What's new

2023 NBA Draft Megathread

Stocks arent the end all be all, especially for playoff defense
White also moves quite well. If we are talking size mattering then stocks are a good measure of who can use their size well. I also think its important in the playoffs and regular season. Wallace has amazing hands and when guys are all up in your business it is hard to do what you want.

If the measure is defense... Wallace>Black>JHS imo.
 
White also moves quite well. If we are talking size mattering then stocks are a good measure of who can use their size well. I also think its important in the playoffs and regular season. Wallace has amazing hands and when guys are all up in your business it is hard to do what you want.

If the measure is defense... Wallace>Black>JHS imo.
White moves great. I'm not saying he is bad, I'm just saying playoff defense size matters. You can have great hands, but if you weigh 200 lbs at 6'3 guys are going to go at you. Have you not watched any playoff basketball?
 
White moves great. I'm not saying he is bad, I'm just saying playoff defense size matters. You can have great hands, but if you weigh 200 lbs at 6'3 guys are going to go at you. Have you not watched any playoff basketball?
Yes... lol I have. I've also watched Smart stand Bam the **** up in the post. Wallace is more in the Smart/Holiday/PG Kawhi mold. If we get in a series and they hunt Wallace then we are gold... means their best option is to go at a guy that is a very good defender.
 
Yes... lol I have. I've also watched Smart stand Bam the **** up in the post. Wallace is more in the Smart/Holiday/PG Kawhi mold. If we get in a series and they hunt Wallace then we are gold... means their best option is to go at a guy that is a very good defender.
Ok, now tell me how much Marcus Smart weighs.

I'll wait for it
 
Ok, now tell me how much Marcus Smart weighs.

I'll wait for it
Like 225 when he was drafted... Jrue was like 200 lbs similar to Cason. Weight is one factor for sure but a guy that is sturdy like Cason having a low center of gravity can be just as effective in those situations.

If you want to make JHS some amazing defender that's fine. But there are guys with his frame that are *** on defense or just average. I lean on stocks because its measurable and will have less noise than advanced defensive metrics and the eye test.

JHS won't be a better defender than White (just made an all defense team) He's more likely to be adequate like Jamal Murray. Players getting hunted in the playoffs is not the end of the world. If a good defender gets hunted I'm cool living with the results. Boston's defense was good enough to win a title.
 
Cason was regularly guarding 1-3 at the college level. He was typically guarding the other team's best player and often was guarding someone taller than him, so I'm not too worried about him guarding taller players. I'm sure he has some ability to put on a little weight to have a better chance against heavier players, but yeah, I don't see him guarding 4's and 5's like Smart.
 
Stocks is not just an indicator for defense. It's an indicator of general athleticism, IQ, and activity among other things. No indicator is perfect, but simply being 6'6 does not automatically make you a good defender either.

I also hate this idea of reducing NBA playoff defense to switchability. It's the most basic, superficial way to see the game. Yeah, teams hunt switches in playoff basketball. That makes off ball defensive play even more critical as teams work harder to cover for unfavorable matchups. NBA basketball is not five 1v1 matchups, it's 5v5 basketball. Defense is a team concept and switching does not make that any less true and the importance of creating turnovers and making defensive plays off the ball isn't any less important.

Derrick White was also really effective on the playoffs and this is backed up by the numbers. Players shot 7% worse than expected against him in the MIA series. For Tatum and Brown they shot 2% and 3% better than expected. It was Boston's defense that kept them in the series and White was a big part of that, arguably the biggest part of it. But even if you're going to say White was the problem and specifically because of his size. What were the Heat doing? Their backcourt minutes were all Vincent, Strus, Lowry, and Robinson and they were going against double big+physical wings. Coming away from that series and saying White was the problem and specifically for his size is the stretch of a century.
 
Stocks is not just an indicator for defense. It's an indicator of general athleticism, IQ, and activity among other things. No indicator is perfect, but simply being 6'6 does not automatically make you a good defender either.

I also hate this idea of reducing NBA playoff defense to switchability. It's the most basic, superficial way to see the game. Yeah, teams hunt switches in playoff basketball. That makes off ball defensive play even more critical as teams work harder to cover for unfavorable matchups. NBA basketball is not five 1v1 matchups, it's 5v5 basketball. Defense is a team concept and switching does not make that any less true and the importance of creating turnovers and making defensive plays off the ball isn't any less important.

Derrick White was also really effective on the playoffs and this is backed up by the numbers. Players shot 7% worse than expected against him in the MIA series. For Tatum and Brown they shot 2% and 3% better than expected. It was Boston's defense that kept them in the series and White was a big part of that, arguably the biggest part of it. But even if you're going to say White was the problem and specifically because of his size. What were the Heat doing? Their backcourt minutes were all Vincent, Strus, Lowry, and Robinson and they were going against double big+physical wings. Coming away from that series and saying White was the problem and specifically for his size is the stretch of a century.
Yes, if Boston had a better gameplan to exploit Miami's size they could have won. They relied on jacking bad 3s and Miami schemed well.

I'm not saying a smaller defender is death to your team and is an irreparable tragedy, but it's a thing. You can't deny it's not a thing. It's something to consider in the large scheme of things and is certainly a massive positive for JHS.

And JHS is a good defender. If you actually watch him play it's pretty clear so this narrative that is going around here that he is a poor defender is just some **** a lazy person who saw some bad stocks said.
 
Back
Top