This analysis uses SportsVU data. Please do not respond with unreliable old defensive stats unless it is xRAPM. Even the experts could not make heads or tails of of those defensive stats because of confounding factors such as different line ups. There are only two things that come to my mind that are not covered by the SportsVU data. Steals and teams just going away from the offensive option because of the defensive player. Steals you will have to dig into yourself. Avoiding an offensive option can be inferred from the data by the number of opposing players FGA. A short explanation of the data. The more negative the rightmost column is, the better the defensive player. Beverley Curry Paul Parker Lowrey Rondo One thing that becomes completely obvious is that Rondo is incredibly over rated on defense. Another obvious thing is that Bev is the best defensive PG in the league. I actually was surprised at how good Curry is on the defensive front.
Well, even this stat is a little skewed. The Celtics interior defense and defensive scheme is horrific. They really just rely on a lot of ball pressure from their guards but when your bigs are Olynyk and Sullinger it's just hard to have good numbers. It's like how Rubio had bad numbers on some individual defensive stats last year despite being a fantastic defender. The Wolves scheme and have Pekovic/Love not really moving on pick and rolls and never fouling really made him look worse. But that's all just tangential. Bev is an awesome defender. He's one of the few at the PG position who truly change the game defensively.
SportsVU data tracks individual player on player shots. Then it adjusts for each individual players overall FG%. If a switch occurs on defense SportsVU accounts for it. You just cannot get more precise than that.
2nd best defensive PG in the league Rondo is still better, how many active PGs can guard LeBron James, like Rondo did? None
Is that an issue? Since it uses play by play video analysis it should be ridiculously good at assigning blame. It accounts for defensive switches. I have no idea how it assigns responsibility if a player has a wide open shot. No data analysis tool will ever be 100% accurate. But it certainly is one heck of a lot better than anything fans have ever had.
I'm convinced Beverley will always be elite defensively due to his mentality and skill set. His tenacity is far too much for most opposing PGs to overcome. Psychologically, he seems to know how to get in their heads. His Chicago street ball 'gamesmanship' really does come through. That being said, I'd like for him to cutdown on silly fouls in the backcourt. Seems like he loses composure after turnovers and commits untimely fouls far away from the basket. At any rate, he's already among my all-time favorite Rockets competitors (up there with Mr. Mean, Mad Max, Elie, Hayes and Sura). Really hope he retires a Rocket.
It also tells me it's about skill, agility, intelligence, team strategy and individual game planning.
Beverley is the perfect 3&D player at a position where 3&D players are least valued (PG's are expected to be playmakers). Fortunately for the Rockets, the team doesn't need his playmaking as much with Harden doing his thing, so Beverley is the perfect PG for the Rockets.
Lol thats good...I'm just saying Curry is a plus defender and Rondo is a minus. Why would that be? Maybe because its easier to give defensive effort when you are winning.
Yeah, I see what you mean but the difference between Boston's and GSW's record isn't 'effort'. It's all those other things mentioned. So it's not really fair to say Rondo is a poor defender merely because of poor effort. At the end of the day, it's about team basketball. That's why scheme, strategy and overall talent on the floor is so crucial.
Maybe it also has to do with the fact that GSW can put their good defenders (Thompson, Iguodala, Green) on the other team's best offensive players and hide Curry on the other team's weak offensive player, while still having one of the best interior defenders (Bogut) in the game behind them. Ranking individual defenders is so hard because defense is such a team game.