- Mark, SLC
Answer: This is an interesting question because I also believe that defense is partly mind over matter.
I bet Jerry Sloan feels that way, too.
A player must want to be a good defender and make a commitment to it, especially at basketball's highest levels, where the skill level of the opponent he or she must try to contain is usually off the charts.
I always enjoy watching a great offensive player going against a player who loves to play defense.
Many years ago, I remember the Jazz's Bobby Hansen trying to guard Magic Johnson. Obviously, Hansen was not close to being as physically gifted as Johnson, but he always put his heart and soul into making things as difficult for Magic as possible. It was like watching Raja Bell battle Kobe Bryant in today's NBA - something I find as captivating as any ally-oop slam-dunk.
Same thing with Mark Eaton going against Hakeem Olajuwon.
Eaton was a former fourth-round draft pick. Olajuwon was picked ahead of Michael Jordan in the 1984 NBA draft. So you tell me, who was the better athlete?
Still, Eaton used his size perfectly against Olajuwon, who often said that Mark was the toughest defender he ever played against. It was simply a case of a player using whatever was at his disposal - size, in this case - to defend an opponent with tremendous skill.
Another Jazz-Laker match-up that was always fascinating was Karl Malone vs. Shaquille O'Neal.
Malone didn't guard O'Neal during the first 3 1/2 quarters of game. The size difference and the Jazz's need for him to stay reasonably fresh and out of foul trouble prohibited it. But if the game was close, Malone was often shifted onto Shaq down the stretch.
The result probably registered on the Richter Scale.
Shaq would get the ball on the low post and try to back down toward the basket. Malone would throw up a forearm and block his path. They looked like a couple of angry bighorn sheep - snarling, banging heads, staking claim to their territory and not willing to yield.
Pardon me for digressing.
I guess it just illustrates my point that fierce confrontations between skilled offensive players and an opponent giving everything possible on defense can be memorable.
Back to Boozer, who is not a great defender for a handful of reasons, in my opinion.
No. 1: Boozer is not a great athlete. He is a great basketball player, but I don't think he would win many 100-yard dashes or high-jump competitions against the players he is asked to guard. As skilled as he is with the ball in his hands on offense, he can be overmatched athletically on defense, especially when he's isolated on an opponent like Kevin Garnett, Lamar Odom or Amare Stoudemire.
No. 2: Boozer greatest value to the Jazz - and to every team on which he has played since grade school - comes on the offensive end. He is an elite scorer with an accurate mid-range jump shot and an excellent back-to-the-basket game. I'm not sure I have ever seen a player who can use both hands around the rim as skillfully as Boozer. So, while his defense is important and must improve for him to ever be considered an equal to Malone or the other all-time great power forwards, it's at least understandable why Boozer's mindset is so offense-oriented.
No. 3: The NBA has passed new rules in recent years to make it easier to score and harder to defend. The kind of physical play that helped Malone in the past and would benefit Boozer today has been discouraged by the legislators, who want more scoring, less contact and - presumably - better TV ratings. That makes it more difficult for any defender, not just Boozer.
Finally, you ask whether Sloan's defensive scheme is to blame for the Jazz's current lack of interior defense.
I don't think so.
Sloan's scheme has always emphasized the importance of digging the ball out when it goes into the post, keeping the opponent from getting to the basket and making the opposition take jump shots. If anything, this scheme would help mask an individual defender's deficiencies.
