Would u say Wes and Batum are overrated defenders?

Batum is very overrated defending against SF's, they burn him, especially physical players. But he is very good against small guards, is good defending the ball and great defending in the open court.

Wes is rated accurately. He is solid, above average defender but not elite. On a team of poor defenders that often makes him the best by default.

LaMarcus is the one vastly overrated as a defender. Lots of fans look at opposing PF stats but the problem is LaMarcus never correctly rotates off his man to help. For example on the Dallas game winner it was his responsibility to rotate onto Ellis but he just stood back, there wasn't enough time to pass it. When Lopez rotates over to prevent shots at the rim on penetration LaMarcus sticks with his guy trying to seal for a rebound; he doesn't help guard Lopez's man. Thats how Bosh ends up with 37, just like many centers we face. Its not LaMarcus' man but its his responsibility to help.

 

You don't have to say that. When someone is perma banned for being a troll, then allowed back; the intention was that he will not troll anymore. Isn't that correct? I mean if someone gets a perma ban for trolling, the second chance means he must not troll anymore.

But it's fine, you guys control this forum and I trust you guys will do the right thing. In the meantime, I'm just gonna ignore the troll that usually only posts after losses, with mainly "why do we suck?" Threads

 

That begs the question of who actually thinks LMA has ever been a good defender? I have hardly ever seen it.

 

It's a legit question and a legit opinion. Mixulito isn't the only one who thinks this. I happen to disagree. My previous post is on the record.

 

I think Wes is a good defender, who gives great effort. Batum is good too, but I hate how he lets his guy get by him on purpose so he can try to block their shot. Annoying. I love them both.

 

Well James Harden made Mathews look like a damn fool. He couldn't even stay in front of him. Same goes for Kevin Martin when we played OKC.

 

Who can stay in front of Harden with any sort of consistency?

 

Do you believe carlito is not mixum?

 

As for this concept... This isn't about an individual issue, since no team plays man to man but the Blazers. We leave these players out on their own and hope they can stay with their man.

If Stotts could throw a double here and there, the defense would be much greater.

 

Taking the question as if it were legitimately intended for discussion, no, I don't think that either Wes or Batum are overrated as defenders. I think that they defend very well for stretches of the game. Teams have styles of play and can't be all things all of the time. The Blazers are a high octane offense, which plays to the strengths of the players on the roster. I don't think that players can put out full effort on both ends of the floor for the entire game unless a team has a lot more experienced depth than the Blazers do. The Blazers put out full effort on the offensive end and, as a result, it seems to me that they pick their times when they bear down on defense. Their defense during crunch time has, for the most part, been very good this year. They got beat by a couple of breakdowns against Dallas and Miami, but stuff happens once in awhile. I don't think that the Heat could very often get away with that weak dribbly pass that Wade rolled back to Bosh and have him drain a 3 pointer for the go ahead bucket. They caught a break and it worked out for them.

 

But really name a player that consistently shuts down elite wings like kd or Lebron or quick guards? They are who they are for a reason they are just that good. With that said I think they are above average defenders. Don't know if I'd say overrated though.

 

Batum absolutely is. Wes may be

 

You're better off not staying in front of Harden. He will crash into you and shoot free throws.

 

Take it you missed Batum's 3 block shots against Miami?

 

So you believe that Carlito has not been a troll then? I mean that's why Mixum was banned right?

 

The question of 'overrated' presupposes that there is a measurable or agreed-upon rating against which to compare their rating with 'reality'. We all rate their defense through our own lens, and based on our own opinion. How can one be overrated? In my opinion their defense is right at the level I believe it to be. And I rate their defense against this measure, accordingly.

So, not overrated.

 

They play great D during the final few minutes of games, but during the bulk of play they simply aren't aggressive on D. That's fine, it's by design. Have a high powered offense with the ability to step it up during tight contests. I think both are excellent at certain types of D during stretches, but have some holes. Batum for example is amazing on smaller guys, he can spider-arm around them and really throw the offensive smalls for a loop, but Batum has a tough time going up against bigger players, especially strong ones.

But this season the D calls for man to man, which will never look great from a statistics perspective, but it does make sure that if any single player is going to go off, they are going to have to burn a lot of energy getting their looks. It also leaves our players with more energy late in the game since they don't always have to switch and double and all that Jazz. Hopefully, as time goes on and our players improve on D, Stotts will add some wrinkles to our defense. We need to double certain players at least some of the time.

 

Oh I forgot that blocks = defense. My bad.