.

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