MKG vs JT...Who's Better Defensively?

[catch20two]

Is Jeff Taylor's defense a bit overrated by Dunlap? I understand and see that the guy tries hard on the defensive end of the ball and has the size and athleticism but I'm not seeing the results. Aside from the game where he took Derozan almost completely out of the Raptors offense it seems like he's been getting played like a fiddle. I always figured that MKG would be our best defensive stopper if a player was giving us fits but for some reason I rarely ever see him on the opponents hot hand the way how I always see Taylor. I understand that defense is difficult to measure statistically because it takes a team effort but from all of the advanced stats that I gathered from BBR and 82games it would suggest that MKG is the better defender.

I wanted know how others felt about this so that's why I made this thread. Maybe someone else could enlighten me on why Dunlap seems to prefer JT as his defensive stopper.

[DY_nasty]

They specialize in two different aspects of defense. JT is primarily used as THE man defender within our zone system and MKG is often put in positions where his awareness and athleticism can shine - whether it be in passing lanes, weakside shotblocking, help defense, etc.

[BigSlam]

They specialize in two different aspects of defense. JT is primarily used as THE man defender within our zone system and MKG is often put in positions where his awareness and athleticism can shine - whether it be in passing lanes, weakside shotblocking, help defense, etc.

This is SO bang on.

It is why some people rave about Hendo's D. Hendo is a great focused defensive player - but he is only ever focused when the ball is in the hands of his direct opponent and he is within 5ft.

The best, and I mean the VERY best, defensive player we have EVER had on this roster was Herrmann. He started defending about 1 second after the other team inbounded the ball. His denial defensive was amazing. Sure, guys got by him off the dribble - but they were usually so exhausted by Fabio punishing them that they were spent.

Defense is NOT about what you do when your man has the ball, it is all the sh*t you do longggggggggggg before it even comes their way.

[JT2006]

hendo is probably the best 1 on 1 perimeter defender we have, then taylor/mkg, then kemba. the rest are pretty bad at it

[fatlever]

interesting discussion we have here and i agree with a lot of points being made.

i think MKG is probably the better all-around defender compared to JT. MKG is better off the ball, he is better in the zone, he is better at guarding bigger players and he has an amazing knack of stripping guys in the paint. my favorite think MKG does it not biting on fakes in the paint. he is so disciplined about just staying down and keeping his arms up and simply forcing guys to make a contested shot when they are really trying to bait for a foul.

JT is probably the better man to man perimeter defender. he is quicker laterally and uses his feet to stay in front of his man. JT is better equipped to guard quicker, smaller guys.

slam made some great points about hendo and how he is only engaged as a defender when his man has the ball. he does have a tendency to slack off when the ball is away from his man which results in hendo getting caught out of position often. i do not agree that hendo is the best man to man defender on the perimeter. i think JT is better.

and as the biggest herrmann homer on the boards, of course i love that slam mentioned his amazing ball denial defense. i dont think i would go so far as to say he was the best ever because of this, but it is very important to note the asset of ball denial defense. herrmann was relentless at not letting his guy get the ball, probably because he knew that once his man had him in a 1 v 1 situation he was probably toast, since herrmann didnt have the quickest of lateral movement. having two great shot blockers in wallace and okafor on the floor allowed herrmann to "lock and trail" as dell curry likes to say. herrmann could focus solely on keeping his man from getting the ball.

[HornetJail]

The fact that JT was the one guarding Irving during the last possession the other night says a lot of Dunlap's confidence. But I can't get over the thought that Irving wouldn't have gotten his shot if MKG, Walker, or Hendo was guarding him. JT is young and learning, but in due time I think he'll be as good as MKG at on ball D, and better than either Kemba or Gerald.



Digging the Walter Herrmann reference. Second favorite ex-Bobcat behind Gerald Wallace.

[catch20two]

I'm going to stick to my belief that MKG is not only a better overall defender but even a better perimeter defender than JT as well. I remember Coach Cal at Kentucky using MKG's defense on speedy point guards last year, most memorably in the Final Four when he locked down both Peyton Siva and Tyshawn Taylor to win the national championship. Synergy stats show that MKG has held his opponents to 15% shooting in isolation situations while Jeff Taylor is giving up 48%.

[JT2006]

The fact that JT was the one guarding Irving during the last possession the other night says a lot of Dunlap's confidence. But I can't get over the thought that Irving wouldn't have gotten his shot if MKG, Walker, or Hendo was guarding him. JT is young and learning, but in due time I think he'll be as good as MKG at on ball D, and better than either Kemba or Gerald.



Digging the Walter Herrmann reference. Second favorite ex-Bobcat behind Gerald Wallace.

JT is older than MKG and probably older than Kemba, isn't he? He did all four years?

[catch20two]

JT is in fact over 4 years older than MKG and almost 1 year older than Kemba.

[DY_nasty]

I'm going to stick to my belief that MKG is not only a better overall defender but even a better perimeter defender than JT as well. I remember Coach Cal at Kentucky using MKG's defense on speedy point guards last year, most memorably in the Final Four when he locked down both Peyton Siva and Tyshawn Taylor to win the national championship. Synergy stats show that MKG has held his opponents to 15% shooting in isolation situations while Jeff Taylor is giving up 48%.

JT is put in significantly more ISO situations.

Hell, MKG doesn't even guard the opposing team's best offensive player unless there's a rotation and he tells guys to back off so he can stay out there alone.

[catch20two]

I'm going to stick to my belief that MKG is not only a better overall defender but even a better perimeter defender than JT as well. I remember Coach Cal at Kentucky using MKG's defense on speedy point guards last year, most memorably in the Final Four when he locked down both Peyton Siva and Tyshawn Taylor to win the national championship. Synergy stats show that MKG has held his opponents to 15% shooting in isolation situations while Jeff Taylor is giving up 48%.

JT is put in significantly more ISO situations.

Hell, MKG doesn't even guard the opposing team's best offensive player unless there's a rotation and he tells guys to back off so he can stay out there alone.

It shows that MKG has been in 27 ISO situations and has only allowed 3 made baskets out of 20 attempts for 15% field goals.

JT has been in 36 ISO situations and has allowed 11 made baskets out of 23 attempts for 48% field goals.

Unless the opponents that MKG defend on isolation situations predict to make their next 9 baskets straight without a miss then MKG has fared better whether he's defending the best or worst offensive player on the floor. I just want to see what will happen if we used MKG on the opposing team's best offensive player instead of JT since I believe that MKG is the better defender. We drafted MKG for his defensive prowess so I want for Dunlap to let him do what he do. There's a reason why our youngest player on the roster has the best +/- stat on the team and I doubt that it's his offense.

[JT2006]

I think catch22 is right. JT does seem like a good defender but he's only as good as his confidence level that game. The guy needs to get more consistent

[Snidely FC]

I appreciate the spirit of the OP, which questions not only the skill level of D but when to properly use each player. After CJ Miles torched us at the start of the CLE game I posted a question asking where was MKG? Dunlap put him in and Miles torrid pace ceased . . . but why did Dunlap wait until Miles already had 11 pts? Same scenario with Tristan Thompson, who killed us all night. Why didn't Dunlap try Adrien, coming off a strong game and a no brainer to at least try against Thompson, as opposed to Warwick & Biz who Thompson just threw around? So, yeah, the question of not just who's better, but who's the best matchup at any given time is really valid.

[fatlever]

to be fair, cj miles hit some ridiculously tough shots in that 1st quarter. he had one corner 3 with a defender all in his face, he had one 3 from the top of the key, off the dribble about 5 feet behind the line and one fadeaway 2 from the other corner with biz running at him. later in the game he hit another 3 with MKG playing perfect defense. for the most part, i didnt see a problem with the way we defended miles in that 1st quarter. give that man credit for making some really difficult shots.

@catch22, can you post a link to the synergy sports stats? i am curious as to what other nuggets of info we can find.

[catch20two]

@catch22, can you post a link to the synergy sports stats? i am curious as to what other nuggets of info we can find.

There's no direct link to a specific Synergy Sports stat but go to http://mysynergysports.com/ ,wait for the interface to load, and then enter the name of the player that you want to lookup. Once you're there you'll have the option to lookup his stats, offense plays, or defense plays depending on which tab you click.

[Eoghan]

I feel like Dunlap trusts JT's ability to defend without fouling more than MKG's. Other than that, MKG all the way.

[JT2006]

yeah MKG did have a stretch where he'd get like 4-5 fouls every game

[JMAC3]

To me Taylor will bring us more value as a defender. By sticking him on the top offensive wing player he can focus on that and if he picks up fouls its not as big of a deal, compared to if we play MKG on the wing player and he gets in foul trouble we lose more.

I think Taylor is better as a defender to chase the best wing player and guard isolation plays where MKG is a versatile defender who can switch screens and guard multiple positions. MKG will prolly put up better defensive stats such as blocks and steals, but I think Taylor moves his feet better, is stronger, and fouls less often.

So an example would be if we play the Lakers I would rather have Taylor on Kobe and allow MKG to come over weakside blocks and be in better rebounding postion. and like I said if Taylor picks up fouls we won't be as devasted with him having to go to bench as we would be with MKG.