jezzerinho wrote:VFX wrote:jezzerinho wrote:The people that say Wendell and Paolo are poor defenders need to ask themselves:
How can we be a top 3.defense with a trash defensive frontcourt? Is that even vaguely conceivable?
The Magic defend by harrying opponents, getting in their grilles with good anticipation, footwork, switching and understanding of team D concepts. Because we can switch 1 through 5 (generally speaking), pnr and screen-heavy teams don't have an easy time with us. And because we close out so well, 3pt heavy teams don't either.
We make opponents play in way they don't want to. Which makes them less.efficient and more turnover prone.
A lot of that doesn't show up in conventional stats, because there aren't readily available numbers to reflect that effort and defensive style.
But that doesn't mean it isn't happening.
That said, there are also some misnomers constantly recycled here that can be refuted by conventional stats. For example that we are a bad rim protecting and rebounding frontcourt, when the stats say otherwise.
Not everything can be explained by the stats that are readily available to the fans. But watching us hassle and grind teams to points totals way below.their average should tell you something about whether PB and WCJ are really "poor defenders".
A few things here.
You can be a “good defender” in space and not at the rim. Unfortunately, Carter and Paolo are not good at the rim. Carter is only good in space on the switch. Paolo isn’t useless defensively. He’s still a huge body and takes up space inside. He’s lateral enough to where he can stay in front and switch, but he’s just not active enough to call him a good defender. He will be by far the “worst” defender in the SL, which isn’t really a shot at him tbh. Goga is almost necessary on this roster when facing guys like Zubac, Embiid, or Wemby. The next point is how Orlando mitigates those guys without him on the floor.
Orlando’s pressure on guards on the perimeter 1-3 is the bread and butter for the defense. Carter being able to switch just means that gap gets filled. Both of these things were obvious when Suggs and Franz were out. You cannot have either of those guys off the floor, both is a collapse.
So yeah… Carter and Paolo aren’t terrible on defense. Carter is basically getting a contract because he can switch well defensively. But there are also a lot of guys in the league that can do that as well as other things… like.. not make 3-4 stupid decisions a game, catch the ball underneath, protect the rim, and average more than 8 rebounds per game (he hasn’t in 2 seasons).
If we're so bad at the rim, how can we be 2nd in the NBA in Opponent offensive rebound % and top 10 in Opponent eFG%???
It doesn't add up. You just have unrealistic expectations of what good defense is or your definition of it is skewed by your historic ideas of good frontcourt play in the past. Orlando is, by the eye test, the scoreboard, the basic stats, the advanced stats and the testimony of opposing players and coaches a very difficult oponent to score on. They are prototypical modern defenders. It's highly illogical that 40% of the team and 100% of the froncourt could be bad defenders in this reality.
Are we watching games or reading box scores/ advanced metrics?
Teams have an issue with switchable defense and ball pressure. Orlando is the best in the league at this. Mosely is a head coach for this side of the ball.
Everyone off the bench is a plus to elite defender, which is why the offense off the bench is equally as bad in the other direction and why you are reading those stats the way you are. Last season we have Suggs, KCP, AB, Franz, Isaac, Garris, and Goga. TDS isn't necessarily a scrub either.
So lets think about this logically...
Are you going to tell me that Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter are elite rim protectors that are locking down the paint? No you aren't. Because you use logic when discussing these elements like you would 95% of other topics.
