When it comes down to it, their effort on the defensive end for the majority of the season was terrible. That is on the players because Hamilton has a proven record on the defensive side of the ball. We focused our complaints on Boris (rightfully so) but, plain and simple, our defense sucked because our on ball defense and off ball defense on opposing guards was terrible. Basketball is a guard driven game right now and there was nobody on this team who was an elite defender. Devon Bookert was a good defender because he paid attention to player tendencies and gave his all on every position, something I cannot say about any other player on the team. During our four straight years to the tournament every player on our team bought into the defensive scheme of Leonard Hamilton. We used to have great on-ball defenders like Toney Douglas, Deividas Dulkys, and even Michael Snaer. The closest thing we have had to this on the perimeter in the last four years was Aaron Thomas but that was a short stint. The biggest issue with this team over the last four years is its lack of toughness and that has to be what bugs Leonard Hamilton the most.
