To me Olympiacos’ defensive improvement is a combination of the team stepping up after an awful start, Bartzokas making a few adjustments and a couple of key players finding their rhythm.

Against Milano we saw a sense of urgency that simply was not there at the first four games of the season. The two major problems for Oly had been transition defense and guarding the three point line. At Milano, everyone made a conscious effort of getting back in time, while strong individual defense against Langford and Hairston meant that defensive rotations and open looks on the weak side were kept to a minimum. These trends have continued against teams that now how to run (Caja Laboral, even though the pace in their games is not that high) and players that know how to create their own shot (most notably Jordan Farmar).

At the same time, Bartzokas decided to go with a defensive strategy that he’s more comfortable with. Early on he was trying to find a balance between last season’s principles and his own ideas. But as you mentioned, he has gradually moved away from the switches that were featured heavily last season toward more rotation-centric defensive strategy. By my count, switches were not the reason for Oly’s breakdowns (at least that’s what ppp conceded in these situations say). However, by working exclusively on a different set-up (more hedging out and a slightly altered version of last season’s flat coverage, with the big man waiting on the FT line) the team as a whole seem to think less and move their feet more.

Of course execution matters and Oly have simply been more aggressive in pressuring the ball and denying passes. This has improved their rotations because help defenders have more time to respond. Finally, Acie Law is slowly getting his legs back after a preseason injury and Pero Antic has been much sharper over the past few weeks. Their contributions on the defensive end have been huge.

Can Oly sustain this type of effort? I think so. Spanoulis has been pretty poor defensively, but the coaching staff is doing a good job keeping his playing time in check. This conservation should pay dividends on the defensive end later on. Also Olympiacos have a very young roster so energy and effort should not be an issue. If there is one question mark, it has to be Josh Powell’s ability to defend the pick and roll (I’m cool with his shot selection for what it’s worth). But if Hines can keep up his early season defensive effort, the champs should be fine.