Okay, so this is a stat that's supposed to have been one of the main reasons Kawhi Leonard won defensive player of the year. I've always been a fan of +/-, so I'm okay with that. It's interesting to look at the ranking of players according to this stat: not one Blazer in the top 40. BUT: Kosta Koufos at #10? NICK CALATHES at #13? Odd. Are they really that great team defenders? (Also really surprised to see Demarcus Cousins at #3. I would guess that that would be for the reverse reason from Calathes - where Calathes benefits from being on a good defensive squad, maybe Cousins is so much better than his lame-ass teammates that it inflates his stats? I have no idea how that might be possible, though. If you look by position, Damian is #23 among PGs. That's atrocious. Especially when Lin is at 20. But oddly, Patrick Beverley, whose strength is supposed to be defense (because it's not anything else) is at 24. (And Stephen Curry is at #5? That strikes me as a Nick Calathes-type glitch. He may have improved, but I would be amazed if he was actually a much better defender than Beverley, let alone Avery Bradley (#13).) Now, I know there are +/- haters out there - you guys can shut up. I've heard it all before. But people who are sympathetic, at least to "Real" plus/minus - what gives?
Also wacky: Klay Thompson, who everyone acknowledges is the better defender of the "Splash Bros", is 33rd among SGs! (Kris Middleton, who I had pegged as strictly a scorer, is ranked #1. He picked a great year to be a UFA. Wes is at #7, CJ at #12 (!))
If the numbers don't match the eye test, either the numbers are wrong or your eyes are wrong. Pick the one that makes you feel better.
CJ gets a lot of steals, which is nice, but he doesn't stay with his man as he drives. I wonder if, once the guard enters the key, he becomes the center's "responsibility"?
While we're on defense, here's another interesting stat: "Rim Protection" Lopez is pretty good, but Rudy Gobert is phenomenal (he also makes #1 in NBA.com's list). Just a reminder, for those who wish we had a better defense: we could have drafted Draymond Green (most first-place votes for DPoY this year) and Rudy Gobert instead of Meyers Leonard and CJ. Just sayin'. Oh, and Hibbert is still very much elite, even if he's shitty at everything else. If you're ready to give him $15 next season, he could be yours.
I actually think getting Hibbert would be a Godsend to this team. No offense to Lopez, but Hibbert is the "Rim protector" we desperately need. I think Lopez is a byproduct of having the best PF in the game playing next to him.
Hibbert and Leonard would be an interesting combo up front. I wouldn't mind Greg Monroe or Drummond if we could get one in a S&T with Detroit (if it came to that). Both had a DRtg well under their team's average.
Utah had much less to lose by playing Gobert a shit-ton of minutes than Portland did. There's no way Gobert would have grown as a player at the same rate he did in Utah.
I love Stotts, but sometimes I worry about how little he develops his youth on the court. The great coaches in the league work their up and coming talent into the mix, even having some work in clutch situations.
That's not quite true: Gobert actually played very few minutes his first season, busted out for France in Eurobasket (where he was one of the major reasons they defeated Spain, despite Spain starting both Gasols), and then Utah, recognizing his talent traded away a player to make room for him. And not just any player - Kanter is a double-double machine. Gobert is already doing for Utah what Lopez did for us. Chances are if we'd've drafted him, we wouldn't be thinking of re-signing RoLo (which would make me sad, as RoLo is awesome, so maybe there's an upside).
Gobert this year is basically Leonard if you trade Blocks for 3 Pointers. Per 36 minutes: Gobert - 11.4 Points Leonard - 13.9 Points Gobert - 12.9 Rebounds Leonard - 10.6 Rebounds
Leonard is certainly better than Gobert at one thing: shooting 3 pointers. If that's what you want from your center, then we made the right choice. (Although, of course, we chose Leonard over Draymond Green, but having Leonard might've been why we didn't pick up ANY of the centers in CJ's center-heavy draft. I was convinced we'd pick Steven Adams, who would've been good, just not as good as Gobert, who will win DPoY within the next 3 years, and might be the next Mutombo.)
??? And Raymond Felton is basically Manute Bol if you trade weight for height. And Elton John is basically Barack Obama if you trade musical success for political success. And Adolph Hitler is basically Gandhi and black is white and up is down.
And LA can shoot threes. And Bosh can shoot threes. and Dirk can shoot threes. I don't see what the big problem is with having a big man who can shoot threes.
Personally I think the center shouldn't be shooting 3's. Leonard isn't a center though. I am totally fine with him shooting 3s, but then we need a strong defensive anchor protecting the paint. If we aren't going to keep Aldridge, then I'm totally fine developing Leonard as our new PF of the future. With that in mind, then I would go "ALL IN" with looking for a Hibbert or defensive anchor center. Lopez is a solid defender, but hardly one I think we could count on if we don't have Aldridge. I think Lopez is a byproduct of being paired with such a good PF in Aldridge.
