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dlts20 wrote:People forget how good Wall is at finding people. He's basically never had a stretch big in his whole career. Bryant and Bertans will feast off of Wall

dlts20 wrote:People forget how good Wall is at finding people. He's basically never had a stretch big in his whole career. Bryant and Bertans will feast off of Wall

Lopez fills three necessary holes:

1. The Wizards put emphasis on his rebounding.

“We’re trying to find guys that can really help prevent us from getting paint attacks all the time, trying to find guys that are great defensive rebounders that box out,” Sheppard said. “I hate to compare player to player, but Robin has a lot of the same vibe that Nenê gave us when we acquired Nenê. If you look at Nenê’s numbers, he wasn’t necessarily always the best rebounder, but you did notice his guy never got a rebound. You did notice he brought a lot of physicality, and you did notice that people really didn’t mess with him.”

As Sheppard mentioned, the way to evaluate Lopez’s rebounding isn’t with individual numbers.

He is wonderful at boxing out opponents to carve space. Often, he’s not the one corralling boards in those scenarios. Instead, he’s butt-shoving other guys out of the paint while his teammates grab boards without anyone else around. He averaged 6.1 rebounds per 36 minutes last season, unimpressive for a 7-footer. He’s never averaged 10 per 36. But he’s also been in the league for 12 years, has played for six different teams with tons of different roster makeups, and never — not once — has one of his squads been worse at rebounding while he’s playing. Never. For a dozen consecutive years, his teams have either grabbed the same or a higher percentage of available rebounds when he’s on the court. That is way too long to be a fluke. And it passes the eye test.

2. Lopez has a defensive trait the Wizards need: He’s a smart, in-place defender who doesn’t foul much. He’s a helpful positional defender, like Nenê — though he didn’t show the mobility in Milwaukee last season that Wizards-era Nenê did during his best seasons. Washington will want to keep him around the paint defensively. But he’s also not going to over-foul, which is a significant problem for many of the backup centers who were free agents this year, including guys like Noel and Dwight Howard. The Wizards fouled at an unacceptable rate last season. Lopez will help with that.

3. He isn’t exactly a leaper, but he is coming off his best rim-protection season. Get this: During a season when his twin brother, Brook, whom he backed up in Milwaukee, made it onto Defensive Player of the Year ballots because of the way he manned the paint, Robin actually excelled around the hoop just as much. For as competitive as the two brothers are with each other, there’s a good chance Robin would want to know this stat: Opponents shot 46.7 percent on layups and dunks that Brook contested, an elite number and one of the chief reasons he made an All-Defensive team. Well, Robin’s number was six-tenths of a percentage point better: 46.1 percent.

doclinkin wrote:Katz, the Athletic:

Lopez fills three necessary holes:

1. The Wizards put emphasis on his rebounding.

“We’re trying to find guys that can really help prevent us from getting paint attacks all the time, trying to find guys that are great defensive rebounders that box out,” Sheppard said. “I hate to compare player to player, but Robin has a lot of the same vibe that Nenê gave us when we acquired Nenê. If you look at Nenê’s numbers, he wasn’t necessarily always the best rebounder, but you did notice his guy never got a rebound. You did notice he brought a lot of physicality, and you did notice that people really didn’t mess with him.”

As Sheppard mentioned, the way to evaluate Lopez’s rebounding isn’t with individual numbers.

He is wonderful at boxing out opponents to carve space. Often, he’s not the one corralling boards in those scenarios. Instead, he’s butt-shoving other guys out of the paint while his teammates grab boards without anyone else around. He averaged 6.1 rebounds per 36 minutes last season, unimpressive for a 7-footer. He’s never averaged 10 per 36. But he’s also been in the league for 12 years, has played for six different teams with tons of different roster makeups, and never — not once — has one of his squads been worse at rebounding while he’s playing. Never. For a dozen consecutive years, his teams have either grabbed the same or a higher percentage of available rebounds when he’s on the court. That is way too long to be a fluke. And it passes the eye test.

2. Lopez has a defensive trait the Wizards need: He’s a smart, in-place defender who doesn’t foul much. He’s a helpful positional defender, like Nenê — though he didn’t show the mobility in Milwaukee last season that Wizards-era Nenê did during his best seasons. Washington will want to keep him around the paint defensively. But he’s also not going to over-foul, which is a significant problem for many of the backup centers who were free agents this year, including guys like Noel and Dwight Howard. The Wizards fouled at an unacceptable rate last season. Lopez will help with that.

3. He isn’t exactly a leaper, but he is coming off his best rim-protection season. Get this: During a season when his twin brother, Brook, whom he backed up in Milwaukee, made it onto Defensive Player of the Year ballots because of the way he manned the paint, Robin actually excelled around the hoop just as much. For as competitive as the two brothers are with each other, there’s a good chance Robin would want to know this stat: Opponents shot 46.7 percent on layups and dunks that Brook contested, an elite number and one of the chief reasons he made an All-Defensive team. Well, Robin’s number was six-tenths of a percentage point better: 46.1 percent.

doclinkin wrote:I think it is useful to note since we don't have a Big that knows how to box out. Rui especially needs to see it and learn it. But Bryant could learn to set a wider base as well, when he is not directly under the hoop contesting for it.

nate33 wrote:

doclinkin wrote:Katz, the Athletic:

Lopez fills three necessary holes:

1. The Wizards put emphasis on his rebounding.

“We’re trying to find guys that can really help prevent us from getting paint attacks all the time, trying to find guys that are great defensive rebounders that box out,” Sheppard said. “I hate to compare player to player, but Robin has a lot of the same vibe that Nenê gave us when we acquired Nenê. If you look at Nenê’s numbers, he wasn’t necessarily always the best rebounder, but you did notice his guy never got a rebound. You did notice he brought a lot of physicality, and you did notice that people really didn’t mess with him.”

As Sheppard mentioned, the way to evaluate Lopez’s rebounding isn’t with individual numbers.

He is wonderful at boxing out opponents to carve space. Often, he’s not the one corralling boards in those scenarios. Instead, he’s butt-shoving other guys out of the paint while his teammates grab boards without anyone else around. He averaged 6.1 rebounds per 36 minutes last season, unimpressive for a 7-footer. He’s never averaged 10 per 36. But he’s also been in the league for 12 years, has played for six different teams with tons of different roster makeups, and never — not once — has one of his squads been worse at rebounding while he’s playing. Never. For a dozen consecutive years, his teams have either grabbed the same or a higher percentage of available rebounds when he’s on the court. That is way too long to be a fluke. And it passes the eye test.

2. Lopez has a defensive trait the Wizards need: He’s a smart, in-place defender who doesn’t foul much. He’s a helpful positional defender, like Nenê — though he didn’t show the mobility in Milwaukee last season that Wizards-era Nenê did during his best seasons. Washington will want to keep him around the paint defensively. But he’s also not going to over-foul, which is a significant problem for many of the backup centers who were free agents this year, including guys like Noel and Dwight Howard. The Wizards fouled at an unacceptable rate last season. Lopez will help with that.

3. He isn’t exactly a leaper, but he is coming off his best rim-protection season. Get this: During a season when his twin brother, Brook, whom he backed up in Milwaukee, made it onto Defensive Player of the Year ballots because of the way he manned the paint, Robin actually excelled around the hoop just as much. For as competitive as the two brothers are with each other, there’s a good chance Robin would want to know this stat: Opponents shot 46.7 percent on layups and dunks that Brook contested, an elite number and one of the chief reasons he made an All-Defensive team. Well, Robin’s number was six-tenths of a percentage point better: 46.1 percent.

Interesting stuff. The point about his teams always rebounding well with him on the floor is significant. I note that that stat held up in Milwaukee, even though Giannis was presumably sitting while Robin Lopez played.

Dark Faze wrote:Kevin Broom already went over the advanced analytics on the Lopez signing and was not impressed:

https://www.bulletsforever.com/2020/11/23/21589992/2020-nba-free-agency-robin-lopez-wizards-analysis?fbclid=IwAR01_5henLP7VO3qToCRR5juycq60ebvpKFrlirI4MpL0hCN_VZo3hY75cs

Comparing him to near Prime Nene is funny. Nene had better lateral speed than most guards.

pancakes3 wrote:he's a fun guy though. the intangibles off-court and in practice will be worth it bc he's not logging major minutes anyway.

i hope i get to catch him around the City post-Covid.

NatP4 wrote:I didn't realize he could shoot and make a few 3s.

Dark Faze wrote:Kevin Broom already went over the advanced analytics on the Lopez signing and was not impressed:

https://www.bulletsforever.com/2020/11/23/21589992/2020-nba-free-agency-robin-lopez-wizards-analysis?fbclid=IwAR01_5henLP7VO3qToCRR5juycq60ebvpKFrlirI4MpL0hCN_VZo3hY75cs

Comparing him to near Prime Nene is funny. Nene had better lateral speed than most guards.