Darrell Arthur used to live the defensive life. It was all he knew after being drafted in 2008 by one of the most defensive-minded organizations in the NBA — Memphis — under defense-first coach Lionel Hollins. Then came the culture shock.

Upon his trade to the Nuggets in 2013, Arthur quickly found out how different the game was being taught elsewhere. Different bad, not different good with his new team. He knew how a team was supposed to communicate on the court, and those things weren’t happening under coach Brian Shaw.

But now, under first-year Nuggets coach Michael Malone?

It’s as if he is back with Memphis.

“It’s a mirror,” Arthur said. “It’s the exact same thing, what we did in Memphis to what Coach Malone is doing. This is the way I was taught to play. I’m pretty sure this is the right way to play basketball. He’s doing a great job of teaching everyone, not just the young guys. He’s refreshing the older guys on positioning on defense. Offense too. But defense leads to great offense, and we’ve been doing a (heck of a) job during the preseason so far.

“Even if we’re making mistakes, we’re out there communicating,” Arthur added. “This is the big thing that I’ve been talking about the last two years, communication. We’re out there covering for each other.”

Malone is teaching a set of defensive rules the Nuggets will live by. This is defense, Malone style.

Rule 1: Take away the corner 3

The Nuggets allowed opponents to shoot 36.5 percent on corner 3-pointers last season, which put them in the middle of the pack. By contrast, the Houston Rockets were the NBA’s best team at defending the 3-pointer last season. Against corner 3s, they allowed just 33 percent.

No shot in this analytics age of basketball has experienced a bigger boost in its cool factor more than corner 3. Entire offensive sets have been created to spread defenses out, run shooters to the corners in transition and play the drive-and-kick game.

Malone wants the Nuggets to be all over the corner 3.

“That’s the highest percentage 3-point shot in the league, below the break, the easiest shot in the game,” he said. “So when we try to make sure everything we do defensively in our rules and our philosophy, they understand that we don’t leave strongside shooters. If the ball is dribbled at you on the baseline, don’t get sucked in. Start inching out to take that shot away.”

Rule 2: Clog the paint

When it came to getting to the rim last season, more often than not the Nuggets offered opponents the path of least resistance. There often were gaping holes to the basket, and opponents wasted little time driving into the teeth of the defense.

Opponents hit 59.1 percent from the field when taking shots of 5 feet or fewer. Only nine teams were worse defending close to the basket. In the restricted area, the opponents’ shooting percentage against the Nuggets rose to 60.6 percent. Denver’s inability to keep teams out of the paint and away from the rim crippled the defense more than any other single problem.

Naturally, Malone wants to turn that faucet off. The foundation of his defensive beliefs starts with walling off the lane to force tougher shots, and more decisions.

“The biggest thing is we want to protect the paint, first and foremost,” Malone said. “If you get beat in the paint and those high-percentage shots around the rim, it could make for a long night, and that starts in transition.”

Rule 3: Defend without fouling

The numbers said it all a season ago. The Nuggets were the only team in the NBA to have opponents average at least 20 points per game from the free-throw line. They allowed more free-throw attempts per game — 26.9 — than any other team. And those opponents cashed in on almost 75 percent of the freebies.

No team committed more personal fouls last season than the Nuggets, at 23 per game.

Rule 4: No gambling allowed

For those still accustomed to the George Karl defensive philosophy of getting into passing lanes, getting deflections and steals, change is afoot. Malone likes steals as much as any coach, but he doesn’t like his players being outside the team’s established defensive principles to get them.

The Nuggets, in Karl’s last season with the team, made 762 steals, second-best in the NBA. But that number dropped dramatically the past two seasons.

So, gambling is not allowed. Gambling for steals destroys team defense. Malone doesn’t want Denver’s defense destroyed because players are trying to do too much. “I don’t mind steals, because if we can defend then run that’s great,” he said. “But we’re not a team that’s going to get up and deny in the passing lanes. We’re more of a shrink-the-floor team, protect that paint. If we want to protect the paint, you can’t get up and deny everything because you’re going to open yourself up to back-door plays. So our mind-set is let them catch the ball, keep them in front of us and then contain the basketball, contest and rebound. Now, if we can get a steal within our defensive rules, I’m all for it.”

Christopher Dempsey: cdempsey@denverpost.com or @dempseypost