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Paul Millsap is the 8th worst defender in the entire NBA

I think this whole "team defense" thing is being overrated. Guys should have a little more pride than that, if your man is consistently torching you, you should be pissed and do something to stop him.
 
Defensive stats are always going to be far more arguable than offensive stats. I happen to think PER allowed individually and effect on team defense per 100 possessions are two of the stats that tell the most. And being extreme on either one of them is cause for at least raised eyebrows. But the two have to be balanced, because NBA defense is always a balance between individual defense and help defense.

I will say that individual PER allowed is really hard to take as a single indicator, not least because defensive assignments switch on so many plays (I'd say between 25 and 40%, depending on the game). At the same time, to have Millsap rate so extremely low on individual PER defense is concerning. But I don't think team defense is irrelevant, and in Millsap's case I have to conclude it seems to at least balance out the apparent lack of individual defense.
 
The post shows an interesting statistic that strengthens the argument that I have been trying to make for a while: Paul Millsap is too small, especially playing next to Al for the Jazz to be contenders.

Look, defense (particularly interior defense) is what wins championships. And irregardless of how much heart Millsap displays on defense, at 6' 6.25" (official measurement) he is seriously undersized at his position. Size matters in defending paint, it always has and it always will. Size isn't everything, but it does make a big difference. It wouldn't be quite as bad if Millsap was playing alongside a big center, but alongside Big Al (who is actually a right-sized PF, not a center) the Jazz are very small in the paint and opposing teams pound the ball down low almost at will.
 
shemtheo said:
The post shows an interesting statistic that strengthens the argument that I have been trying to make for a while: Paul Millsap is too small, especially playing next to Al for the Jazz to be contenders.

Look, defense (particularly interior defense) is what wins championships. And irregardless of how much heart Millsap displays on defense, at 6' 6.25" (official measurement) he is seriously undersized at his position. Size matters in defending paint, it always has and it always will. Size isn't everything, but it does make a big difference. It wouldn't be quite as bad if Millsap was playing alongside a big center, but alongside Big Al (who is actually a right-sized PF, not a center) the Jazz are very small in the paint and opposing teams pound the ball down low almost at will.
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Your official measurement is without shoes. As Millsap plays basketball like my humans in shoes he is actually 6'7.25". He has fairly long arms so his standing reach is respectable at 8'9.5" Which is the same as Troy Murphy, Sam Young and Andre Iguodala.

But your point is correct. Millsap needs to be used in the correct situations against the correct matchups. I agree with everyone that 26 minutes of Millsap off the bench is a formula for long term success.

Jefferson's standing reach is 9'2" which is the same as Favors and a half inch smaller than Tyson Chandler and Emeka Okafor. In my book he is an average sized center who is an average athlete.
 
Millsap lead the league the year before in fouls per minutes played. Playing starting minutes clearly took something out of Sap on defense and rebounding. This year is his first year starting and teams went at him because most teams had a size advantage. I think that he will rebound and defend better in his second year of starting...if he starts.
 
I agree with this ranking... I don't care how hard the man plays, or how big of a work horse he is... if someone consistantly gets owned in the paint defensively and beaten off of the first step... that means you suck at defense. Start favors and bring millsap off bench as 6th man. Its inevitable
 
Jazz4ever said:
No he is helping the guy that just blew past Miles, Jefferson, or Harris. Thus his man is open and often scores. Locke, and you, don't understand defense is 90% team oriented.
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yes, that happens, but isn't it more likely that the number simply shows that Millsap is getting beaten by his own guy straight up? his PER-allowed numbers were hardly stellar (always 18+) in years past.
 
All this number shows is that Millsap is being dominated one on one. When he has to defend his man straight up, Millsap gets schooled. This does not show how well he does in rotations, pick and rolls, etc. When the ball is tossed into the post, and Millsap is defending the post player, most of the time the other team scores.
 
For the last three seasons, the Jazz have been significantly better with Millsap on the court than with him off the court. If Paul did nothing on D but stick to his man (like Boozer), the stat being cited in this thread would look much better, but the Jazz would be worse.

meh.
 
This stat only shows that the rest of the team needs to play better help defense.
It also shows Sap plays good help defense, because the other players "guys" are not scoring as much.
C'mon Jazz playaz, help a Techer out.
 
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