Re: Coby White has leveled up
Posted: Wed Mar 6, 2024 5:02 pm
sco wrote:League Circles wrote:Stratmaster wrote:
Coby is a better help defender. Zach is a better on-ball defender. Coby really can't stop anyone on-ball. Can't really say with Demar because he rarely defends. Bwahahahah.
But shout out to Coby for last game. After the first quarter I was thinking "oh lord, this may end up being the worst game he has ever played". Thank goodness he promptly went into super-Coby mode and he and Demar took over the game.
I'd disagree on Zach being a better on ball defender. I personally think Coby is better than Zach at basically every skillset aspect of basketball, though in a number of aspects it's close. He's just a smarter, tougher, more competitive player with relatively similar physical ability. It shows in a number of advanced metrics. And the fact that he's been more durable, makes less than a third of what Zach makes, and is emerging into a leader instead of asking to be traded while playing terribly is why to whatever extent a team builds around a player, we should and will build around Coby.
I agree that Coby is the better defender. Zach has shown the ability to be the better defender, but not the willingness to do it for extended stretches. That said, I don't think the debate is Zach vs. Coby. I think the debate is better focused on who should start next to Coby at SG and SF, with Ayo emerging, AC thriving defensively, Demar being reliable offensively but becoming a FA, and Pat wanting to play SF.
Indeed this is the big question. IMO, it's a no-brainer - we MUST move at least 2 of Zach, Vuc, Caruso and/or Carter before FA. We are too mediocre to have this many guys and dollars competing for minutes at the 1-3 positions while we're so deficient at the 4 and 5. We're going to have to use Caruso to move Vuc, Zach, and/or Carter IMO. That will make whatever the answer is fairly obvious.