JV on pace to do what only 8 centers have done

[Ganjamayne]

[ForeverTFC]

The only issue with JV on the floor is the defense. It looked better to begin the season but the last month it has been atrocious. Last few games though, good. It's mind boggling to me. I think he basically needs to lose weight because he can't guard anything mid range and beyond. He's allowed to have defensive weaknesses, but they can't be hugely exploitable. Right now dragging him out of the paint is very exploitable. Not too worried about that though because I think once he sheds some weight he'll be fine. He'll be an average defender at his floor.

He has actually been measuring well on D the last month.

His Drtg is tied for 5th on the team with Lowry among rotations players in January at 104.1. Tied for second among starters after Demar.

His Drtg is 1st on the team since Demar's return (Jan 14th) at 94.0. Second place is Kyle and 3rd DeRozan - both guys also have marks under 100 here which is eye opening.

Oddly enough, it's his Ortg that has suffered in that same period. Second last on the team at 94.5. Last is Amir, and below Jonas in third last is Demar.

[Clementine9]

The only issue with JV on the floor is the defense. It looked better to begin the season but the last month it has been atrocious. Last few games though, good. It's mind boggling to me. I think he basically needs to lose weight because he can't guard anything mid range and beyond. He's allowed to have defensive weaknesses, but they can't be hugely exploitable. Right now dragging him out of the paint is very exploitable. Not too worried about that though because I think once he sheds some weight he'll be fine. He'll be an average defender at his floor.

He has actually been measuring well on D the last month.

His Drtg is tied for 5th on the team with Lowry among rotations players in January at 104.1. Tied for second among starters after Demar.

His Drtg is 1st on the team since Demar's return (Jan 14th) at 94.0. Second place is Kyle and 3rd DeRozan - both guys also have marks under 100 here which is eye opening.

Oddly enough, it's his Ortg that has suffered in that same period. Second last on the team at 94.5. Last is Amir, and below Jonas in third last is Demar.

I was looking at these stats. I have it filtered so it's from December 28th (believe that was our game against Portland) to today:

http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/202685/t ... F29%2F2015

[Zeno]

Slightly off-topic but I think this stat should serve as an advisory to everyone not prepared for the virtually inevitable max contract extension coming JVs way shortly. Make peace with this now.

[dballislife]

6th on the team in shot attempts LOL that is all

[Jstock12]

The obvious thing I noticed from the data is that JV is well behind in minutes compared to other players, and also rebounds. The rebound concern for me is that even if we increase his minutes I don't think he is anywhere on par with those centres, outside of Brook Lopez.

The other thing to consider before people start the "fire Casey" momentum, is that his efficiency likely takes a hit the more possessions go through him. Right now he is taking care of the small number of touches he gets, but at 22, he might not be able to take more touches and be efficient, while maintaining important defensive focus. It is not like JV just jumps and dunks it over people like Drummond or Howard. He has to use footwork and skill to get his shot off.

The TRB% is 18.6, ORB% 11.2% and DRB% is 26.1, not saying he will ever be at that level but by comparison to the others:

Career TRB%:

Shaq-17.8 (Best 20.6)
Dwight- 20.7 (Best 22)
Hakeem- 17.2 (Best 19.9)
Yao- 16.5 (Best 17.5)
Demarcus-19.2 (Best 21)

Career DRB%:

Shaq-23.6 (Best 27.1)
Dwight- 29.1 (Best 33.1)
Hakeem- 23.8 (Best 28.8)
Yao- 23.3 (Best 25.6)
Demarcus- 27.4 (Best 30.5)

Career ORB%

Shaq- 11.7 (Best 13.5)
Dwight- 11.8 (13.8)
Hakeem - 10.3 (Best 16.9)
Yao- 9.3 (Best 10.2)
Demarcus- 11.4 (Best 14.2)

Now by comparison to those guys he's right in the middle of the TRB%, same with DRB% and same with ORB%. You talk of Brook, but by the numbers he is not even near these guys in terms of grabbing boards.

Brook TRB% 12.9 (Best 15.8), DRB% 16.5 (Best 21), ORB% 9.5 (Best 10.8)

I don't see how more minutes will decrease the %ages.

He by comparison, even if he is at the bottom of all but Brook will still be elite. If he can fix up his defence, it is scary to think what he could be. Given his age we really should see Val as the real key to the future.

Pretty much this. Also, there is another niuance here. Our guards "steal" a ton of defensive boards from Jonas, so JV's rebounding stats don't get inflated as much as some of those other guys. Hakeem used to be mad at his teammates for taking away some of those easy boards from him.

[ForeverTFC]

The only issue with JV on the floor is the defense. It looked better to begin the season but the last month it has been atrocious. Last few games though, good. It's mind boggling to me. I think he basically needs to lose weight because he can't guard anything mid range and beyond. He's allowed to have defensive weaknesses, but they can't be hugely exploitable. Right now dragging him out of the paint is very exploitable. Not too worried about that though because I think once he sheds some weight he'll be fine. He'll be an average defender at his floor.

He has actually been measuring well on D the last month.

His Drtg is tied for 5th on the team with Lowry among rotations players in January at 104.1. Tied for second among starters after Demar.

His Drtg is 1st on the team since Demar's return (Jan 14th) at 94.0. Second place is Kyle and 3rd DeRozan - both guys also have marks under 100 here which is eye opening.

Oddly enough, it's his Ortg that has suffered in that same period. Second last on the team at 94.5. Last is Amir, and below Jonas in third last is Demar.

I was looking at these stats. I have it filtered so it's from December 28th (believe that was our game against Portland) to today:

http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/202685/t ... F29%2F2015" target="_blank

I was using NBA stats as well, looking at the team stats but from January 1st. You are right, his problems come from 15 feet and out, which from the eye test are made of attempts off the pick and roll where he sits back and doesn't really get up on the driving player. I'm really not sure how we would alleviate that though. As much as we harp on the weight with him, he has become a much better rim protector and rebounder because of it.

Encouraging signs still I would say to see his overall defensive metrics climbing. Here is hoping he can put it all together.

[Bankai]

Maybe one day Jonas will be able to guard the perimeter and the paint at the same time like Casey wants him to.

[ForeverTFC]

Slightly off-topic but I think this stat should serve as an advisory to everyone not prepared for the virtually inevitable max contract extension coming JVs way shortly. Make peace with this now.

There was no way he wasn't getting a near-max before. There will always be a team that will throw that kind of money at a young C with the potential that Jonas has shown.

All of this really goes to show how important he is to the success of this team. If he can put it together while Lowry is still playing at this level, this team is real. It has been a while since 1 player's development has meant so much to this team.

[BigCashRuthford]

JV gonna get the max man.

[sca]

Guys, I love JV as much as any of you but we've got to stop with the circlej***.

We're much worse with him on the floor. Amir-PatPat frontcourt has worked wonders for us so far. If anybody is curious, you can look up for the numbers. It's not to say that JV is a bad player. But we definitely value rotating and helping each other on defense and JV clearly fails to provide that. And we need spacing from bigs for our iso-heavy offensive system to work, so having JV doesn't help on that end either. It explains why we're struggling with JV on the floor without implying that he's a bad player. I love him, but he has some obvious flaws at this stage of his career.

[Jonn]

JV will have his time. Hes starting to become more consistent. Hes probably on the best strech of his career right now. I have been someone who has been hard on him. But I'm opening my eyes to his upside and how important he has been.

[Lateral Quicks]

"Better start playing Hayes more" - Casey

[Lateral Quicks]

JV gonna get the max man.

Almost certainly. Someone will give it to him even if he isn't worthy come contract time.

[MessiahUjiri]

I saw only one guy on that list who made it at 20 years old.

#Drummond

[Kabookalu]

lolol first time Snooch posts in months and the moment he does he's getting mollywhopped by the entire board.

[Volcano]

oh, thats why we sit him on the bench in the 4th

I think he is benched in the 4th because he is significantly worse than any of the guys on the list on defense. Casey just doesn't trust JV on defense.

What made the other guys on this list special was that they were bringing it on both sides of the court. JV is playing really well offensively but not defensively.

Stats can be deceiving though and while JV has his defensive flaws, it's been mentioned a couple times that he's been the best statistical defender the past several games and he's still getting benched. Maybe it's warranted sometimes, but not every single time.

Really, the guards and wing players play a huge role in how their defense is faring as well. At the beginning of the season, the team use to turn it up every 4th Q or have slow starts, even when JV was injured. Now, that trend has changed and so did JV's defensive stats.

[DeadHorse]

I saw only one guy on that list who made it at 20 years old.

#Drummond

Really... what about shaq

[Indeed]

PER is overrated, as it doesn't indicate if he is a ball creator or finisher. He seems to be a finisher and garbage collector (offensive rebounder after switch or his man went to help). He is not able to make 15 feet baseline shot consistently, as NBA length is tougher to shoot over, and his footwork in the paint isn't any spectacular, perhaps just average.

His defense has improved, perhaps similar to Cousins on his 3rd year, but Cousins is a better athlete, which I am not sure Jonas potential can be that much better (Can he really anchor the defense? If yes, why are we looking for another defensive player/shot blocker at PF?).

He is still young, hope he has some time in summer to improve himself (particularly footwork and 15 feet - 18 feet contested jumpshots), but that may mean less time to play for his country.

[Jstock12]