this post was submitted on 19 Oct 2023
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This is about the Suns and mostly an eyeball test meaning I didn't look anything up.

Would this year's Suns be the first "offensive juggernaut" team to win a championship if they do?

I don't have the actual stats but I think the past champions each had at least a top 10 defense.

Who else was a contender with "no defense" ?

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[–] arde100@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago (4 children)

The nuggets weren't a top 10 defense last season according to defensive rating. The last time before that was 2018 Warriors (ranked #11) and before that you have to go all the way back to 2001 Lakers who were ranked unusually low at #21. Even more odd than that, the 2000 Lakers were ranked #1.

[–] iCE_P0W3R@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I feel like that says more about the inconsistency of using defensive rating.

[–] lebroin@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I'm confused by this comment... Only 3 title teams have not had top 10 defenses according to defensive rating since 2000. That's not inconsistent

[–] iCE_P0W3R@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

No, the big gap between the 2002 and 2001 Lakers

[–] Scoot2028MVP@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Or teams change year over year.

Only 3/7 guys on the team who played 1500+ minutes in 2000 also did so in 2001.

Green and Rice were gone. Harper and Fisher missed a combined 100 games. Guys like Rider, Fox, and the corpse of Horace Grant replaced a lot of those minutes and none of those guys were good defenders at that point in their careers.

[–] BoopasaurusRex_____@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Yeah but they played very stingy defense in the playoffs and were well choreographed in their rotations/communications/etc. Nuggets turned it on when it mattered and it’s clear Malone prepared them well

[–] Salman1969@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

They were not a top 10 Defense in the regular season but in the playoffs it seemed that way.

[–] AllenOneal37@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

No but that's a good point and they happened to win. I just would have guessed because they were no.1 throughout the season that they would have been a better defense. What were they ranked ?