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I've seen a lot of people saying he's fallen off a cliff, but when it comes to 1 on 1 defense, few score higher. Per Synergy, Kawhi holds players to 31% shooting on .55 Points per possession in 1 on 1 situations (isolation plays), which is 96th percentile. Not to say his team defense or overall impact on that end hasn't decreased, but he's still not a guy you want to try 1 on 1. I've noticed in general when guys become full fledged superstars and take on a huge offensive load, their defense takes a hit. So I'm not surprised that his defense was better in SA when he was basically in an Iggy role vs being a #1 option scoring 25+ ppg.

Does he still deserve respect as a great defender despite the reduced DRPM?

Yogatti wrote:https://www.12up.com/posts/kawhi-leonard-has-defended-giannis-better-than-any-other-player-in-the-nba-01dbn67g4nxp

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Blake Griffin 2nd? Im taking this list with a grain of salt.

Kawhi is like a Ferrari, you don't rip him every day. So during the regular season, he's not going to be going full gear. In the playoffs he turns it on. He just goes through the motions in the regular season, so people will say "his defense has fallen off a cliff". Kawhi really only became Kawhi again in the playoffs this year. Before playoffs people were still questioning him.

dautjazz wrote:

Yogatti wrote:https://www.12up.com/posts/kawhi-leonard-has-defended-giannis-better-than-any-other-player-in-the-nba-01dbn67g4nxp

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Blake Griffin 2nd? Im taking this list with a grain of salt.

Blake has always been an underrated 1 on 1 defender, especially in the post. In his Clippers years he ranked top 5 multiple years if I recall in 1 on 1 post defense. His issue was ATROCIOUS help defense, which was largely caused by bad instincts in those situations and short arms.

In totality last year, even including his increased playoff performance, he was probably the 3rd or 4th best raptor defender. It's not a slight on him; the amount of players that can sustain elite play on both sides of the ball is staggeringly low

He was pretty average last year, and has definitely regressed to be just an above average defensive player. But that is mostly by choice, as we can see him turn it on when he wants to. It's hard to be elite on both sides of the ball, and considering how elite his team was defensively around him, he didnt need to focus on it as much.


But yeah, all stats show he has severely regressed. I don't care what some cherry picked stat going up against Giannis only like it's the end all be all measurement here.

mademan wrote:In totality last year, even including his increased playoff performance, he was probably the 3rd or 4th best raptor defender. It's not a slight on him; the amount of players that can sustain elite play on both sides of the ball is staggeringly low

He was the #1 perimeter defender on the Raptors based on opponent shooting percentage and ppp 1 on 1 unless we are referring to rim defense or help defense, but saying he was the 4th best defender seems like a stretch. So the fact that he did that while taking it easy in the regular season is quite impressive. So maybe you're referring to help defense, who knows.

Bornstellar wrote:He was pretty average last year, and has definitely regressed to be just an above average defensive player. But that is mostly by choice, as we can see him turn it on when he wants to. It's hard to be elite on both sides of the ball, and considering how elite his team was defensively around him, he didnt need to focus on it as much.


But yeah, all stats show he has severely regressed. I don't care what some cherry picked stat going up against Giannis only like it's the end all be all measurement here.

How about my full regular season stats? Want to disregard my whole premise while you're at it? By all accounts holding people to 31% shooting and .55 PPP in isolation is ELITE. It's literally 96th percentile. That was for a guy who's supposedly "just an above average defender now". Iso defense is easily the most valuable defensive aspect considering superstars take over and 1 on 1 becomes a bigger deal as the season goes on, especially in the playoffs.

Kawhi moved around like an old man last year. He seemed reluctant to move side to side, and did almost no ball hawking. He was clearly recovering from injury, and despite the load management, he barely made it through to the finals, where he played on one leg.

I'm curious about this season. Does he come back looking more mobile? Or is his Spurs era mobility permanently behind him?

Without elite mobility, he's still a great defender. His length, hands and focus are what makes him special. But like others have said, he'll probably do just enough on defense until he has to ramp it up a bit. People talk as though he turned into a Lebron/Kobe level ball watcher this year, but Kawhi was still impossible to score on, and never comprimised the Raptors scheme. This new version of Kawhi is still one of the best defenders in the NBA, but he's not winning DPOY by doing just enough.

ClipsFanSince98 wrote:Iso defense is easily the most valuable defensive aspect considering superstars take over and 1 on 1 becomes a bigger deal as the season goes on, especially in the playoffs.

Its actually the opposite, the least important kind of defense is the 1on1 perimeter defense

Bornstellar wrote:But yeah, all stats show he has severely regressed. I don't care what some cherry picked stat going up against Giannis only like it's the end all be all measurement here.

Yeah he was only going up against the league MVP in the playoffs, not that big of a deal there

Define elite.

I don't think he was a top 5 perimeter defender last year or even top 10.

ClipsFanSince98 wrote:

mademan wrote:In totality last year, even including his increased playoff performance, he was probably the 3rd or 4th best raptor defender. It's not a slight on him; the amount of players that can sustain elite play on both sides of the ball is staggeringly low

He was the #1 perimeter defender on the Raptors based on opponent shooting percentage and ppp 1 on 1 unless we are referring to rim defense or help defense, but saying he was the 4th best defender seems like a stretch. So the fact that he did that while taking it easy in the regular season is quite impressive. So maybe you're referring to help defense, who knows.

overall defensive impact. He was quite easily behind Gasol and Siakam, unarguably, imo. Lowry is arguable

ClipsFanSince98 wrote:
How about my full regular season stats? Want to disregard my whole premise while you're at it? By all accounts holding people to 31% shooting and .55 PPP in isolation is ELITE. It's literally 96th percentile. That was for a guy who's supposedly "just an above average defender now". Iso defense is easily the most valuable defensive aspect considering superstars take over and 1 on 1 becomes a bigger deal as the season goes on, especially in the playoffs.

Haven't you heard? According to realgm, every stats that shows Kawhi as a great defender is bogus. Every stats that show any other player as good defender is the accurate one.

That's the current state of this board right now. "Let me pick stats that fit into my narrative and disregard every other stat that doesn't"

Can't wait until the season starts

He is not going to be charged with defending the primary guy all game any more since he is a primary scorer now, but when you need him to lock in he is still one of the best. Nobody, however, defends one on one all game and scores now. Not even Jordan did that.

Payton on the Sonics may have been the closest.

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HakeemAlAhlam wrote:

ClipsFanSince98 wrote:Iso defense is easily the most valuable defensive aspect considering superstars take over and 1 on 1 becomes a bigger deal as the season goes on, especially in the playoffs.

Its actually the opposite, the least important kind of defense is the 1on1 perimeter defense

Until the 4th quarter.

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ClipsFanSince98 wrote:I've seen a lot of people saying he's fallen off a cliff, but when it comes to 1 on 1 defense, few score higher. Per Synergy, Kawhi holds players to 31% shooting on .55 Points per possession in 1 on 1 situations (isolation plays), which is 96th percentile. Not to say his team defense or overall impact on that end hasn't decreased, but he's still not a guy you want to try 1 on 1. I

Does he still deserve respect as a great defender despite the reduced DRPM?

He deserves respect as a great 1 v1 defender, he doesn't deserve anything more than a "fine" for his overall defense, something his impact on his team's playoff and rs defenses reflects.

Yogatti wrote:

Bornstellar wrote:But yeah, all stats show he has severely regressed. I don't care what some cherry picked stat going up against Giannis only like it's the end all be all measurement here.

Yeah he was only going up against the league MVP in the playoffs, not that big of a deal there

Why would we cherrypick when he was supported by two or three help defenders to judge abilities typically showcased with one help defender?

HakeemAlAhlam wrote:

ClipsFanSince98 wrote:Iso defense is easily the most valuable defensive aspect considering superstars take over and 1 on 1 becomes a bigger deal as the season goes on, especially in the playoffs.

Its actually the opposite, the least important kind of defense is the 1on1 perimeter defense

No, that's post defence