gambling, heck, KG doesn't even get 1 bpg anymore (what does that make him? 100th?) but he's still one of the best defensive anchors in the nba.
Aleron I am not saying he is not that much better than Lopez. People on here thinks Lopez is a terrible defender. I disagree.
Blocked shots don't have that much of a correlation with defenses, however. DeAndre Jordan is a great example of someone who blocks a lot of shots but is a horrible defender, partly because he gets out of position to block said shots. Asik is the opposite. He rarely jumps, but pretty much anyone's who played at a middle school level knows "Don't leave your feet" and he never gets out of position in the process.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/orptow-30SQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Here's the actual video
Blocking shots and altering shots play a big part in being a defensive juggernaut. That is added into the equation. Yes Asik was our best defender and it showed when he got into foul trouble or when coach pulled him out. Like I stated before, you have to see Lopez play. Do that this season and you will see dude is not that bad like some are stating. And Asik not much better than him in that department. Asik rebounding is way better that Lopez.
And your stats say there is not much difference between the two. Noah is a better shot blocker and Asik is a better rebounder. Asik improved his game more in the postseason while Noah did not. Both are terrific but you have done nothing to support your case that Noah is any better than Asik. Their stats are very similar and Asik won the head to head match ups. Plus Asik had more defensive work to do than Noah. Noah has great defensive teammates on the floor with him while Asik had little defensive help with the Rockets. As I said, Asik is every bit as good as Noah and the stat back that up. Slight advantage for Asik in H2H Slight advantage for Asik in Post Season Slight advantage for Noah in Regular Season Neither player put up stats that support that one is appreciably better than the other.
Both Lin and Harden are top 10 in steals but do you think Tony Allen is only marginally better than them? Sir, that is flawed logic. The gap between Asik and Lopez on defense is as wide as the grand canyon. In the January game against the Nets Brook Lopez got 5 blocks. Sounds great right? Until you factor in the fact that Omer had one of his better offensive nights scoring 20 points. Lopez only grabbed 3 defensive rebounds while the man he should have been blocking out (Omer Asik) grabbed 6 offensive rebounds. That is typical Brook Lopez. Nobody is comparing Omer to Marc Gasol or D12 on offense but he sure looked like it that night. Brook Lopez sucks on defense...period.
Hey you are indeed righty there buddy. Especially using one game out of 82. Again look at every game..I can name a few non-scoring jokers that handled their business against Asik as well. Again Asik is better but not by a land slide like you are trying to say here.
It's not just one game. That just happens to be the game I referenced. For the entire season Brook averages 4 defensive rebounds a game. So what he did against Houston is the norm not an anomally. We can agree to disagree if you like but I believe you are on an island by your self if you are thinking Lopez is in the same galaxy as Lopez on the defensive side of the ball. Cheers.
Bingo. The inference to RAPM from Morey's publicly stated comments, and many corroborating pieces he's dropped in interviews (Asik's rank among centers, Lin's win rate last season) makes it very clear what value model Morey uses. If everyone in the fandom could catch up with how Morey rates players, we could start from a common baseline of discussion and have a better idea of why Morey does the things he does. Before today, the idea that Asik is a top 5 center was universally scoffed at on this forum, with plenty of box score stats to back it up, despite Morey saying whoever invented the box score should be shot. At least now only 75% of people are scoffing at Asik being a top 5 center. Asik has a massive effect on team defense and you can't use box score stats to demonstrate that. You can with RAPM. It's not perfect, but then neither is any other value method, especially not eye tests and blocks and rebounds and steals. Folks don't value team defense enough because there aren't well known ways of quantifying it. Doesn't mean it doesn't affect wins and losses. People act like you have to be a "complete" player. That doesn't matter at all. Asik doesn't have a refined individual scoring repertoire but that just doesn't matter because it's the differential that matters and his defense is that good.
Oh, also, the usual "Morey lies" retort is silly. You can't just use a magic wand to wish away pieces of evidence that don't fit your preconceptions. Morey is actually plain as day about his methods. If you listened to Morey at all, for example, then you understood immediately that Harden would be a superstar in the NBA as a starter. All the lame excuses like "he doesn't play against starters" and "he can't keep it up for extended minutes" are just washed away by the reality of adjusted +/- methods. Morey wants to win and he also wants you to know it wasn't just luck. The vast majority of really smart people will just tell you their methods because it's an ego boost.
Joakim Noah: Feb 28, 2013 vs. PHI: 45 min, 23 pts, 21 reb, 11 blk, 3 stl Jan 26, 2013 vs. WAS: 43 min, 9 pts, 17 reb, 10 ast, 2 blk Dec 18, 2012 vs. BOS: 37 min, 11 pts, 13 reb, 10 ast, 3 blk He nearly had 3 triple-doubles last season, so I'd give the edge to Noah over Asik.
