A solid NBA individual defender includes various characteristics. It’s a blend of effort, discipline, instincts, and strong footwork, among others. These players consistently maintain focus and thrive on optimal positioning to stop an opponent’s offensive moves. Their ability to anticipate actions allows them to react quickly, disrupting both the individual opponent, but also the other team’s offensive rhythm.
Good footwork helps them stay in front of their opponent. They can navigate through screens and limit shooting opportunities effectively. They understand off-ball defense and can deny the ball and limit options.
On Tuesday, Keon Ellis, as a starter, held Damian Lillard to 10 points. He has only been held to 10 points or less 10 times over the last NINE seasons. So yeah, Ellis played really well.
Let’s take a look.
On the opening play of the game, Ellis demonstrated his skills. He never loses track of where Dame is, gets wide with his stance and illustrates great footwork. When the screen from Giannis comes, notice how Ellis leans into Giannis, using his back as both a shield and wedge to slip around him. Sabonis delivers some nice help defense and Ellis is quickly back on Dame’s hip. The possession ends in a turnover and an open three for Ellis on the other end that he drains.
Essentially, he gets the ball out of Dame’s hand, eliminates his second option, cuts through the screen for his third option, and then forces Dame to give the ball up a second time in one possession. Stellar stuff while setting a tone.
Instinct when he sees the screen coming – he immediately positions himself to pin Giannis away from him so he can get around it. Then he doesn’t lose focus coming around the screen and watches the ball. He sees the pass coming and is able to swat the ball away from Lillard.
Dame beats him around the screen here, but his desire to play defense, as well as his footwork (notice the long step he takes to recover) allows for him to at least get within breathing distance to Lillard to make the shot uncomfortable.
Again, he shows great instincts here, and this time off the ball. Lillard gets around him and Sabonis and Huerter do a good job of trapping him. Instead of trying to force a triple team, Ellis identifies where the roller is, gets wide and stays directly in front of him so Dame doesn’t have an easy escape. He is forced into a tough fadeaway that misses.
Ellis applies great pressure with his footwork and speed. Dame gets a little frustrated and pushes Ellis back. When he moves into a double team, Lillard passes back Portis. He immediately jumps into the center of the lane to prevent a dribble drive, great off-ball awareness. Portis still drives and Ellis is able to contest the shot well, forcing a miss.
And then the very next night, Ellis started again and faced De’Angelo Russell and the Los Angeles Lakers. Russell had scored in double digits in the previous 16 games. He finished with 6 points on 2-9 from the field.
Here, Russell fakes taking the screen from Lebron James, and dribble drives the other way. After effectively wedging himself to get around James if needed on the screen, Ellis slashes with Russell, displaying his quickness and once again, great footwork. Sabonis again delivers some great help and Ellis anticipates the pass and jumps behind Sabonis to intercept it.
Ellis doesn’t make a splashy play here, but I included it because of his off-ball awareness. Watch when Russell comes off the screen and toward the paint. Sabonis is there to stop the drive and Ellis remains in a defensive position without guarding anyone at the moment. His goal is to get as wide as possible to cut off passing lanes. When you watch him off the ball, he is often purposely extending his arms as much as possible for this reason.
This is full on cornerback stuff. Ellis does his job getting around the screen, but the pass is still made to the roller. He keeps his eyes on the ball handler and as soon as he sees an indication of a pass he is flying to the receiver – steal and off to the races. And he doesn’t try to do too much on the fast break. He gets it to Fox, and it results in a bucket.
And while he isn’t on track to be a top scorer, he is effective on offense when he needs to be. He scored 14 points on 62% from the field against the Lakers. Obviously, there is a reason why the Kings signed him to a three-year deal in February. It is going to be interesting to see how Mike Brown uses him down the stretch of the season. It would be nice to see a lot more of him on a team that needs consistent defense.
