Duke4life831 wrote:celticfan42487 wrote:Duke4life831 wrote:Defensively I think theyre close to a wash. But Bam brings a lot more on the offensive end and on the boards. Theis is just a garbage man on the offensive end, while Bam is an important part to Miami's offense.
This is probably about right.
Bam I'd say is an athletic version of Theis on defense too though. Theis can get by in the pick and roll defense whereas if Bam is switched on a CP3/Kemba/Irving there's a real chance he can force them into a bad contested shot over him.
It's just... idk. Bam is world's better. The ability to guard on the perimeter, consistently hit mid range shots, be a lob threat, and pass like a prime Horford in a system just stands out so much.
One of those guys whos impact on the regular season is less than in a playoff series where you can gameplan against a team and where suddenly you realize he is constantly blowing up sets both on offense and defense because advantages you should have against most Centers are not only not there... but they may even be strengths for him (aside from 3 point shooting).
Statistically speaking Theis holds his own pretty well out on the perimeter. He averages about 3 defensive contests on 3s per game and holds the opponent to -3% below their average. Boston was also one of the better defensive PnR teams in the league this year. I think any big advantage Bam has with athleticism, Theis pretty much makes up with positioning and timing.
Statistically speaking their defensive impacts are pretty similar. But again the offensive side is what really separates them. For instance, Bam has had as many games scoring at least 20 points as Theis has had scoring 5 or less. Theis playoff high in assists is 3, while 3 is good enough to tie for Bam's 2nd lowest, Bam has had 5 games with at least 5 assists. Its just a completely different level of impact on the offensive end.
Yup I hear you. Theis knows his role and plays it excellently.
But if you watch him he never makes a PG concerned being switched on to him, all he can do is play sound positional defense and (get called for the foul regardless) and hope for the best with verticality.
And maybe it's just because Bam is capable of highlights and Theis isn't, but I put a lot of stock in him shutting down last year the like of Jimmy Butler, Tatum, Curry, LeBron on the perimeter to the point where it was a DISADVANTAGE for them to be caught on him in ISO while he's on defense.
Theis can only play good defense and hope for the best, Bam can dominate. Maybe it's not consistent yet but like... anyone who can have this happen in a series I just think shows up secretly in a million other pick and rolls where the play was just blown up not with a highlight but with a PG havind to go back to the 3 point line and pass it away to run a new play with 10 wasted second on the clock.
Again though I totally get you listing the stats and it could just be these are outliers in the end and don't have as dramatic as an effect as I think they do. But it seems like... the fact that he can handle anyone one on one including all the stars has to make him worlds better than Theis who can only hope to survive and have them score less than an AND1 or open step back 3.
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