EuroLeague best defender: who deserves award the most? / News - Basketnews.com
Credit Vangelis Stolis, Rodolfo Molina/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images, D.Repečka/BasketNews We are in that part of the season where we traditionally give the regular season awards, and one of the trickiest areas is the defense.
Dante Exum
MIN:18.01PTS:6.8 (63.78%)REB:2.7As:1.75ST:0.55BL:0.3TO:0.9GM:20ProfileEuroLeague2021/2022It is a well-known nightmare for those who would like to make their picks with the guidance of statistics because many defensive statistics that are being recorded are not very good indicators of defensive contributions.
And when it comes to EuroLeague, the case gets worse due to even poorer data variety and quality.
But apart from the data issues, one tricky area to identify the best defender is more structural. What do we mean by calling someone "the best defender"? There are many ways to approach this problematic issue.
Fortunately, there are salient defensive archetypes in today’s modern basketball understanding in various higher quality basketball databanks and referential sites.
B-ball Index's very detailed explanations give some nuanced perspectives to differ between the point-of-attack, chaser, helper, anchor big defenders, etc.
Likewise, FiveThirtyEight.com released a recent article that gives three main types of defenders with distinctive features: the point of attack, the rim behemoths, and the hybrid defenders.
In this article, I tried to make a reasonable adaptation to these categories for the case of defenders in the context of the EuroLeague regular season 2021-22. I used three main categories: the interior defenders, the hybrid wings, and the point of attack defenders.
The data is not as rich as it is available in the NBA context, but nevertheless, we can reach some solid defensive stats, thanks to the cool features of INSTAT.
The cases are semi-subjective and open to further elaboration and comment. But still holds on to verifiable data with a lot of quantitative work to find the best defensive contributor in each category.
Chris Jones
Team:LDLC ASVEL VilleurbannePosition:PGAge:29Height:188 cmWeight:91 kgBirth place:United States of AmericaProfileNewsStatisticsAt the end of the day, you could also decide the best contributor with the data available. Enjoy.
Interior defenders
Player 2FG% allowed Rim zone FG% allowed Short mid-range FG% allowed Pick&rolls, isolation, post-ups, defensive PPP Blocks per game Walter Tavares 101/196, 51% 77/136, 57% 24/60, 40% 127/133, 0.95 1.63 Giorgos Papagiannis 138/280, 49% 108/196, 55% 30/84, 35% 190/202, 0.94 1.72 Moustapha Fall 101/181, 55% 65/104, 63% 36/77, 46% 137/140, 0.97 1.03 Nicolo Melli 73/151, 48% 58/106, 55% 6/24, 25% 113/141, 0.80 0.41Easy to guess, the rim protector category consists of the players who darken the painted area. From a trivial perspective, the case is straightforward. Usually, these guys are the ones who are chosen as the best defender on the season awards list. But surely, there are some nuances, as with everything in basketball.
One thing is: The best shot blocker does not always point to the best interior defender because these are two distant cousins but surely, not the same thing. Apart from leaning back to the rim and blocking whatever comes on their way, a good interior defense needs to be dissuasive in the rim zone as well as short-mid-range (the floater zone).
This requires resilience to post-ups, mobility, the ability to read the defensive flow, and being able to switch in the pick and rolls. Therefore, I put five criteria into consideration:
2 FG % allowed by the player while the shot sent over him Rim Zone FG % allowed Short Mid-Range FG% allowed Points Per Possession Allowed against Pick and Rolls, Isolations, Post-Ups Blocks Made Per gameDuring the season, my eye test brought four names. Walter Tavares is an obvious choice as he has done what he is doing the best: towering around the rim to deter the opponents with a lot of blocks.
But his allowance for the short-mid-range zone is catching the eye. It appears that Real Madrid is not very safe in defending the floater zone when Tavares is attacked around that area.
Moustapha Fall is an exceptionally and somewhat surprisingly good fit to the Giorgos Bartzokas' switching scheme at Olympiacos and numbers support this as well.
The Frenchman had to deal with either isolation or pick&roll ball handlers at the switch for one-third of all his all-time in defense, and all he gave his opponents was 84 points per 100 possessions.
But his rim zone and floater zone FG allowances were not as bright as other big players.
Giorgos Papagiannis had a great season as an interior defender. Rick Pitino recently pointed out him being a player that belongs to the NBA. The 1.72 blocks per game are certainly impressive from the 2.21-meter Greek center, but his points per possession are not exceptionally well with 0.94.
Surely, PAO's overall poor defense did not help him in that.
From a holistic perspective, it would be fair to say that the leading interior defender is Nicolo Melli. Yes, he lacks the agility to make highlight material blocks and cannot be labeled as an exceptional stopper at the rim.
But Milan had the most-efficient defense in the regular season of the Euroleague, and that was not without reason.
Like many other bigs in Ettore Messina's toolbox, Melli switched wisely when defending pick&rolls and made excellent coverage both for the corners as a secondary helper against the penetrations from the top.
He kept the opponents below 50% from 2 FG and not higher than 55% around the rim zone. That combines with a very exceptional versatility rating, with 0.80 points per possession allowed against various types of offensive plays. The veteran made a great difference around the interior.
Hybrid-Wing Stoppers
These types of defenders are not easy to be distinguished because they are multifunctional, and sharp lines cannot be drawn to put them into a certain type. This is why it is hard to quantify their contribution and make a case for them.
They are not often assigned to the primary ball handlers or leading scorers of the opponent and usually do the dirty work when the defensive lines are threatening via the attacks from the wings.
Alternatively, you may see these guys carefully chasing the ball and the player movement in the secondary and even tertiary phases of the offense to solidify the defensive integrity.
That is why they are in between interior defenders and point-of-attack defenders. They are a fatal mixture.
Player Team DEF ratings Team 2FG allowed Team 3FG allowed Team assists per 100 poss allowed Team turnovers forced per 100 poss allowed Dante Exum ON 0.93 48% 32% 18 11 Dante Exum OFF 0.93 50% 33% 17 14 Guerschon Yabusele ON 0.89 48% 35% 18 13 Guerschon Yabusele OFF 0.91 50% 35% 19 13 Sasa Vezenkov ON 0.93 52% 34% 22 15 Sasa Vezenkov OFF 0.93 49% 32% 22 12In that respect, I think the on/off stats make much more sense instead of looking at the number of shots and the accuracy regarding the shots that were taken over the player.
The impact of the hybrid-wing stoppers is usually felt not by their presence but by their lack of presence on the court; they are the unsung heroes. They are the ones who interrupt the passing lanes, cover both mid-range and 3-point zone, and break the opponent's rhythm.
In that respect, I had three main candidates: Dante Exum, Guerschon Yabusele, and Alexandr Vezenkov. All three players obviously did exceptional work.
My criterion for his category is consisted of ON/OFF differentials regarding:
Team Defensive Ratings (Points Per Possessions) Team 2 FG Allowed Team 3 FG Allowed Team Assists Per 100 Poss Allowed Team Turnovers Per 100 Poss AllowedRegarding Exum, there is a lot more to say, considering how important he became for Barcelona. After the day he joined the Blaugrana, he turned out to be a first aid kit for Sarunas Jasikevicius to appeal every time his team struggled in both offense and defense.
When on the court, Exum lowered the opponent's 2-point shooting accuracy by 2% and 3-point accuracy by 1%. The percentages do not look big, but actually, their impact is remarkable.
In the NBA, the likes of Kevin Durant, Davion Mitchell, and Jaylen Brown bring the Effective Field Goal rate of the opponent by a 2% to 3% margin as the best rates, so that is a big thing.
Nevertheless, this is an assessment regarding the regular season and not the playoffs and Final Four. Therefore, Exum’s 19 games are hard to quantify as the best in our hybrid-wing category.
Guerschon Yabusele had a very good season individually, although Real Madrid struggled in certain parts of the season due to on-court and off-court reasons.
The fact that Yabusele makes a 2% contribution to the defensive rating of Real Madrid is really impressive, which is combined with the (+1) turnover forced and (-1) opponent assist made when on the court. He was really a good defensive asset.
But it is hard to assess these figures on their own. Yabusele was usually playing alongside Walter Tavares, one of the best rim protectors in the EuroLeague, and that might have helped, certainly.
Olympiacos was arguably the best revival story in the EuroLeague this season, with Giorgos Bartzokas managing to implement his rigid structure in offense and defense.
That switching defense made a great case for defense with almost all elements, which was anchored by Aleksandr Vezenkov, in my opinion.
Although the numbers defy the argument, where both 2 FG and 3 FG figures for the opponents are higher when Vezenkov was on the court, his impact was beyond the stats.
His presence made +3 forced turnovers per 100 possessions difference, which supports his case to be the winner of this department.
He was the glue guy that kept the team together in defense, securing the wings against dribble penetrations and exercised a great helping defense.
The opponents could shoot only 3/18 from a usually dangerous corner three and 33% from all 3-point zones combined when he closed out there.
Point of Attack Defenders
Another defender archetype stands as the point of attack defenders, who are usually observed taking the contests against the opponent's lead guard scorer/primary ball handler.
They also chase the off-screen cuts and frustrate the opponent in every way possible by disruptive moves.
Player Pick&roll share that finished with shot attempt Pick&roll 2FG% allowed Pick&roll 3FG% allowed Pick&roll points allowed per possesion Forced turnovers Steals per game Pierria Henry 147/294, 50% 38/74, 51% 23/66, 34% 0.93, 20% 1.57 1.82 Chris Jones 153/269, 56% 43/92, 46% 15/53, 28% 0.90, 27% 1.41 1.45 Scottie Wilbekin 121/236, 51% 44/78, 56% 11/39, 28% 0.67, 20% 1.46 1.62 Thomas Walkup 106/177, 59% 51/70, 72% 8/31, 25% 0.84, 20% 1.6 1.17 Paris Lee 117/202, 57% 40/73, 54% 12/37, 32% 0.92, 31% 1.58 1.16Traditionally, steals per game is being deployed as a yardstick stat, but it might not be a sufficient indicator for the type of defender we describe.
These guys often try to contain pick&rolls and force turnovers not by only trying to make steals but also by putting the opponent into a hard position by disrupting the offensive rhythm and drawing offensive fouls on them.
Therefore, I decided to select six criteria to be more quantitative in this assessment:
The share of pick and rolls which are actually finished with a shooting attempt The 2 FG % allowed while being involved in pick and roll defense The 3 FG % allowed while being involved in pick and roll defense Pick&roll allowed per possession Forced turnovers per game Steals per gameAlmost every EuroLeague team has this type of defensive disruptor that would become the nightmare of the ball-handling guards. Still, the eye test and the overview of these six criteria brought me to the names of these five players: Thomas Walkup, Paris Lee, Pierria Henry, Chris Jones, and Scottie Wilbekin.
Each of these players greatly impacted these teams throughout the season. But to make a case for a more quantitative distinction among them, the stats criteria gave a helping hand: Only Henry, Jones, and Wilbekin had the best Top 3 in at least three categories.
When it comes to disruptiveness, my best point-of-attack defender is Henry, with the highest amount of forced turnovers per game and steals per game.
Not only do his efforts bring so many extra balls via taking charges from the opponent but also so many easy transition points that mean a lot for the struggling Fenerbahce offense.
However, his lack of 3-point protection seems to be a little lower than the other candidates. Protecting 3-pointers in the pick&rolls is teamwork, and it's not always his fault, but we have to rely on numbers at this point.
Regarding these six categories overall, the clear winner is Wilbekin, whose defensive skills are somewhat underrated due to his importance in the offense. His 1.62 steals per game are just after Henry (Euroleague Top 2, if we exclude Lorenzo Brown from UNICS), and he forced turnovers, too.
More than that, his defensive pick&roll points per possessions allowance really takes attention (0.67) despite having to face 20% of all his defensive shifts as a pick&roll stopper.
If he can combine this defensive game with his more salient offensive responsibilities, Wilbekin can carry Maccabi to unthinkable places after their quasi-miraculous comeback.
Former Maccabi player Chris Jones also did well through the season despite the fact that ASVEL's team defense usually did not get above a certain level.
Nevertheless, he tried his best to keep the best scoring options of the opponents away and lowered their shooting accuracy successfully.
So here are our picks in a nutshell:
Best Interior Defender: Nicolo Melli Best Hybrid Wing Defender: Aleksandr Vezenkov Best Point of Attack Defender: Scottie WilbekinStrange or unusual? How about you? Don't hesitate to write your comments and share your feedback to help us find the best defenders of the season altogether.
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