Faried

[U hova]

Is his defense significantly better than past seasons?
Regardless I kinda wish Malone would explore staggering Nurkic and Jokic's minutes so Faried isn't our center for extended stretches.

[NuggetsWY]

Hard to tell this early. Defense is hard to tell and sometimes stats are misleading. The Nuggets are playing at the fastest pace and their Defensive efficiency rating is sixth best; so as a team, they are doing fairly well on defense. Faried's personal defensive rating is the lowest of his career and his defensive win shares are also way down. But the Nuggets have only played two games and lost one. So at this point, Faried's defense is a matter of opinion. I've never thought he was as bad as some claim, but I've never thought he was above average. My opinion hasn't changed much - yet. I'll give him this, I think he's a little more focused on defense. I also think playing against backup players will give him a shot at having better stats across the board. On the other hand, while he isn't starting, he's finishing the games. So Malone is playing him against backups for part of the game and starters part of the game. Anyway, after all that avoiding your question; my response is that I totally-TOTALLY agree with you that it would be nice if Malone would keep Faried away from "center minutes". He's not only too short against most centers, he's also too light. Weight makes a difference - take it from a BIG guy. I'm very hard to push around and I know how to use my weight and it's very easy for me to push 97% of people around.

[RRFB]

Although the stats didn't always agree, I thought he looked like a better defender last year than any season before. And through two games, I'd say he's looked even better as far as the eye test goes. Of course, that's not saying a whole lot because he's been a really, really bad defender in the past.

I'll say it again though, I really like Faried as an energy guy off the bench. He's already had a significant impact in that role in the first two games. He definitely has the body and physicality to be a small ball 5, but he doesn't have the defensive awareness. I'm fine with him playing there in small stretches when the matchups calls for it, but I'd rather it not happen at the end of a close game.