05-17-2024, 09:19 AM
(05-17-2024, 02:48 AM)Dundalis Wrote: The way Gafford and PJ have not just played, but also allowed other players like DJJ to lock into place has been something to see. DJJ was a solid but not particularly elite defender when he's your primary do it all wing defensive piece, but when you lock him into a role next to essentially a bigger version of himself and consistent rim protection throughout the game, all of a sudden his defensive performance takes a big leap. He couldn't make a mistake before, now he can and someone else erases it. All his strengths as a defender are amplified. Same with PJ locking into this lineup when you look at his defense vs his defense with the Hornets. Yeah he might be more motivation playing for us, but it's more than that, his defensive strengths are significantly amplified playing with DJJ and Lively/Gafford vs playing with less ideal defensive fits. Obviously when players play with better fits offensively or defensively, their performance increases, but it's just almost unbelievable the size of the improvement. I'd be interested to know how often a team goes from a near bottom 5 defense to a top 5 defense within the confines of the same season over as significant a sample size. It's got to be a pretty rare occurrence.
I think it was a similar experience for DFS. I think he spent most of his career here on a bit of an island defensively, and when we brought in Bullock (before he fell off a cliff) it gave Dorian some help and he probably had his best season defensively.