The unappreciated factor

The whole nature of basketball is geared toward offense. The public address announcer cannot break in after a steal or a block or a shut-down sequence to notice the play publicly. The only plays that get named are scoring. People who follow basketball don’t notice non-stats: shots prevented, for instance. But preventing a score is just as important to the final margin as scoring. Some folks won’t admit that, but it nevertheless is true. Defense is the unseen, unappreciated factor.