LyleGold
PhD Student
Posts: 1712
Reg: 11-22-04
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02-19-18 01:14 PM - Post#248602
In response to palestra38
Hey, you know I've raved sbout Darnell all season. You've been much more critical of his outside shooting than I have. We still make some poor decisions in transition and in post play. I didn't mean to take a cheap shot at him, but we do that too much as s team.
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TheLine
Professor
Posts: 5597
Age: 60
Reg: 07-07-09
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02-19-18 02:09 PM - Post#248610
In response to LyleGold
Mike is right - the more interesting improvement has been on defense but it has been a weird improvement.
Darnell has a better 3FG% in conference games than Brodeur and Woods. Just saying. He's also 7th (!) in the league in win shares. Granted that's driven by Penn's overall defense but I'd argue he's the 2nd best defensive player on the team behind Brodeur. Also granted that Amaker plays a deeper rotation which suppresses the win shares of the better Harvard players.
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PennFan10
Postdoc
Posts: 3589
Reg: 02-15-15
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02-19-18 02:16 PM - Post#248611
In response to TheLine
I don't think Brodeur is the best defender. He is obviously the best shot blocker but he has a much harder time staying in front of people on switches. He gets the highlight reel blocks, which is fun, but does not mean he is the best defender. Antonio and Max can guard 4 positions on the floor, Darnell is probably the best on ball defender we have (unless Dev Goodman decides he wants to be that guy....which he did this weekend). So it depends on what you value on defense, usually coaches value guys who can guard multiple spots and can stay in front of people without providing too much of a mismatch on a switch.
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SomeGuy
Professor
Posts: 6415
Reg: 11-22-04
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The Progression
02-19-18 05:28 PM - Post#248643
In response to PennFan10
I think AJ is our best defender. You are correct about some of the great things that Darnell, Max, and Antonio do defensively. I just don’t think they are game (and program) altering in the way AJ has been on the defensive end.
The year before he got here, we were 226 defensively in KP. We added AJ (replacing a good player in his own right, DNH), and immediately jumped 100 spots the next year. Obviously some of that is the other players improving, etc. But the biggest difference was simply adding AJ.
On the switches and staying in front of his guy, I think we want AJ to be thinking about helping and blocking shots in the middle, which is different from what we want Max doing. I actually think AJ’s skill set is more important to the overall product.
That said, the guarding 4 positions thing is huge, and i’ve Been thinking about it in the context of Princeton last year vs. this year. Last year, they had 4 interchangeable guys on Defense who could guard inside and out, plus Cannady on the perimeter and Miller inside. There’s a lot you can do with that. We’re a player or two short of that depth, but our starting 5 can defend a lot of different types of teams because of similar versatility (Max on Stephens and Antonio on Meisner are great examples).
Edited by SomeGuy on 02-19-18 05:36 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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Silver Maple
Postdoc
Posts: 3781
Loc: Westfield, New Jersey
Reg: 11-23-04
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02-19-18 06:00 PM - Post#248649
In response to SomeGuy
I wonder how well Brodeur and DNH would have co-existed. I suspect not all that well. In fact, had Darien not been graduating, I bet AJ might not have come to Penn.
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PennFan10
Postdoc
Posts: 3589
Reg: 02-15-15
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02-19-18 06:24 PM - Post#248651
In response to Silver Maple
I disagree. I believe AJ is limited on switches which is a big deal. We made a pretty big jump last year to this year defensively and the difference is Antonio and Max. Defense is as much individual as it is team. Max is by far the best communicator on defense and calls out plays. Max is also more physical than AJ on defense. Max almost always draws the best scoring big on defense. Antonio was guarding Julian Saturday night when we went small. Not many guards who can defend a 2 and then a 5 in the same game.
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SomeGuy
Professor
Posts: 6415
Reg: 11-22-04
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02-19-18 06:44 PM - Post#248655
In response to PennFan10
Yes, but i think Max draws that big so AJ has more room to help.
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SRP
Postdoc
Posts: 4917
Reg: 02-04-06
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02-19-18 07:14 PM - Post#248659
In response to SomeGuy
As I've said before, with the recent rule interpretation changes, shot-blocking is more valuable than ever because it's so much harder to defend drivers and post men without fouling, while shot-blocking is unaffected. So having a rim protector who can intimidate or block close-in shots makes a big difference.
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PennFan10
Postdoc
Posts: 3589
Reg: 02-15-15
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The Progression
02-19-18 07:33 PM - Post#248662
In response to SomeGuy
Yes, but i think Max draws that big so AJ has more room to help.
I am pretty sure that's not why, though it is a benefit. Max is a better on ball defender and AJ is a great help defender/Shot blocker. It's very difficult and rare to be a shot blocker as an on ball defender. AJ can do that against bigs and Chris Knight is one of the better bigs at that.
Edited by PennFan10 on 02-19-18 07:34 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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TheLine
Professor
Posts: 5597
Age: 60
Reg: 07-07-09
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02-19-18 08:05 PM - Post#248664
In response to PennFan10
The defense goes down a few notches when AJ comes out of the game. It's noticeable. No one else on the team protects the rim like he does.
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PennFan10
Postdoc
Posts: 3589
Reg: 02-15-15
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02-19-18 10:49 PM - Post#248673
In response to TheLine
That's correct. No one on our team protects the rim like AJ. And no one besides Antonio and Max can guard every position on the floor. Different skill sets, all contributing to a top 50 defense.
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