Defense and kat

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

Our defense is killing us. From britts piece in the athletic.

"The Wolves have a record of 9-14 when Towns has played this season. In the nine wins, the team's offensive rating is 115.7 with KAT on the court. In the 14 losses, the offensive rating is 112.5 during KAT's minutes, a dip of just 3.2 points scored per 100 possessions. Compare that to the defensive rating when KAT is playing in wins compared to losses. In the nine wins, the Wolves with KAT have allowed just 103.7 points per 100 possessions. In the 14 losses with KAT on the court, the number jumps to 121.3 points allowed per 100 possessions -- a difference of nearly 18 points allowed.

Although skewed by the small sample size, it is also revealing what has happened to the Towns-Covington tandem who were so effective on defense together last season. This year Covington has been moved to power forward to further the space-and-pace style the team is seeking to prioritize at both ends of the court, and to provide a steady, disciplined complement to KAT down near the hoop. In the 506 minutes the pair have shared the court this season, the defensive rating is 116.2. In the 178 minutes RoCo has teamed up with Gorgui Dieng, the defensive rating is 103.5. Yes, KAT is infinitely superior on offense compared to Dieng. But because RoCo's offensive rating when playing beside KAT is 113.7 and 101 when playing beside Dieng, his net rating beside both is exactly the same, minus-2.5.

And, just for grins, we have 55 minutes of RoCo paired with Noah Vonleh that produces an offensive rating of 109.8 and a defensive rating of 91.1, for a net rating of 18.7. That's a bonanza inflated by a tiny sample size, but another indication that Covington is likely not the primary cause of the RoCo-KAT doldrums on defense."

Those numbers are staggering.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

1. Britt Robson is an annoying old man who talks himself into circles without ever offering a real solution. That needed to be said despite it being besides the point.

2. Robert Covington is likely not the primary cause of a poor defense, however, we would be fools to ignore the numbers that depict his defensive decline.

2017-18: 100.0 DEFRTG
2018-19: 106.2 DEFRTG
2019-20: 112.8 DEFRTG

Part of that could be attributed to his injury woes, but it's quite clear visually that he is playing out of position and his impact is somewhat mitigated because of it. For me, he's a much more impactful defender when there are two bigs behind him and he can rove a little bit on the perimeter.

3. Robson's numbers essentially show that this 1-3-1 silliness isn't the right fit next to Karl-Anthony Towns. Since he's the best player on the team -- by far, actually -- as well as an All-NBA talent, management would be wise to adjust their vision to fit him. You build around a player or players; not around a specific dream.

4. If management is too stubborn (too stupid?) to realize the previous point, then Towns will need to be traded for a king's ransom followed by selling off other pieces for whatever is obtainable. Time for another rebuild. Who will stay around for that one?

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

1. Britt Robson is an annoying old man who talks himself into circles without ever offering a real solution. That needed to be said despite it being besides the point.

2. Robert Covington is likely not the primary cause of a poor defense, however, we would be fools to ignore the numbers that depict his defensive decline.

2017-18: 100.0 DEFRTG
2018-19: 106.2 DEFRTG
2019-20: 112.8 DEFRTG

Part of that could be attributed to his injury woes, but it's quite clear visually that he is playing out of position and his impact is somewhat mitigated because of it. For me, he's a much more impactful defender when there are two bigs behind him and he can rove a little bit on the perimeter.

3. Robson's numbers essentially show that this 1-3-1 silliness isn't the right fit next to Karl-Anthony Towns. Since he's the best player on the team -- by far, actually -- as well as an All-NBA talent, management would be wise to adjust their vision to fit him. You build around a player or players; not around a specific dream.

4. If management is too stubborn (too stupid?) to realize the previous point, then Towns will need to be traded for a king's ransom followed by selling off other pieces for whatever is obtainable. Time for another rebuild. Who will stay around for that one?

Supersonics fans lol

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

Dieng with the 8th best drpm among c.
Kat with the 2nd worst drpm among c's.

Dieng drtg on 102.1/ off 111.4
Kat drtg on 114.5/ off 102.

I rag on dieng alot, but hes still our second best defending big (behind vonleh).

[Monster]

Dieng with the 8th best drpm among c.
Kat with the 2nd worst drpm among c's.

Dieng drtg on 102.1/ off 111.4
Kat drtg on 114.5/ off 102.

I rag on dieng alot, but hes still our second best defending big (behind vonleh).

You are gonna LOVE this...hit the overall Def on the new advanced RAPTOR stats from 538. =)

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-nba-player-ratings/

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

Dieng with the 8th best drpm among c.
Kat with the 2nd worst drpm among c's.

Dieng drtg on 102.1/ off 111.4
Kat drtg on 114.5/ off 102.

I rag on dieng alot, but hes still our second best defending big (behind vonleh).

You are gonna LOVE this...hit the overall Def on the new advanced RAPTOR stats from 538. =)

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-nba-player-ratings/

Flipped it, and i saw teague, dlo, and booker....heading the list of worst defenders.


Kris dunn is having a sneaky good year.

[Lipoli390]

1. Britt Robson is an annoying old man who talks himself into circles without ever offering a real solution. That needed to be said despite it being besides the point.

2. Robert Covington is likely not the primary cause of a poor defense, however, we would be fools to ignore the numbers that depict his defensive decline.

2017-18: 100.0 DEFRTG
2018-19: 106.2 DEFRTG
2019-20: 112.8 DEFRTG

Part of that could be attributed to his injury woes, but it's quite clear visually that he is playing out of position and his impact is somewhat mitigated because of it. For me, he's a much more impactful defender when there are two bigs behind him and he can rove a little bit on the perimeter.

3. Robson's numbers essentially show that this 1-3-1 silliness isn't the right fit next to Karl-Anthony Towns. Since he's the best player on the team -- by far, actually -- as well as an All-NBA talent, management would be wise to adjust their vision to fit him. You build around a player or players; not around a specific dream.

4. If management is too stubborn (too stupid?) to realize the previous point, then Towns will need to be traded for a king's ransom followed by selling off other pieces for whatever is obtainable. Time for another rebuild. Who will stay around for that one?

I agree with you completely, Cam. If this organization is committed to building around KAT as they've stated, then they should build around him - which means signing players and implementing a system that complements his talents and mitigates his weaknesses. I'm growing increasingly frustrated with Rosas and his front office team. They talk all the time about alignment, but I don't see any alignment between the system and the players. Drafting Culver certainly didn't align with the system or the other talent on the team. I think the words stubborn and stupid might apply. Time will tell.

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

Playing around with 5 man units, there is 1 group with kat that has defended with at a decent level.

wiggs, culver, graham, cov, and kat have a + net rtg of 12.8 and a defrtg of 100.6 which is pretty darn good.

Its the addition of okogie that throws everything out of whack.

wiggs, culver, okogie, cov, and kat are a -18.3 net rtg with a drtg of 135.8.

Add Teague (instead of culver), and its also bad.

Net rtg of -9.5 with a drtg of 117.2.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Whether it was Al Jefferson, Kevin Love, or now KAT, we have been saying for YEARS that guys like this need a defensive big man next to them to start halves. I thought we got a great deal in bringing Vonleh on board to do just that - be our 20-25 MPG defensive big man to start halves in order to protect KAT from foul trouble and give us a guy willing to focus on defense and do the dirty work. But nope, Saunders/Rosas have outsmarted themselves on this one....

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Here is another cut of data:

KAT/Roco Player Pair this season - 506 minutes on floor together - Drtg 116.2

KAT/Gibson 2018 - 1,279 mins - Drtg 110.7
KAT/Gibson 2017 - 2,179 mins - Drtg 107.0
KAT/Dieng 2016 - 2,161 mins - Drtg 110.5
KAT/Dieng 2015 - 1,129 mins - Drtg 107.7

Those numbers still aren't great, but they are a hell of a lot better than KAT/RoCo. Would inserting Vonleh as our starting C, moving RoCo to SF, and having either Okogie/Culver/Graham out of the starting lineup really hurt our offense that much? I don't think so.