It doesn't make sense that his ability to deny post position is being undervalued, considering that of all the centers in the league he faces more post up plays per minute (by far) than any of them.
All excellent points. As I said in the first post, double-team information would definitely be very relevant. And I assume that because of who he's playing with and his "defensive stopper" role, the average "PPP" of the post players he faces will be much higher than average.
Thanks, that's what I thought when I looked over the details again. I wonder to what the numbers were before Jan and after. When Chuck started having pain in his knee he was constricted a lot in his lateral movement... causing a decrease in his defensive efficiency.
Chuck's injury should make some difference. But any way you slice it, it is just too much to ask a 6'6 guy to guard 7fters day in and day out. We need Yao back really badly. Also, to those people who said, "Yao couldn't even score against Mehmet freaking Okur one on one": Well, Mehmet freaking Okur is the second best post defender according to this rating. I think the underrating of Okur's defense is generally a racist prejudice. People simply assume that a white Euro must be soft and therefore impossible to be a good defender.
I don't see the reason to make any excuses for Chuck. He didn't even pass the eyeball test as a solid defensive center this year. Quite simply, he's not a center. Doesn't mean he's not a bad defender. Or that the Rockets can't use him next year. Just that the guy just can't control the paint. Hayes was simply overhyped at the beginning of the year. Because some people were even talking about how our defense may be better with him than Yao. But he's still a good player, just not someone you want to see on the court for more than 10 mpg. As for Okur, I think he is a good defender. But the guy's definitely helped by the fact that he can foul 10 times for every foul call he gets in Utah. That whole team could beat the crap out of their opponents in SLC and nothing much will happen. The refs just won't blow whistles on them. Still, Okur's definitely underrated.
his minutes came from the power forward position in the past. this year he was a full time center. i'd like to see these stats compiled for his minutes playing power forward, he'd probably prove his worth there. is he a great post defender against centers? nope, probably average... which is still an accomplishment considering his size. he's probably much better against power forwards where he should be playing.
He is a great post defender, as far as positioning goes etc, but this season team's figured him out and how to get deep post position on him, and he has no chance against a much taller center down deep. DD
