Is Kawhi Leonard’s On-Ball Pressure a Fading Art?
Is on-ball pressure an art that is fading? As the NBA evolves, we must consider whether elite on-ball defense remains relevant. Kawhi Leonard, a two-time NBA champion and two-time Defensive Player of the Year, has exemplified this skill throughout his career. The modern game is changing quickly, throwing ever more emphasis on pace and space. So the question must be asked: is on-ball pressure an art that is paying off less and less?
The Evolution of Defensive Strategy
Defense in basketball has always hinged on certain fundamentals, such as applying pressure to the player with the ball. Throughout history, players who have been recognized as outstanding defenders—like Gary Payton, Ron Artest, and Michael Jordan—have set the standard for what effective, disruptive defense looks like. They have modeled—more or less consistently, and across different eras—what it means to play aggressive, in-your-face defense against the opposing offense. They have made offensive players’ lives as hard as possible by forcing them into awkward situations and by handling counter-techniques themselves.
Contemporary basketball has undergone a seismic shift; teams now favor spacing and three-point shooting. Statistically, the average team in the league shoots 18.1 three-pointers per game. No team in history has shot more than 24.2 a game (the 2017-18 Rockets). Yet, in 2023, the NBA shot an average of 35.4 three-pointers per game (source: Basketball Reference).
In addition, teams are utilizing defensive strategies, such as switching and zoning, to slow down elite scorers. For them, these defenders no longer strictly guard a specific player, but instead cover a specific area. In effect, these players are in zone coverage.
Impact of Kawhi Leonard on On-Ball Pressure
One could contend that Kawhi Leonard stands as one of the best defenders of his generation. His on-ball pressure has been pivotal in key moments. For instance, during the 2019 playoffs, Leonard’s defense was immensely important to the Toronto Raptors championship run. In games that mattered, he held opponents to a not-so-impressive 32.4 percentage when shooting the ball with him right there applying on-point pressure.
Furthermore, advanced statistics show that Leonard’s defensive win shares put him among the best. In the 2020 campaign, he registered 4.9 defensive win shares, which placed him in the upper echelon of the league. This number suggests that he takes on the ball and just doesn’t let go, resulting in team success.
Leonard’s on-court presence and prowess have been jeopardized by injuries. The Achilles injury he suffered in 2021 limited his mobility and raised questions about his ability to maintain the same level of performance we’re accustomed to seeing from him. This, in turn, has ignited debates about the sustainability of on-ball pressure in the modern game of basketball.
Is Kawhi Leonard’s On-Ball Pressure a Fading Art in Today’s Game?
When we look at the current modern NBA, we can see that applying pressure to the ball has become more of a challenge than ever before. Teams are putting way more emphasis on offensive efficiency. Right now, the league is seeing a record average offensive rating of 113.4 in 2022-2023. And you don’t have to be a genius to figure out that this means defenses have to be smarter and sharper than ever before.
Furthermore, dual-ball handlers on teams make it difficult to apply on-ball pressure consistently. Players such as Stephen Curry and Luka Doncic can both initiate and finish plays, putting the onus on defenders to apply pressure without fear of overcommitting or undercommitting and leaving a critical area of the floor exposed.
In addition, the occurrence of isolation plays diminishes the need for rigorous on-ball defense. In 2022, 19.6% of all offensive plays were isolation plays. Defenders confronted unique challenges, often having to deal with crafty scorers who were very capable of getting points.
Kawhi Leonard is still a vital presence in the conversation around on-ball pressure, even if not every player he resembles in style (or, more often, in physicality) seems prepared to carry on the on-ball pressure torch. He brings the same blend of old-school and new-age on-ball pressure that he did when he first entered the league.
The Future of On-Ball Defense
On-ball defense in the future will probably combine age-old tenets with modern tactics. Teams today are living and dying by how effectively they space the floor and how many shots they make. This opens up the synergy between their offensive efficiency and their defense, in which defenders now have to react in real time to the new threats that offensive players pose.
Defendo, unlike the old flotation act, now holds onto the fundamentals and yet protects against the stretched-out revolution of the modern NBA game.
Also, tracking technology and advanced analytics can help reveal the details of how and why opponents perform as they do, right down to the number of steps they take and the speed at which they take them. This knowledge allows coaches to better prepare their players to counter any offensive schemes they might face.
To sum up, although the on-ball pressure that Kawhi Leonard exerts is quite impressive, it has to contend with the much more prevalent and potent offensive movements of today’s game. In fact, Leonard’s on-ball pressure may well be reaching its zenith as a tactical ploy at the same time that the game’s predominant offensive iterations are rendering it less effective. On-ball pressure, in any case, is definitely still a thing in the modern game.
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