The Best Defense Is a Good Offense…
That’s what they say. Lead with offense and defense will take care of itself. They also say:
Irresistible force meets the immovable object…
But offense, the irresistible force, gets most of the credit. So what happens if you build a team–a basketball team in particular–around defense? What happens if you recruit two-way players, athletes who are almost equally good at preventing scoring as they are at scoring? If you find ways to rotate the defense fluidly, to move players in and out of the game by having everyone on the bench play with ease, to slow the game down, block the shots, scramble after balls until your defense creates your offense?
The answer is that you don’t appear in any of the stats. But you appear in the finals. With a chip on your shoulder.
Offense Wins Games, So They Say
You can see it in the awards. Who wins the Super Bowl MVP? The quarterback, nearly every time–statistically, 70% of the time. In baseball, where pitchers (defense) often have bigger contracts than batters, the MVP is still a hitter, 60% of the time. Pitchers had to get their own category, the Cy Young award, to get recognition. In basketball, you can’t even ask the question, other than to know that on rare occasions, occasionally the MVP happens to be Defense Player of the Year. Otherwise, the MVP is just the player you can’t ever stop, i.e., A’ja Wilson (5-time MVP).
You can see it in the stats. Points, Points percentage, Three points made, Three point percentage, Assists, Free throws… those are the primary stats that are measured. If you look on your phone, it’s hard to even find any defense stats, other than blocks, and not all defense in basketball is built around blocks.
In the 2022 Super Bowl, the LA Rams sacked the Cincinnati quarterback seven times, but a guy who caught the winning touchdown was MVP. In the 2025 Super Bowl, the Eagles sacked Kansas City QB Patrick Mahomes six times, forced three turnovers, and scored on a turnover. The Eagles’ QB was MVP.
You can really see it in the media, especially for basketball and football. Scorers get the contracts. Scorers get the stories. The lede line for every story is “so-and-so” scored whatever, even in a loss. “A’ja Wilson’s 35 points can’t overcome… Kelsey Mitchell’s 24.7 leads the league….” Look at this dunk! Look at that 3-pointer! That home run was a monster! That QB–what an arm!
There is also a Star Power factor. When the media anoints someone, like a Caitlin Clark or Paige “Buckets,” because of their shooting, then the stories are about the points. Not about how they lead the league in turnovers or are vulnerable to a solid defense. Nope it’s all about the winning basket. The guy who throws the passes gets the glory, though the guy who keeps that guy from throwing the passes controls the game. If you are a Valkyries fan–and the band wagon is growing but the hometown crowd at Ballhalla is LOUD and boisterous and travels–but if you are a fan, you’ve wondered all season why the #2 team got no press outside of the Bay Area. No stories in the Times or ESPN.
When the Valkyries started the playoffs, the pundits seemed mystified as to how theyeven got there. One said–the one who was a scoring legend–said “Well, they don’t have a ME on their team.” That’s the thing. Defense has to be a team effort. It’s not really about a ME.
What’s In a Name?
Some defenses had that Star Power. My dad, back in the 1960s, would grind his teeth when the Detroit Lions played the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings had the “Purple People Eaters.” I was nine and I could name them: Alan Page, Carl Eller, Jim Marshall, and Gary Larsen. As a Sports Collector Daily recap put it, they were “durable and dangerous…making life miserable for quarterbacks and running backs.” They didn’t miss game between 1968 and 1973. Alan Page (far left) was so dominant, he was the first defensive player named league MVP in 1971. He’s now a Minnesota Supreme Court justice. Yes, your Honor, No Your Honor… Woe betide the unprepared lawyer in front of HIM!
There were other legendary football defenses. The early game was focused on running, with passes thrown in like an afterthought. The idea of the defense was to prevent forward running, hence the Pittsburgh Steelers “Steel Curtain.” Players “Mean” Joe Greene and Jack Lambert along with Greenwood, Holmes and White would lead the Steelers to four Super Bowl Championships in the 1970s.
The Steel Curtain, the Dawgs, the Monsters of the Midway, featuring Refrigerator Perry… maybe all these teams really needed was a good name. Legion of Boom is a pretty good name, though I’m not showing a picture of the Seattle players because they’re a rival of my 49ers and no bueno.
Patrick Roy of the Montreal Canadiens is considered the best NHL goalie of all time because he invented a “butterfly” style of blocking the net. Think about the importance of the goalie in hockey, soccer, lacrosse, handball, and field hockey. You got one player on whom most of the defense rests. It is easier for a goalie to become MVP, but the famous names–Howe, Gretzky, Messier–are scorers.
And Yet…Defense Wins Championships
That’s what Bear Bryant, legendary coach of the Crimson Tide, said: Offense wins games, but defense wins championships. People remember The Play (Cal beating Stanford with three laterals and a run through the trombone section), but they also remember plenty of Great Plays, especially in baseball. A home run is boring to experience once the ball hits the bat, but throwing out a runner coming home is a joy to watch.
Derek Jeter would have been a legend just for his hitting and leadership of the Yankees to their five World Championships. But there is one play he’s most remembered for–ugh, against one of my teams, but even so– it was called The Flip. During the 2001 Division playoff series, Jeremy Giambi, the lesser-known brother of the famous Oakland A’s Giambis, was on second base. Jeremy was not fast, but when a sharply hit double rolled to the wall, Jeremy went bombing for home, potential go-ahead run. The errant right fielder’s throw missed the cut-off man but shortstop Jeter had appeared out of nowhere, run over from the infield in time to grasp the ball and flip it sideways. It’s now one of the Ten Most Famous Plays in baseball.
The San Francisco Giants, in their bid for their three World Series wins in the 2010s, acquired lanky Texas outfielder Hunter Pence, whose enthusiasm for the game sparked rallies. He was also a stellar right fielder and became famous for The Catch, a leap against the wall to end a rally by the Nationals. Pence’s bobblehead mirrored the play, including his tongue flying out.
The Pestilence of Good Defense in Basketball
Box Out, Clog the Paint, Steal the Ball, Be a Pest. Overall, get in the way repeatedly, doggedly, persistently. Basketball highlights are mostly scoring plays. There’s even a Dunk contest at the All-Star game (now followed by a 3-point contest and a Skills challenge involving scoring). There are no Block, Steal, or Defend Without Fouling contests. But maybe there should be.
How do you defend in basketball? You have to keep people from scoring, people who barrel in full speed, who slither in, who let the ball fly from far away, and who find their favorite spots. There’s a lot of passing, so your defense has to be prepared to shift to whoever has the ball and not leave anyone fully open. When the ball misses, you have to be prepared to grab it. This is difficult if the other team has anyone taller or expert at knowing where the ball is going to go, like Angel Reese but also like Kiah Stokes. (Angel averages 12.4 rebounds per game, yeah that’s not a typo; Kiah at 5.6, tops for the Valkyries).
Defense has to clog the paint–put people in the lane to prevent easy lay-ups. But there are complicated rules against simple standing there (three second rules, blocking rules, and fouling rules). Defenders have to move, have to know how to swipe the ball without touching an arm, have to know where the dotted line is. Teams are crammed with three-point experts now, too, so you have to keep them from getting to their favorite spot to line up their practiced shot.
Most of all, you have to be constantly, corrosively active. Defense is about constant pressure, constantly withstanding the irresistible force. Baseball can give up a grand slam, and football can give up a Hail Mary or a long bomb–one play changes the game. With basketball, it’s not the one play but the succession of plays that require a succession of stops. Yes, there’s always focus on the play at the end of the game, but all the plays in the middle count, too. And even if you have that one stellar rebounder or shot blocker, they can’t guard everybody. You need multiple people on the team who can put their arms up in just the right way so as to prevent the shot without fouling.
All of that sounds much less entertaining than a blow-by (zipping through the defense nearly unimpeded) or a shot made from half-court. But that’s how you do it.
Valcatraz
The Valkyries under Coach Natalie Nakase and General Manager Ohemaa Nyanin built a team around–well, a team. They actively sought out players who were eager and active, players who would dive after every ball. Gabby Williams was known for her steals. The Valkyrie’s Veronica Burton college nickname was the Backcourt Burglar. Tiffany Hayes coined the nickname for the team’s stifling defense: VALCATRAZ. But the key to keeping that guard up is to have the whole team be ready to step in and defend.
GSV has the best bench, so many solid players of similar mind set, that if one isn’t finding success that particular day against that particular opponent, someone else steps in and makes headlines. In Game One, Laeticia Amihere stepped in late in the fourth quarter. She had her jacket on for the Aces series, just didn’t match up well against Las Vegas. She didn’t play in every game, and only 10 minutes when she did play. But her 10 minutes in Game One led to rebounds, box outs, protecting the rim–key minutes which earned her the first and biggest mention by the coaches. You can’t even see her in the stat sheet because she didn’t play the whole game.
Game One of the WNBA Finals ended 68-64: both teams scoring less than 70 points. Nobody mentioned it in the post-game conferences, other than, “what went wrong with the scoring?” and “Are Gabby and Tip okay after falling” and “what willed you to score at the end?” Both teams played rip-roaring defense, clogging, swiping, pushing, grabbing, with players falling down like bowling pins. No cheap shots. No finger pointing. Just all out intense.
Praise the defense and pass the popcorn.