In days gone by defense was something you always knew you could count on in a Bill Self coached team. Then something happened and we have had a string of teams that while not terrible on defense were certainly short of the highest expectations. We have not had a truly great defensive team for some time. This season this team is giving me some optimism that they might regain the lofty perch. This is a little surprising. I think everyone hoped (expected) Vick to emerge as a defensive dynamo. Having a 7 footer in the middle always bodes well for defense. We all know Devonte’ is a solid defensive player with 3 years of experience so he should be good. Garret came in with the expectation of being a defense and rebound guy (but he is a freshman after all). The real questions were Newman, Preston and Svi. Quite frankly, I was hoping Svi would end up being a non-liability on defense which is sort of damning with faint praise. Newman had a slight reputation of taking possessions off occasionally on defense and Preston is a complete unknown. And of course, let’s not forget Lightfoot. Well, through three games I would say that for the most part Vick, Devonte’ and Garrett have met expectations and Dok is right there with them. But Svi has blown me away. That is partly since my expectations were so low. He has actually played great defense and that despite the fact his first step reaction is still a bald step slow. And Newman has not been wildly impressive but I would rate him as solid. Having said that, Vick is still prone to lapses, Garret is still a freshman and Svi is still slow on the first step reaction. But the team has played well together considering it is early season. Some of the most glaring mistakes are either completely correctable (Dok’s Footwork for example) or in one of those “we are up by 30” times. It is early and we are not there yet but I see potential in this team defensively.
