Best defender on Hawks? You'll be surprised...

[sturt]

Actually, it's a tie.

Our roster also features the worst defender in the NBA... you WON'T be surprised on that one.

http://www.82games.com/nichols1.htm

[exodus]

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Actually, it's a tie.

Our roster also features the worst defender in the NBA... you WON'T be surprised on that one.

http://www.82games.com/nichols1.htm

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When you use stats from 82games.com, which i do frequently, you have to look at how the numbers are derived.

A strong +/- number may mean that the player is very good or that their backups really suck.

Solomon Jones had a defensive +/- of +7

http://www.82games.com/0607/06ATL13D.HTM

and struggled badly when playing center

http://www.82games.com/0607/06ATL13C.HTM

giving up a staggering PER of 22.7. By contrast he gave up a PER of only 14.3 when playing the 4.

Solomons struggles trying to defend centers make Zaza look much better defensively than he is. And of course we know Blo Wright is pretty much garbage as well.

[AtLaS]

Yeah, this was posted a while back. All it means is that Lorenzen Wright was worse. The defensive stat is skewed because it doesn't take into account backups.

[capstone21]

The best defender on the Hawks is Speedy. That was one thing that I was surprised at when I watched him play was how good a defender he really was. He really disrupted the other team when he was on the floor.

[exodus]

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The best defender on the Hawks is Speedy. That was one thing that I was surprised at when I watched him play was how good a defender he really was. He really disrupted the other team when he was on the floor.

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Agreed. When healthy Speedy i would say Speedy is definitely one of the top 5 defenders in the league at the point.

[TexasPete]

Those 3 games Speedy plays will really help the defense.

I hope Law can do alright in the other 79.

[ncthompson11]

i thought anthony johnson was supposed to be a good defender. Im not saying hes not since I never saw any of the hawks games on tv this year but i thought people usually gave him credit for good defense.

[KB21]

The defensive stats are skewed because I don't believe you can quantify defensive play with a number. Good defense is something you see on the court, not in a box score.

[Diesel]

Interesting but, it just said Bruce Bowen is the 4th best Defender on the Spurs team...

Again... Interesting.

[leftwich]

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i thought anthony johnson was supposed to be a good defender. Im not saying hes not since I never saw any of the hawks games on tv this year but i thought people usually gave him credit for good defense.

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AJ is a good situational defender. He can't really stay with the most athletic PGs, but he's a porker so guys can't really go through him.

[b3bawla]

That this shows Zaza as a good defender kills this stats credibility. Uncontested layups on Z are about as common as feathers on a bird (and I'm a Zaza fan). They should count for 6 points because they build the other team's confidence and shred ours.

[Popeye]

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The defensive stats are skewed because I don't believe you can quantify defensive play with a number. Good defense is something you see on the court, not in a box score.

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[Edgar]

Again...Zaza's talent is legitimized. The more I read about the talent we have, the more confident I am that Woody is the worst coach in NBA history...

[Weez]

true...but he also gets the toughest assignments.

I think that the biggest fundamental flaw is that there seems to be (at least at first glance) any adjustment for the 'rating' of player that one typically guards.

if they somehow incorporated the avg PER of the plyaer being guarded into the equation, it might reveal a little more.

I mean...there are relatively few 'offensive' 5's in the league, thus ZaZa's numbers are better because he's guarding less capable scorers...

The reverse works for Bowen...or (similar to Zaza), Manu being rated so highly on the Spurs...why? becuase he gets the easier of the wing/guard assignments (and probably plays good team D/ plays the passing lanes well).

Someone taht is more of a one-on-one defender (ala Bell or Bowen), will rank lower on these stats because they do indeed get fewer blocks and steals...they're trying to lock their offensive counterpart down and thus rarely have the luxury to poach passing lanes and pick up other 'defensive' stats...

[Weez]

True...but if they're coming from 'wing/guard/penetration' players, you have to ask who are those points awarded against? Zaza or the player that was supposed to be guarding the scorer on the perimeter?

Again, that's where team defense comes into play. Zaza's number look bad on the layup line, but if it's not his player scoring on him, then the real issue lies on how the offensive player got into position for the layup...and possibly reveals (only) that Zaza is not particularly mobile or a good help/weakside defender...which we already knew...

[Swatguy]

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Again...Zaza's talent is legitimized. The more I read about the talent we have, the more confident I am that Woody is the worst coach in NBA history...

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Huh?

Is Woody on the court again? Or was Woody injured?

If Woody has confident in Zaza and goes to him repeatedly in the post and provides minutes for him to perform and Zaza's talent is legitimized. Why is Woody then as you say, "the worst coach in NBA history" ?