(01-17-2023, 11:01 PM)F Gump Wrote: I am not convinced that Wood's "newfound defense" is as great as all that. He is certainly being acclaimed for it to some degree. The vast majority of the attention comes from the shots blocked, which indeed is a defensive stat. But "number of blocked shots" is not a reliable read on defensive prowess.
It's hard to get a good read on individual defense, unfortunately. There are no truly good stats for it. Much of it is "eye test" stuff.
The blocks do show added effort and attention, and that's definitely a plus. That's a starting point. But I don't see him as a plus defender at all.
Or, to the conversational point, I still see a sizable unfilled hole on this roster for a defensive-oriented big man, that I don't think Wood is anywhere close to filling.
No one is saying he's become a good defender. The point is he's not the bad defender advertised, and what he DOES do well does outweigh what he doesn't making him something like something above average arguably. We did look way worse defensively the game he missed. That combined with his offense makes him a much better fit and more valuable than the all offense no defense tweener big he was advertised as being. He doesn't need to be a big defensive difference maker to be a piece we cannot afford to let go for nothing.
I also think while a defensive oriented big next to Wood would be desirable, a much bigger help would actually be having multiple high level defensive wings/guards limiting penetration in the first place, would make his life defensively much much easier. A starting lineup of Luka, Green, DFS and Bullock playing at the defensive level they reached last season and Wood would have our defense much closer to the level of defensive play we were playing at last season as a top 10 team in defensive rating, than having another defensive big in the starting unit(especially if that big can't shoot messing up our offensive spacing), though a defensive big designated for the bench with Kleber out for the season should be a priority.