Minnesota Sports Forum

https://theloveofhoops.wordpress.com/2015/08/31/finding-the-best-3-d-players/

This is an interesting analysis of 3 and D players (done back in August so it doesn't reflect this year):

Who might be available on this list:

Kyle Korver (ranked 1st)
Mike Dunleavy (3rd)
Ben McLemore (ranked 5th)
Anthony Morrow (ranked 8th)
Paul Pierce (ranked 9th)
Hollis Thompson (ranked 10th)
Evan Fournier (Ranked 12th)
Patrick Patterson (13th)
Marvin Williams (17th)
Channing Frye (26th)
Kyle Singler (28th)
Smiling Wes (30th)

Seems to be VERY heavily weighted at the top to the "3" portion of that equation. Korver and Morrow specifically are not known for their defensive prowess.

Kelly Oubre of the wizards will be an elite 3 and d guy in a few years. If we can somehow nab him then we should.

We need to sign James Posey

That article is pretty stupid in many ways. It considers both team and individual stats. But since players are just put in certain order based on the numbers that used and overall ranking is based on just those four individual rankings, so it does not matter if one player has 0.001 difference in efficiency to another or 0.1 difference as long there is not other players between. Individual defense ranking is based on only perimeter defense that I don't understand at all. Why 3&D player should be good only in plying defense against jump shots? Ranking doesn't also reward those players that are shooting three pointers with high volume. Ariza's is ranked below Wesley Johnson as three point shooter because Wesley has 0.01% better 3P% even though Ariza has shot 3.5 more three pointers per 100 possessions than Johnson.

My final rant is about team offense and defense statistics. They are based on team performance when certain player is on court vs team average performance. So even though it is not as bad as on/off rating, it still has some similar problems. If some player has bad backup, his team performance when he is on court will immediately look good since team is typically performing much worse when he is off court.

Anyway even with all flaws that this comparison has, I think Korver earned his position in top. Even though he is not known about his defense, he is much better than his reputation. (follow his defense next time you watch Atlanta's game) One reason for his success in defense might be his constant moving in offense. That wears his defender down and it helps Korver in defensive side if it is same player that was defending him. Also his three point shooting and team offense stats were crazy good last season. So he would probably be still in top of the list even if those flaws of that analysis would be corrected.