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RockRam
Losing Talib is a very big adjustment.
I bet the farm because Wade's D's are historically good D's.
And because we have some young players who likely will progress, and because if Obo is even 80% of what many pundits say he is, he will only add to D's success later on in the year.
This unit has to play a few games until Wade figures out how best to deploy them. Brockers made the interesting comment that the D got simpler in the 4th quarter (if I understood him correctly), and the players just played. And the result was stuffing the Hawk's O.
This is not a top 5 D. But it doesn't have to be. Neither can it be as porous as it has been the last two weeks for 3 quarters each time.
Wade has fielded some bad Ds too .Counting both his stints as a head coach and a DC, he has fielded 20 top 10 defenses (in terms of yards). He has also fielded 15 defenses that were ranked 18th or lower.
I would imagine the main difference is personnel.
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