05-10-2022, 11:41 AM
(05-10-2022, 04:13 AM)meistermatze Wrote: Sorry, but I bevlieve this to be flat-out wrong. I have not checked any metrics but the eye-test screams at me that Maxi is a GREAT 1- on 1 defender.
He is strong, he is quick, he can guard 1-5. Sure, someony like Gobert shoves him around and someone like Ja will just blow by him but these are terrible matchups for anybody. Maxi gives you very solid D against any opponent.
Can anybody confirm this with some numbers?
Great is a very strong word. I just go off my eye test here too, there's stats based on the nearest player on nba.com to see how someone did 1 on 1 but I'm not gonna bother. Sure you can blame the apparent injury but he got murdered repeatedly 1 on 1 by Kawhi last playoffs. Powell has looked better 1 on 1 vs Kawhi historically from my memory. Feel free to dispute. He's been looking pretty good to great guarding guys like Booker on the perimeter, especially the last couple games. He is still an undersized 5 though and he's been holding his ground vs Ayton, but it's more like "do what you can to bother him as much as possible, but really you are praying he misses his shot on a moderately contested look." A great defender will make Ayton say, "I can't get a clean look, I need to pass this out to do something better for the team."
That's just how I see it. This team values the perimeter defense way more anyway, he fits great on this team. I'm not gonna let my bias blind the fact that he's an alright to good 1 on 1 defender. More on the good to great side vs smaller guys for a big.