Game 18: Orlando Magic (6-11) @ San Antonio Spurs (14-3)

[PennytoShaq]

...after a few games, people are now adding that he is a solid defender...

no, not after a few games. there's been 18 games this season and considering all of them he has been the best defensive player this year in this team according to every metric and eye test. rest of the season is subject to change, we'll see.

No. To my eye test that would be Bizmack. He changes so many shots at the rim and is so good on weakside help that people just stop attacking the lane when he is in.

Additionally he switches onto PGs and shuts them down. It's nuts. There are not any stats for these things, but to me that is what the best defensive player on a team needs to bring in the modern nba.

I love having 3 bigs and having it work out. So far the results are a sub .500 team, but if we can get in a groove with the rotations, I don't see any need to break up the band.

[fklt]

No. To my eye test that would be Bizmack. He changes so many shots at the rim and is so good on weakside help that people just stop attacking the lane when he is in.

Additionally he switches onto PGs and shuts them down. It's nuts. There are not any stats for these things, but to me that is what the best defensive player on a team needs to bring in the modern nba.

yep, eye test is subjective. it's hard to debate around it. BUT, drpm kinda is a stat for those things, assessing defensive on court impact. and vuc has ben better than biz by that up to this point.

[nymets1]

I'm not surprised we won at San Antonio. They struggle at home, they are getting old. We are more younger and athletic than them and we miss Tim Duncan. Check out the thread I made in the OFF Topic board of bodysurfing and drive with the windows down

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[OrlandoNed]

FLUKE

[NBlue]

Defensive stats have their limitations. But they are getting more and more useful every year with all the added stuff. The rim protection data is very useful. Defensive rating is obviously very useful if you analyse it alongside lineup data. Etc, etc.

The "eyeball test" is far from perfect too. A lot of viewers rely on players' reputation in regards to defense too much. And it is pretty hard to pay attention to everyone on defense in real time and see everything that's happening off the ball. If you don't rewatch and pause a lot of plays (which few people outside of NBA coaches do) you miss on a lot of the small details which are crucial.

Obviously Ibaka is a better defender at his best than Vucevic. But he has not been the prime Ibaka anymore on that end, even on his best days this season (close, but not quite). And his start was terrible. On the other hand, Vucevic has improved significantly on defense and both the "eyeball test" and all the stats confirm it. His defensive rebounding has been dominant this season - that's always been a strength of his, but this year his defensive rebounding rate is 34.0%, by far the best number of his career and one of the best in the league.

I actually agree with a lot of this and I am also happy to give Vooch credit for improving on the defensive end this year. But there is a big caveat here. The defensive stats are all about team concept and scheme. SVG does a great job of breaking this down when he was on JJ's podcast before the season -- that is the primary issue with defensive metrics. Serge at OKC is a great example -- last year under Billy D they had him switching out and guarding smalls a ****. Not surprisingly his defensive metrics declined substantially while, arguably, his defensive value was actually greater than it had been. He was guarding guys on the perimeter so of course it reduced his rebounds. I think that Vogel's use of Vooch on D is that he is maximizing his strengths in the team concept -- good idea for both Vooch and for the team as well. However, we have not really seen anyone try to PNR him to death of late and that is my concern about what we will see coming up. Serge is an excellent pnr defender -- Vooch cannot move laterally. I'm hoping Vogel and Nik have worked their asses off on this as I have no doubt its coming.

Was hoping this would not be foreshadowing but this is exactly what Memphis did to Vooch last night in the second half. They put him in PnR with Gasol again and again and again and again and he just is not able to move laterally well enough to defend it when they drag him out to the perimeter. That is where his defensive weakness is truly exposed. Fortunately, there are not many teams with as talented a big as Gasol to be able to kill us like that.