Donatas Motiejunas the 8th best rim protector in the NBA. Dwight 3rd.

I, for one, found this listing very interesting. I understand a few questions about some of the counter-intuitive rankings....but man, with all the criticisms and detailed dissections, you'd think were saving lives here. It's just interesting information posted on a fansite of - let's face it - no consequence to anything of importance. Cue tinman.

 

Best rim protector in my opinion causes least amount of points to be scored at rim. Generally there are two main parts, one is preventing a high scoring percentage (FTs aren't taken into account in this stat but should be). The second part is denying opportunities. Davis is an all or nothing defender. He picks up a lot of blocks, but Pelicans give up a ton of FGAS at rim at a high percentage when he misses.

No where close in terms of talent, but Jones is another guy that is a much worse defender than his steals and block numbers suggest. Granted, this stat should only be used for evaluating rim protector. DMO is the primary rim protector sometimes, but his stats are heavily impacted by others.

I like xrapm as a stat, but the evolution of these stats will incorporate SportsVU data.

 

Its just one stat so if defense is a pie its just a slice. Data can be used well and can be used poorly. It might be an indication that the way they are using Anthony Davis is garbage and that Asik should come off the bench. Old man Duncan is at the top of the list but then again he does play for San Antonio. In the end the Pelicans are not in the playoff picture so the stat might have some merit.

 

Tyson Chandler is another one that would be odd to not see on the list. I have always loved his defense.

 

I agree that next to SportsVU xRAPM is the best indication of a players performance. (Often imitated - never duplicated. LOL) And xRAPM is updated infrequently to say the least. But I have not checked since SportVU data became available.

You completely summed up the reason why Davis is not yet an elite NBA defender. But he will learn quickly and IMHO he is in line for multiple DPOY awards.

As I stated earlier, Houston's defensive strategy is one of the reasons why Houston's bigs are dominant at the rim. There is very little dribble penetration into the paint by Houston's opponents. D-Mo against Westbrook is never going to end well.

 

massive improvement, he couldn't even play defence 2 seasons ago

 

Well, he can play defense now. Thank god.

 

He has pretty much been a weak side shot blocker as far as I can recall.

DD

 

Marc Gasol blocks a good amount of shots.

I went through the list - it seems only two of the players (Amare and D-Mo) average <1 block per 36 minutes. I always equated shot blocking with rim protection, so I never thought of D-Mo as a rim protector. I'm very pleasantly surprised to see that he does as well as he does. Of course, I guess the list doesn't reflect the intimidation factor. For instance, Howard is going to scare off a lot more penetrators than D-Mo, and that's just the way it is.

 

Chandler is not the defender he was a couple of years ago. And Dallas has a very porous defense, which allows dribble penetration often. Not a prescription for an elite defender as far as the stats goes..

 

Just to clarify (as if it was needed), I meant penetrators are more scared of shot blockers....

 

The Howard effect ...

http://www.sloansportsconference.co...of Interior Defense Analytics for the NBA.pdf

 

Tyson Chandler having to defend the rim too many times from the weakside when Chandler Parsons loses his man on the cuts.

 

Parsons is not the only one allowing dribble penetration on that team. To say the least.

 

Thanks! I remember reading about the paper (probably on this site) when it first popped up, but I didn't read much of it until now.

Man, we can do all this analysis on this simple game, and we can't put a person on Mars.....incredible......Where's my flying car, you know?

 

LOL. Nice.

 

I don't know if that's what the stat is about. But a "rim protector" is not so much about guarding someone but about not letting ANYONE score near the rim. That includes penetrators who are not guarded by the big man.

Also, this stat does not include fouls and does not include deterring factor. It is just about shooting percentage.

I still maintain that there is no good stat for measuring individual defense. Team work is more important on the defensive side than on the offensive side. On offense, a single talented player can take over the entire offense. There's no such thing as taking over the defense singlehandedly. There are too many interrelated factors that come into effect on defensive success or failure.

 

I would take a slightly different view. Or perhaps I am just rephrasing your comment. SportsVU perfectly sums up individual defensive stats, but it is a piece of the larger defensive context. Team defense is much more important than individual defense. And individual defense contributes to team defense. If D-Mo and Howard are ever both out at the same time, Houston would just be screwed.