IceColdCubano wrote:greg4012 wrote:IceColdCubano wrote:
I didn't say Bam was a worse defender, had to reread my comment to make sure. Its about a build type, Bam is absolutely tier 1 and best at switching type on defense at all levels in the game of basketball however he does these things because of his speed which is a benefit of being on the smaller side, there are SF playing the game the same size as Bam. Gobert plays defense different that fits that team, or fits playing against bigger teams whom cannot control the paint. Bam makes things difficult for other center or bigger players because he is a very smart defender he however does not control the paint the way Gobert does or Wemby does, where players literally rather shoot from the perimeter rather than go inside which then allows Minies perimeter defenders do their thing and funnel the offensive player to a deadball or block shot.
Right now championships will run through Nuggets Jokic as long as that team is healthy. Our team will if healthy and if Jimmy is playing like a top 5 player good enough to beat 25 out of 30 teams in the NBA that we can match up with. The problem right now is that Jimmy is declining and will not be able to turn that switch as often as before plus us lacking size along with scoring we will not beat those Archetype teams.
Just providing clarity to some underlying points that may be off. Part of the deficiency in the Mitchell-Gobert build type was that despite the fact that they could generate a top 10 regular season defense, Gobert's defensive impact would drop significantly in postseason play. Less concern with Bam on that front.
Nonetheless, the more 2-way players that can accompany Mitchell plus defensive superstar big, the better the team will be.
Lumbering paint protecting centers don't control the paint as well in the playoff game EVER during modern NBA playoff bball. That's the whole rub and the underlying point. They get pulled out more as the game becomes even more of a space game and uncoordinated bigs are in more positions to give up advantage.
Just look at Gobert's precipitous drop in DRTG from regular season to playoffs relative to his own teammates over the course of his career. It's clearly consistent.
Bam also actually was a better paint deterrent than Gobert this season:
Contesting and blocking shots at the rim gets more attention. Not letting teams get into the paint is more impactful.
I've already looked at this before, while this may have been true in the past its not anymore at least this year Gobert has been quiet successful at controlling the paint, and not pulled like you state above in meaningful minutes to close games. We need to stop running with the old adage there that gets regurgitated over and over. Players improve and defensive adjustments can be made to facilitate their weaknesses, we do it all the time here to help our weaker defenders. I would garner that people need to at some point stop looking at career values and look at what the player is today and represents as of this season.
Theres also far more to size, than just paint defense, were talking rebounding and allowing your other players to have a wider field of control since you can cover that much more space. One thing can't be looked at linearly, we must look at all the positives size provides, outside of singularly stats.
And we're talking 1 game into the 2nd round. Minny has looked great so far. Phoenix was a mess and game 1 against DEN was a great success. Gobert is also having to cover the least ground of his career due to the personnel around him. ZERO pushback from me on that front. I haven't seen enough to be convinced that lumbering big men that are average or worse in space don't lose substantial efficacy in the most competitive parts of playoff basketball.
You're speaking narrative above while I've pointed to objective information. I welcome any objective data points to learn from and get better informed. That's one of the things I most value about this board.
In terms of covering more space--I agree that's super valuable. Bam has paced the NBA 2 seasons in a row in covering the most miles on the court per game over the course of the seasons. Jokic was actually one of the tops from this past season if you can believe it.
