I think the most surprising thing was that Blake is not a bad, or even average defender; but actually a good one.
Three things jump out: 1.) Bayless has gotten a ton better since last year. 2.) Bayless is currently a better option then Miller in almost every single way. 3.) Blake is many, many times better at defense then I give him credit for. In fact he is far and away the best point guard defender Portland has. According to Synergy Sports it isn't even close. 1 and 2 I already thought were true so they aren't that big a surprise. The third one blows my mind. It just has never appeared as though Blake was even a decent defender. According to Synergy Sports I was completely wrong. This leads me to the question: How in the hell can you tell if someone is a decent defender without the benefit of game breakdowns by professionals? I am curious because I hate being completely ignorant on any subject. It sure looks like I know approximately fuck all about NBA team defense. Anyone have any books they might suggest on the subject?
Does allowing guards through so Oden could pick up a pesky foul count as a score against Blake? Do they record that stat?
Blake was out best PG defender for quite some time. It does not mean that he is really good, it just means that Miller and JB are very bad. There was a reason he was in the 3 guard line. A B-Roy and Miller tandem would be pretty bad on defense.
While those specific fouls are quite memorable, I believe that your statement is generally false. Most of Oden's fouls are not from players penetrating on Blake, less than one per game even, I would say. Plus, Miller and Bayless aren't much better in that regard, and in today's league, there are no guards who can fully cut off penetration.
