Gotta include Jarred Jeffries maaaaaaan....
Right.
Who is D'antoni's guy (if for no other reason, than D'antoni has been slagged on so hard so constantly for giving him PT).
Also, before this season....D'antoni was slagged on because he would never allow a defensive assistant coach to join the team....and that he would never allow a true defensive center to come; or that a true defensive center would never come because D'antoni was coach; or, even if this somehow did happen, they would not play well.
Obviously, the goal post has moved again quite a bit, as all those things were proven false.
Let's not make this too complicated, though. What makes a good defensive team? Good defensive players.
Wanna know what gives a team a chance to look like a complete, well-run, efficient team? A complete, legitimate roster without gaping black holes at eiher of the two most critical roster spots that you can't bullshit around (PG, Center).
We had the pre-Lin PG equivalent of a black hole at Center before Chandler got here. Not to mention STAT at PF.
When you have a legit starting Center, your defense has a chance to be good, and a real opportunity to take advantage of proper personel.
edit -- we should be able to accompany this with a top5 offense, bare minimum, too; if D'antoni was able to make our offense that lethal pre-Melo, in year one of having STAT and a fresh team, I'd personally be a bit surprised if we don't end up with a top3 offense, right alongside OKC.