Is Anthony Davis a good defender?

[colts18]

I hear a lot about his reputation of being a defensive anchor but I don't see the evidence for it. The Pelicans have the worst ranked defense in the league. When he is on the court, the teams defense is actually worse than when he is on the bench by 1.9 points per 100. The Pelicans have a 113 D rating with him on the court, well below the NBA average.

[barborous]

He's not. He's pretty mediocre right now, besides some flashes. People are just overreacting to his defensive potential (which is huge if he can put it together) and flashy block numbers, along with the narrative about him in the media of being a good defender already. It always bothers me for this reason when I see putting him over Love or Griffin already because of defense, because he's just not there yet.

[Doctor MJ]

I think the simple answer is that things just aren't working in New Orleans. I've yet to hear any argument for why you'd blame Davis for it, but clearly with a defense as problematic as the Pelicans have it doesn't make sense to point to any player and say "He's doing everything just right!".

Anecdotally I've always been impressed with Davis' athleticism, motor, and on court intelligence, and it was obvious what a huge impact that had at Kentucky. This leaves me concluding that he's on the cusp of being able to have huge defensive impact, if he's not already there, but clearly it's not actually happening right now. He obviously has room to grow, but I think more broadly the team is just mess, and I would have to strongly consider a coaching change this off-season to get someone who well experienced in building defenses around a great talent.

[NinjaSheppard]

He has been downright abysmal since the All Star break but the entire team has given up on that end of the floor. It really seems like the team is quitting on Monty.

I had him as a very solid defender at the beginning of the season when he was engaged but since that period of time he has really drifted off, become lazy on rotations and just relies on using his wingspan to contest shots instead of actually putting in effort fundamentally.

I expect him to step it up next season though when we have a new coach and a healthy roster though.

[drza]

One thing I've noticed from watching Davis this year is that he isn't nearly as disciplined on his defensive positioning either on- or off the ball. In the games I've seen he'll go into stretches where he's jumping at every on-ball fake and really playing passing lanes on defense. With his athleticism and length these tendencies can lead to some cartoonish block/rebound numbers without necessarily helping the actual defense as much as one might expect.

[The Infamous1]

He gets overrated for his defensive potential

[KF10]

NO defensive rating has been close to the bottom of the barrel for most of this season. Not saying it's AD's fault but the amount of fans who are gushing about him on the defensive end this year need to cut back. If he is this "all world" defender, his team shouldn't be 29th-30th in defensive rating right now.

NO is a worse defensive team than teams like the Kings, Lakers, Knicks, Sixers and are barely better than the Bucks. Let that sink in for a bit.

To me, AD's defense is overhyped this season.

[Basketballefan]

His defense is good but not good enough for him to be put over love aldridge or griffin. His defense will improve and he'll be the best pf within a few years or so but he's not the best yet and anyone that thinks he already is doesn't know basketball.

[AnthonyDavis23]

He is a good/great defender, not yet elite. He mostly struggles with spot up shooters right now.

Also the 113 DRtg is total bull ****. He has a 104 DRtg.

[AnthonyDavis23]

One thing I've noticed from watching Davis this year is that he isn't nearly as disciplined on his defensive positioning either on- or off the ball. In the games I've seen he'll go into stretches where he's jumping at every on-ball fake and really playing passing lanes on defense. With his athleticism and length these tendencies can lead to some cartoonish block/rebound numbers without necessarily helping the actual defense as much as one might expect.

That is the coaches fault. Actually I would venture to say that Monty Williams is the worst defensive coach in the league.

[tsherkin]

He is a good/great defender, not yet elite. He mostly struggles with spot up shooters right now.

Also the 113 DRtg is total bull ****. He has a 104 DRtg.

That's your own misunderstanding of the comment made, which isn't about individual DRTG.

[Okada]

I watched him closely when he played the Cavs twice this year. The first game, he looked downright awful. He was an absolute mess. The second game, he looked like a freak of nature. Not polished as far as team defense and decision making went, but making plays that nearly no one else in the league could make. He had 6 blocks in the first half as I recall. I think that's where the narrative comes from. He can do just about anything and more, but he's pretty clueless on the defensive end on the whole.

[reignfire]

I hear a lot about his reputation of being a defensive anchor but I don't see the evidence for it. The Pelicans have the worst ranked defense in the league. When he is on the court, the teams defense is actually worse than when he is on the bench by 1.9 points per 100. The Pelicans have a 113 D rating with him on the court, well below the NBA average.

Notice how you say you don't think he's a great defender and proceed to list a bunch of useless advanced stats? Now I know for a fact you don't watch him play.

Have people really stopped watching games and just reading numbers?

He's a great defender, alright? There's nothing to suggest he isn't. Now if you can show me a video of all his defensive mistakes I'll gladly reconsider.

[KF10]

He is a good/great defender, not yet elite. He mostly struggles with spot up shooters right now.

Also the 113 DRtg is total bull ****. He has a 104 DRtg.

Not just spot up shooters, AD has trouble containing power players too. Dude looks like a bag of bones when you put him up against those type of players. For example, he didn't want anything to do with Cousins the last time they met. Cuz bullied players like Ajinca & Stiemsma (one of them fouled out & the other was in foul trouble lol) and not once AD checked Cousins in any part of that game.

Personally, to reach the next level, AD needs to fill his frame (& increase strength) and maybe then, he can hold his own against players that likes to play "bully" ball. But as of right now, AD only dominates defensively against players of his own size (& maybe a little bit more) and looks out of his element against power/bully players like Cousins & Griffin.

[bondom34]

Just gone done reading an article that mentioned this actually:
http://www.hickory-high.com/playing-wit ... o-sportvu/

About half way down they look at the new SportVu stats for rim protection, and using contested shots and contested shot percentages come up with an approximation of points saved by rim protection. Basically, he's okay but nothing great yet. The block totals are there, and he contests pretty well, but contests a relatively low number of shots (28 percent which is comparable to Boozer and Bargnani). He does hold guys to lower percentages when he does contest, but be it positioning or scheme, he doesn't get there very often.

[ronnymac2]

I watched him closely when he played the Cavs twice this year. The first game, he looked downright awful. He was an absolute mess. The second game, he looked like a freak of nature. Not polished as far as team defense and decision making went, but making plays that nearly no one else in the league could make. He had 6 blocks in the first half as I recall. I think that's where the narrative comes from. He can do just about anything and more, but he's pretty clueless on the defensive end on the whole.

I agree. Over the course of a 48-minute game, his mistakes and weaknesses will negate some of the awe-inspiring defensive plays he commits.

He's still a young guy with what I believe to be a high defensive IQ. I think those mistakes will begin disappearing once he gets more experience and a better team and scheme.

[therealbig3]

Well it's hard to not awe at his talent when you see him make plays like this:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP5wUS8S9b4[/youtube]

There really just aren't many guys in HISTORY that can cover a PG out on the perimeter, get shook by a crossover, and still have the ability to recover and block the shot, leak out, and finish on the other end...and this all happened in like 6 seconds.

Off the top of my head, the guys throughout history that come to mind that could have made that play are guys like Bill Russell, David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kevin Garnett...aka all-time great defensive anchors.

Now, on the other hand, Javale McGee could have made that play too, and he's a terrible defensive player, because he never developed the defensive IQ necessary to be a great anchor. To me, Davis is a much smarter player and will eventually become a legit defensive anchor.

I do agree that it's also easy to see plays like that, and just assume that he makes plays like that all the time, and as people have noted, over the course of an entire game, he does make plenty of mistakes, but he'll get better as he gains experience.

As of right now, no, I don't think he's all that great of a defender. A positive impact defender, sure, but not all that big of a positive at this point.

[GSP]

Hes a good defender but his team defense is subpar ATM and hes not an anchor yet. He relies on his physical talents too much but he is just a 2ndyr player. IMO ppl overrate him this season b/c of the potential they see in the future he has no argument for being a top 5 player this season

[nikomCH]

I think he is going to need an elite defensive coach to bring out his true defensive potential. I don't trust Monty as the guy to do that

[aol4532]

Blocks are no longer the best measure of a great defender. Defensive rotation is the most important, and that's something that cannot be measured by stats, except for looking at defensive rating. Man defense and boxing out are also important as well.