NBA defenses would seem to be more intricate these days, with more time being spent on schemes and better technology leading to nifty teaching tools. But Danny Ainge refuted the notion that it takes more brain work to play ‘D’ now.
“I think defense is more demanding physically in today’s game than it was in the 1980s and ’90s when I played, but I’m not sure it’s any more complex or complicated,” the Celtics president of basketball operations said. “You still have to know the players you’re playing against and still have to understand what that team is trying to accomplish on each play, and you’ve got to stay within the team scheme of trying to stop it.