This article is a translation of the journalist Kirk Goldsberry, does not represent the views of the translator and the platform, and the relevant data statistics are due to March 26, 2022.
You've got to keep hearing the phrase: Defense wins championships, especially now, with only three weeks left before the playoffs, there's a growing discussion about the defensive performance of teams, and while that phrase is a cliché, it really makes sense That since 2000, of all the teams that have won championships, they've had eleventh lowest defensive rankings that season
We've been trying to quantify a team's performance on the defensive end, from the intuitive average of points lost per game to now as a measure of a team's defensive efficiency, but to define whether a player is an elite defender, we still value technical statistics such as steals and blocks
However, changes in tracking player performance have been going on for a decade, and both Spectrum and the NBA League have introduced a new set of defensive contribution metrics The NBA league has used high-tech tools such as artificial intelligence and simulated learning machines, combined with tracked player data and sophisticated algorithms, to write NBA defensive contribution metrics such as interfering with passing routes, not losing position when defending offensive players, and the responsibilities of main defense and co-defense players in each offensive round
Using these new metrics can give us a clearer picture of which players should be named to the NBA's Best Defensive Team, some of which may surprise the average fan
【Defender】
Marcus-Smart
The Boston Celtics have had the league's number one defense this season, in part because Smart is one of the most skilled and versatile outside defenders in the game Coach Uduka's defensive scheme relies heavily on infinite turnovers, and much of what makes this possible is Smart's versatility Although Smart is only 6 feet 3 inches tall, he can take full advantage of his 6'9 inch arm span and 220-pound weight advantage to target players who are taller than him The combination of will and skill allowed him to play head-to-head with almost any offensive player in the league
The NBA has developed sophisticated algorithms to evaluate every offensive turn of every game, and even who is defending at any given moment, which helps us better appreciate players like Smart, rather than just seeing him average 1.7 steals per game
For example, in the March 3 Celtics' win over the Memphis Grizzlies, jaylen Brown was absent due to injury, Smart defended Ja Morant accounted for 27% of Morant's entire offensive rounds Morant averaged 27.6 points per game, seventh in the NBA, but only made three shots against Smart's defense
No defender in the league wants Smart to keep an eye on him, but Smart is so special because he's also very efficient against big men He averages 30.2 turnovers per game, ranking fourth among all defenders in the league Of all defenders, Smart ranks 19th and 16th respectively in total time against forwards and centers
According to NBA statistics, when Smart was replaced, the Celtics only conceded 1.05 points per game, which is the least points lost when a center guard in the league was changed
Fred VanVleet
For decades, NBA fans have always been quick to spot which player's mistake is ahead of the league This season, the honor belongs to Russell Westbrook, who has made 240 turnovers
But aside from steals, the NBA didn't count other defensive contributions that forced the other side to make mistakes
The NBA's data department has begun to record compulsive errors that help count defensive contributions that lead to mistakes or disrupt offense This metric encompasses much more than traditional steals, which are easy to count but don't reflect the overall picture In the case of VanVleet, his excellent defensive performance would not be known without these updated and more comprehensive metrics
According to NBA statistics, VanVleet has forced opponents to a league-high 3.0 turnovers per game this season, well above his average of 1.6 steals per game In fact, VanVleet has led the league for the third consecutive season in forcing opponents to make mistakes
For decades, we've been using steals as a way to get closer to stating this defensive effect, but VanVleet's stats this season show why this approach may be incomplete According to the NBA, of his 173 turnovers this season to force opponents, only 34 were snatched by VanVleet, 75 by other Raptors players, and 64 were not steals (out of bounds, fouls, offensive fouls, etc.).
6'1" Van Vleet, who spends 30 percent of his time defending opposing possession players, is eighth in the NBA While he's relatively small, he has an incredible ability to not only drive his teammates but also detonate fans He averaged 3.9 passes per game, second in the league, and many of the passes he interfered with were cut off by his teammates
VanVleet's unique ability to cause trouble for opponents explains why the Raptors rank first in the league in forcing opponents to make mistakes and second in the league in points scored using opponents' turnovers (19.2 points per 100 rounds).
Three years ago, VanVleet defended Stephen Curry in the 2019 NBA Finals to help the Raptors win their first championship And since then, he's getting better and better in the NBA, but he hasn't been named to the all-defensive team this year
Matisse-Sable
Unlike VanVleet, Sebel already enjoys an elite defender reputation and has a good reason to be 6'5" tall and has a staggering 6'11" arm span This statistic, like Scott Pippen, is more valuable than ever in a league that is increasingly obsessed with three-pointers
Earlier this season, No player in the league has been able to block as many three-pointers as he has Earlier this season, Sable became the first player to block Curry's three-pointer twice in one game
Even when Sebel didn't finish the block, his impact on the defensive end was still felt, and Sebel was able to limit the three-point shooting rate of opposing players to only 23.7%, the lowest three-point shooting rate of opponents in the NBA who defended at least 3 three-pointers per game According to the league statistics, when he defends opponents, his shooting rate from players is 12.1% lower than usual.
Overall, Sebel's limited opponent shooting percentage of 40.3 percent this season is the lowest of any guard and the second lowest of all players In other words, Sebel turned every jumper he defended into Russell Westbrook
He provided the 76ers with one of the most reliable outside defensive weapons in the league, so he should definitely be named to the All-Defensive Team again this year
Patrick Beverley
The Minnesota Timberwolves were 28th defensive last season, but all of a sudden the Timberwolves feel like a team changed What happened? Patrick Beverley shows up Beverly has provided the Timberwolves with a change in team temperament that they desperately need, especially defensively, with the Timberwolves tenth on the defensive end this season
According to Second Spectrum, Beverley kept his opponent's effective shooting percentage at 37.4 percent, the lowest percentage of shots a defender can limit this season (a player who has defended at least 300 shots) he also ranks in the top five on the limit opponent's jump shooting efficiency list
According to NBA statistics, Beverly has limited opponents' three-point shooting rate of only 26 percent this season and only Sable has done better than him
【Forward】
Mikael Bridges
The Suns are the best team in the NBA, and their second-place defense has helped them set the best record in team history While the Suns' roster is full of talented and willing to defend, Bridges is still a defender at a higher level
The data proves that the 25-year-old striker is the hardest-working wing defender
Bridges has averaged 1.31 miles per game this season, the NBA's highest record, but that's just the tip of the iceberg, and in the league that currently blocks offense, no defender can defend as many ball carriers as Bridges, who has defended 1,541 opponents' blocks, and that's proof of head coach Monty Williams' trust in Bridges
Bridges' halftime defense against players named to the 2022 All-Star Game has ranked fifth in the league It may sound trivial, but it's not, this defensive superstar ability means Devon Booker and Chris Paul don't need to do that, which has helped the Suns solve key defensive problems in the last two years of play and allow the duo to focus more on their team's second-place offense in the league
Alphabet brother
Without The Alphabet Brother, any discussion of best defense would be incomplete, as he won the trophy of Best Defensive Player of the 2019-20 season and is the only player who has been able to snatch this award from Gobert in the past four years
He's like a Swiss Army knife, he can be a good outside defender, but also an elite-level interior defender When he plays with Brooke Lopez, he can still improve the elite-level basket and rebound protection for the team without playing center
According to Second Spectrum, he kept his opponent's shooting percentage at 52 percent, the seventh-lowest shooting percentage among players who defended more than 200 shots, and defensive rebounds are a basic measure of the opponent's possession efficiency, while his average defensive rebounds per game rank third in the NBA
Herbert Jones
New Orleans Pelicans rookie Herbert Jones, while drafted in the second round, could be the first rookie to be named to the All-Defensive Team since Tim Duncan in 1997-98
The number of rounds in the half-time defense against players selected for the 2022 All-Star Game, the league's top ten
The only player this season to have 100 steals and 50 blocks
It has currently interfered with 210 passes, fourth in the league
The first rookie since Ben Simmons in 2017-18 to make 100 steals and 50 blocks
【Inside】
Jaren Jackson Jr
We've been using blocks to define the NBA's best interior defenders this season no player has blocked more than Jaren Jackson Jr., who has scored 159 blocks, 30 more than the second-placed player, but Jackson's impact on interior defense goes far beyond his blocks
The forward, who is in the league's fourth year, ranks in the top five for limiting opponents' shooting percentages under the basket, but that still doesn't tell the whole story Player tracking data allows us to assess the percentage of shots made every shot in the league, and these data really highlight Jackson's influence on the inside
As Sebel did on the perimeter, Jackson helped his team drastically reduce the opponent's ability to score on the inside this season When Jackson was the closest defender to the opponent, the opponent's shooting percentage was 8.9 percent lower than expected This is the best statistic among the 46 interior players who have defended more than 350 shots, and a big reason the Grizzlies are in the top ten defensively
Robert Williams
If there's one player who can force opponents to concede a ball as effectively as Jackson, it's Celtic center Williams' rise as a truly elite defender whose rise has propelled Celtics' defense to the top There's a statistic that proves his status as an elite defender: Of the 164 defenders closest to the shooter who have defended 500 shots this season, Williams is the only player to keep his opponent's shooting percentage below 40 percent
This number is particularly striking considering that Williams is a defensive interior lineer, and the interior line is usually where the total shooting percentage on the court is usually the highest, however, Williams' limit opponent shooting rate is the second lowest since January 1 (among players with an average defensive time of 100 minutes or more).
But there's no doubt that Williams isn't just a rim guard Williams is one of the most versatile big men in the league, and Uduka has also relied on him to devise the team's all-round defensive philosophy In the NBA, two players have faced guards defensively forwards and centers at least 800 times, and Williams is one of them (the Hornets' P.J. Washington is the other).
The undercover overlord can maintain his advantage over almost any offensive player in the NBA, which is one of the biggest reasons why the Celtics have jumped from mediocre to a strong contender for the championship
Rudy Gobert
Gobert has won Defensive Player of the Year three times over the past four seasons, so we don't need new metrics to appreciate his greatness on the defensive end, but the more advanced the league tracks, the more you can see how good he really is In the NBA, no one can combine high shooting percentage with high level of defense like this Utah Jazz star basket guard
Not only did Gobert lead the league with an average of 18.5 defensive shots per game, but he was the second most efficient of 164 players who defended at least 500 times this season, allowing his opponents to score just 0.92 points per game
Gobert's defensive influence is an important factor in the Jazz's success When he plays this season, the Jazz only give the team 103.7 points per 100 rounds, which is lower than any current team in the league, but when he sits on the bench, the Utah Jazz only gives the team 111.7 points per 100 rounds, well above the NBA average
Bam-Adebayor
The Heat have played an elite level of defense throughout the season, and Adebayo is a big part of it, like Williams, who is athletic and can defend every inch of the scoring area from the three-point line to the box
According to Second Spectrum, he has averaged 11.9 changes per game when defending with the ball cover, which is by far the NBA's most frequent changes this season, and his consistently efficient defensive performance is expected to make him the player with the most changes since the 2013-14 season
There are very few big men who dance with defenders on the perimeter like Adebayor did, and miami's center ended up winning most of those counterpoints when his outside opponents tried to shoot in front of him, and they failed most of the time He averaged 4.6 3-pointers per game, and his opponents shot just 29.2 percent from three-point range, second among centers Under Adebayor's defense, his opponents' three-point shooting percentage was 6.5 percent lower than their average three-point shooting percentage, the highest of any center
Written by Kirk Goldsberry
Compiler: Former lord of the city
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