MAVS NEWS:

[audiosway]

Hmmm.  I have heard of smaller guys using strength to guard up, but I have not heard of bigger players using strength to guard down.  I guess we will see.  I think its reasonable to have concerns that he will be able to play that role.  I do agree that he will likely be staggered with Luka and Kyrie so it shouldn't be much more than 10 minutes a game.

It's the way Klay has always guarded. He body's players up and is very active with his hands to make it difficult for them to see over him or be able to really move since he closes off their space entirely. Watch in the video below where he guards McCollum, Westbrook, Donovan Mitchell, etc. He will give them a little space at the 3 point line but as soon as they cross the line he gets into their body's and starts using his hands to try to strip the ball. It generally ends up in the ball handler getting pushed into the rim help, a strip, or a poor pass back out to the 3 line.

He essentially gives them zero space to move once they cross the 3 point line. Once he has them smothered inside it will lead to some bad decisions by the smaller player. My absolute favorite parts of Klay's defense has always been how he swipes down and will get turnovers that way as well as that he is very hard to put in jail. His strength and ability to recover make it very difficult to put him in jail. He positions himself early in the possession and uses his quick hip flip to make it very tough on ball handlers.