You have to get both right to make it work properly.
The Otago Nuggets have certainly done that.
They are nestled in nicely at the top of the National Basketball League standings with seven straight wins this season.
That success has been built around some tenacious defensive efforts.
Most of the credit gets heaped on Todd Withers. And fair enough, too. The American forward is the adhesive that never fails.
But there is a lot of mahi going on in the background that you do not see out on court.
Nuggets assistant coach Gerard Martin does much of the homework, watching hours of game tape looking for patterns his side can exploit on defence.
The 27-year-old Australian was a very decent player himself.
But his career was stymied by injury, so he pivoted into coaching.
He has been in the United States coaching California Baptist University for the past three years.
Martin, who was born and raised in Manly and represented Australia in the Fiba under-17 and under-19 world championships, signed with the Perth Wildcats for the 2023-24 season and his first gig with the organisation is actually in Dunedin with the Nuggets.
Say what?
Well, the two teams essentially share the same owner, so Martin was dispatched to Dunedin and he has enjoyed a golden run with the defending champion.
"It has been an awesome experience so far," Martin said.
"The people here have been great."
Martin’s working week starts by watching game after game.
"I’m just trying to find tendencies, especially as a team but also what individuals do as players so we can best formulate a game plan."
He would be a nightmare to sit at a poker table with. He would quickly figure out when you were bluffing, having spotted you fiddling with your chips and recognising that as a sign your hand is likely rubbish.
"It helps when you have guys like Todd Withers, JaQuori [McLaughlin] and Matt Bardsley, and Sam Timmins protecting the paint.
"We’ve got good players, so I can throw different things at them and they can execute. But it is more the fact that these guys play super, super hard.
"Having Todd Withers is huge for us. My ability to put him on different players is a nice luxury."
Withers never gets an easy shift. He pretty much always gets the toughest defensive assignment.
Tonight that is likely to be Jarrad Weeks. The Nuggets host the Auckland Tuatara at the Edgar Centre in a rematch of last year’s final.
The Nuggets edged the Tuatara 93-89 in Auckland earlier in the month. But they had to fight their way back from a challenging deficit.
Weeks (35 points) was basically making every shot he put up in the opening half. But Withers and the Nuggets found a way to slow Auckland’s scoring and restricted the home team to 36 points in the final half.
The Timmins-Rob Loe match up is another interesting subplot, while Reuben Te Rangi will be shadowed closely by either JaQuori McLaughlin or Michael Harris.
Matthew Bardsley and Darcy Knox add energy when they come on as well. They are both hustlers.
The Nuggets’ best start to a season was an 8-0 run in 2013, so they can equal that achievement with a win tonight and also extend their winning streak in the NBL to 13 games.
NBL
Dunedin, 7pm
Otago Nuggets: Sam Timmins, Robbie Coman, Todd Withers, Michael Harris, JaQuori McLaughlin, Matthew Bardsley, Darcy Knox, Josh Aitcheson, Jack Andrew, Patrick Freeman, Michael Ruske, Joe Ahie.
Auckland Tuatara: Rob Loe, Jarrad Weeks, Charlie Dalton, Reuben Te Rangi, Cameron Gliddon, Chris McIntosh, Thomas Beatie, Nic Barrow, Reuben Fitzgerald.
