"Defense wins games/championships." - moronic

[Connor B]

Maybe one of the most pretentious and false statements used in sports today, and it is thrown around on here a lot.

Let me state the obvious: championships are won by elite defenses AND offenses.

It is absurd to think that Indiana based on their defense alone can overcome top offenses in either the Heat or the western teams. Do you forget that they themselves will need to outscore the opponent (who by the way all post top 10 defenses)? Indiana will need to score versus the Heat or anyone else. You can't just play defense hard and let that be that. They do not have a guy on the team who can score at will, every championship team outside of the 04 Pistons in the last 30-40 years has had a very elite scorer (no Paul George doesn't qualify yet).

Evan Turner doesn't put Indiana over the top. I am not a Heat fan but this is getting ridiculous how everyone expects Indiana to win just cause they have great defense.

[Akrazotile]

Bro the offense part of the equation is implied because everyone already overrates offense without context to begin with.

Offense gets the glory..

[Prometheus]

Maybe one of the most pretentious and false statements used in sports today, and it is thrown around on here a lot.

Let me state the obvious: championships are won by elite defenses AND offenses.

It is absurd to think that Indiana based on their defense alone can overcome top offenses in either the Heat or the western teams. Do you forget that they themselves will need to outscore the opponent (who by the way all post top 10 defenses)? Indiana will need to score versus the Heat or anyone else. You can't just play defense hard and let that be that. They do not have a guy on the team who can score at will, every championship team outside of the 04 Pistons in the last 30-40 years has had a very elite scorer (no Paul George doesn't qualify yet).

Evan Turner doesn't put Indiana over the top. I am not a Heat fan but this is getting ridiculous how everyone expects Indiana to win just cause they have great defense.

Pardon my rudeness, but this is a bunch of retarded bullshit. When people say "defense wins championships", they are not telling you that offense doesn't matter. What that phrase means is that among the teams with high-powered offenses, a great defense is what separates the true contenders from the rest of the pack. It also means that while you need offense, defense is more important - which is true. A team with a mediocre offense and an elite defense is probably going to do better in the playoffs than a team with a mediocre defense and an elite offense.

Also - in what universe are you living where everyone is picking the Pacers to win it all? They are merely one of the contenders, not some consensus favorite. I think you need to start doing some stretches when you wake up and eating a healthy breakfast. It will sharpen you up for your day and you won't make posts like this that waste our time.

[ArbitraryWater]

Agreed with OP. Have ALWAYS hated that "Defense wins Championships" Line. It's just so blatantly wrong.

[Andrei89]

Defense wins championships is not a moronic statement at all.

It is because defense leads to offense. And , btw, Indiana really does have a chance at winning the chip, dont know what you are talking about.

I see my Miami Heat when they play great defense how much better they are than any other team. When they forget to play defense they get smashed even though they are a good offensive team.

[Suguru101]

Did you watch the Superbowl? :facepalm

[jzek]

Seahawks won the SuperBowl as the #1 defense beating the #1 offense (of all time) :confusedshrug:

[bmd]

The reason defense "wins championships" is because defense never takes a night off. Even if your team is not shooting well, they can still win the game by grinding it out on defense by stopping the other team.

Teams with no defense live and die by how well they are shooting. Teams with good defenses can win games even when they are struggling to score.

And that's what separates good teams from great teams.

[ralph_i_el]

a team with an elite D and average O has a better chance of winning a championship than an Elite O and average D. I think only 1 team outside the top 10 in D efficiency for a season has won a championship, and it was a Kobe/shaq team that argued all season (2002?).

Basically you're not a contender without a great D and O unless you're absolutely historically great in one or the other

[NumberSix]

People also say rebounding wins. It's doesn't mean rebound and do nothing else.

[Bones_Jones]

lemme guess, laker fan?

[KobesFinger]

Mid 2000s Suns say hi

[atljonesbro]

People will say this because defense is much less flashy than offense so they think it makes them seem like a more "true" or "intelligent" fan because they promote a much less enjoyable part of the game to watch.

[ForeverHeat]

You are moronic for not understanding this phrase. It isnt saying offense isnt important, its just saying that defense is equally as important to a elite team.

[HoopsFanNumero1]

OP is a known hipster. Carry on.

[CelticBaller]

the 2010 celtics where a quarter away from winning the championship with horrible offense

[MP.Trey]

The phrase is "Offense wins games. Defense wins championships." Anyone with the even the smallest thread of common sense knows that defense is only half the game, but they also know that it's the most important half of the game, especially at the NBA level where practically everyone can play offense, but only about half the players in the league can play real consistent defense, and even less actually do it.

[ralph_i_el]

the 2010 celtics where a quarter away from winning the championship with horrible offense

Celtics that year had an O-rating of 107 (15th in the L), they just played at a super slow pace so their games were low scoring. They had a great D too, but it was overrated by people who just look at box scores and ignore pace.

[fpliii]

:facepalm

Where's Deuce's thread?

[Nuff Said]

I think it's moreso to remind players not to forget to play D and get caught up in good scoring moments.

[KyrieTheFuture]

A team with great offense and okay defense will not win vs a team with great defense and okay offense. There is a reason the suns never won.

[fpliii]

A team with great offense and okay defense will not win vs a team with great defense and okay offense. There is a reason the suns never won.
Correct:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2007/news/story?id=2872357

If Amar'e plays, the Suns win Game 5 at home, and win either G6 or G7. That series was the NBA Finals, the Jazz and Cavs were mere formalities.

[PsychoBe]

has op ever made a non-moronic topic?

[KingMillions]

The game is played on both sides of the floor

[Straight_Ballin]

OP is a known hipster. Carry on.

These types still exist? Hipsters bring nothing of value to society and serve no real purpose. Would have thought that fad died by now.

[Megabox!]

04' champion Detroit Pistons

[Legends66NBA7]

Same thread, same response:

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8997054&postcount=40

[aj1987]

Correct:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2007/news/story?id=2872357

If Amar'e plays, the Suns win Game 5 at home, and win either G6 or G7. That series was the NBA Finals, the Jazz and Cavs were mere formalities.
LeBron would've gone ham against that Sun's team.

[Milbuck]

Yes, because that phrase means ONLY play defense. **** offense.

[oarabbus]

Defense does win championships doe

[buddha]

OP is an idiot. it is much easier for a bad offense to score against a bad defense then it is for a good offense to score on a good defense in any sport. that's why defense wins championships because good offenses usually have bad defenses.

[reppy]

Sometimes your shot is off. But you can always play defense.

[kennethgriffin]

i think its always been more about

#1 matchups

#2 officiating

#3 team rebounding

#4 Effort

#5 Rhythm




actual offense and defensive skills are pretty much even by the time the 2 best teams have weeded out everyone else

[Stringer Bell]

You obviously need both offense and defense.

I have always believed that defense is more important though. Even in the NFL where the rules have changed to aid the offenses and increase scoring, I still think defense is more important.

[WWRWestbrookDo?]

Maybe one of the most pretentious and false statements used in sports today, and it is thrown around on here a lot.

Let me state the obvious: championships are won by elite defenses AND offenses.

It is absurd to think that Indiana based on their defense alone can overcome top offenses in either the Heat or the western teams. Do you forget that they themselves will need to outscore the opponent (who by the way all post top 10 defenses)? Indiana will need to score versus the Heat or anyone else. You can't just play defense hard and let that be that. They do not have a guy on the team who can score at will, every championship team outside of the 04 Pistons in the last 30-40 years has had a very elite scorer (no Paul George doesn't qualify yet).

Evan Turner doesn't put Indiana over the top. I am not a Heat fan but this is getting ridiculous how everyone expects Indiana to win just cause they have great defense.


Did you see the Super Bowl? Recording breaking offense gets smashed by a great defense.

[oarabbus]

Did you see the Super Bowl? Recording breaking offense gets smashed by a great defense.


To be fair they have Lynch, Harvin, Wilson, Tate, good amount of weapons on offense. Your point still stands though, their defense won the SB.

[livinglegend]

Did you see the Super Bowl? Recording breaking offense gets smashed by a great defense.

You cant use 1 game sample.
Bulls blew Heat in game 1 of 2011 ECF, but Heat won the next 4 games. If it were a 1 game series, people would say Bulls were much better, but in reality, it wasnt the case.

[smoovegittar]

More evidence of intelligent life. :facepalm

[Boarder Patrol]

It does. Both defense and offense are important, sure.

But a good offense won't just make a good defense. A good defense ensures easy transition buckets off of turnovers and offensive rebounds. Good D helps create good O.

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

Nah I can see where OP is coming from. Too many people parrot that phrase acting as if offense doesn't matter :oldlol:

There was one poster on here, who said PEAK Ben Wallace > TMac and Kobe, which is absurd.

[WWRWestbrookDo?]

You cant use 1 game sample.
Bulls blew Heat in game 1 of 2011 ECF, but Heat won the next 4 games. If it were a 1 game series, people would say Bulls were much better, but in reality, it wasnt the case.

It's the biggest game on the biggest stage. Why can't I use that? Obviously it doesn't always happen but having a great defense is more important than a great offense. If you can't stop your opponent whats the point of having a great offense.

I think the superbowl was a great example...Manning had one of the greatest years EVER and he got totally shut out.

[DatAsh]

Everyone should read this

http://www.basketball-reference.com/blog/?p=7276

[RoseCity07]

I'm sure there must be a statistical proof that defense is more important. There are too many factors which play into offensive consistency. When your offense goes cold you are screwed. Defense does not go cold. You either have it or you don't.

Teams can play a strong defense every single night. It's hard to adapt to offense when thing go wrong. If a team is struggling on offense a great defense can bail them out. If you go cold on offense and your defense doesn't help you then you are screwed.

[DatAsh]

I'm sure there must be a statistical proof that defense is more important. There are too many factors which play into offensive consistency.

I'm not sure it's something you can prove, but statistics do show defense to be significantly more correlated with winning than offense. Look at the article I linked above.

Also

Since 57,

The best defensive team in the league has won the championship 21 times.
The best offensive team in the league has won the championship 9 times.

Of the teams that have won,
29 have been in the 90th percentile defensively.
17 have been in the 90th percentile offensively.

39 have been in the 80th percentile defensively.
20 have been in the 80th percentile offensively.

1 has been in the bottom 50% defensively.
14 have been in the bottom 50% offensively.

The worst defense in the league has never won a championship.
The worst offense in the league has won a championship 3 times.

[diamenz]

good defense also helps your team's momentum get going... big time.

[CelticBaller]

Celtics that year had an O-rating of 107 (15th in the L), they just played at a super slow pace so their games were low scoring. They had a great D too, but it was overrated by people who just look at box scores and ignore pace.
No, I watched their games, at times we went on 2 minute stretches without scoring a our defense usually bailed us out

[ILLsmak]

Defense wins championships is not a moronic statement at all.

It is because defense leads to offense. And , btw, Indiana really does have a chance at winning the chip, dont know what you are talking about.

I see my Miami Heat when they play great defense how much better they are than any other team. When they forget to play defense they get smashed even though they are a good offensive team.

Yeah... the OP issue I think is that Indy isn't that much (if at all lol) better than Miami on D. So, if Miami is much better on O then obviously they won't win.

-Smak

[SwayDizzle]

Bro the offense part of the equation is implied because everyone already overrates offense without context to begin with.

Offense gets the glory..
\thread (nailed on 2nd post)