Clyde_Style wrote:ChaosHamster wrote:F N 11 wrote:KP is a good post help defender. Impacts the game for sure with his ability to block shots. Overall he is terrible. Greenie use to press me about saying KP was good on defense and she was right. He does impact the game though. People drive by him and hit shots when he is too late to contest. Then gets assaulted in the post. Now Mitchell Robinson is one of the best defenders I have ever seen. See the difference.
Really starting to lose faith in this board when post like this get 3 and-1 and dude obviously ain't trolling.
KP is the kind of player that can help a team's defense improve, but because of the flaws in his defense that are being noted he is only a significant addition on defense IF you have other pieces that can cover for his deficiencies.
KP still needs a solid defensive center on the floor with him to protect the paint since he roams on defense rather than stays committed to the interior or exterior. Saying he is a good help defender is a compliment that comes with a caveat since he can be abused when he is more than 15 feet out. If there is no one down low to cover for that problem then KP getting 2 or 3 blocks per game is not enough to compensate for this.
In short, KP is a solid defensive addition to a line-up constructed to support his flaws while taking advantage of his defensive strengths.
In sharp contrast, Mitch doesn't really have these defensive issues because (a) his assignment remains as a center not as a wing and (b) he does roam to the perimeter (and blocks 3 point shots unlike anyone else in the league so far) without it turning into a liability as he can recover quickly when he gets beat. Sometimes KP can recover with a trailing block, but often he cannot.
So the statement that KP's overall D is poor is not really correct. It should be taken as a provisional statement. In some matchups KP can be a strong defensive positive and in others he does become a liability. That's a roster construction issue and a positional issue for KP (i.e. can he become strong enough to stay down in the paint and not chase or be beaten by wings on the perimeter)
Does that qualify the criticisms for you better?
I mean, your main point about KP being so teammate/match-up depended and needs team fully constructed around him, to make an impact. Is just objectively incorrect.
KP single handedly made our defense average (
https://stats.nba.com/teams/advanced/?sort=DEF_RATING&dir=-1&CF=MIN*GE*15&Season=2017-18&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&DateTo=02%2F06%2F2018 ) in 17-18 while playing with "a solid defensive center" Enes Kanter, and overall team fully constructed around him, right? Pieces like Jack, THJ, Lee really helped him to make an impact. You know what happened when he went down?
https://stats.nba.com/teams/advanced/?sort=DEF_RATING&dir=-1&CF=MIN*GE*15&Season=2017-18&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&DateTo=09%2F13%2F2018&DateFrom=02%2F07%2F2018Again, KP obviously has his flaws. I and posters like K-DOT have been talking about them enough. His spot-up shooter defense has dropped to abysmal level his last two seasons (compered to his rookie year), it has something to do with scheme, but mainly I think his defensive effort just dropped, he started being lazy, he over-helps a ton, and the fact he is so easily screened because of his frame, he just can't get to his fast enough leading to open/wide open looks.
Obviously Mitch doesn't have the same issue because he is playing C. But Mitch has the flaws of his own (being weak, block-chasing, being foul-prone). I think overall they are comparable defenders. I still want to see Mitch play some heavy minutes in some real games to have a stronger opinion, but hes good, no one denying that. But when someone makes a statement that KP is a poor defender overall while Mitch is the best one he ever seen, you have to question his understanding of basketball.
