01-12-2022, 11:32 AM
(01-12-2022, 11:25 AM)sefant Wrote: Negative defender. Pass
Bullock lowkey has been fantastic on defense, basically from the get go. People just hating on him because he forgot how to shoot. Otherwise he made the defense way way better unlike JRich. Tim McMahon called Luka defense "abmysal" on the Lowe podcast just a few weeks ago. Tho being 6th overall on defense with the mess Luka/THJ creating early on is an amazing feet from multiple guys.
You could argue the rest of the guys had to play near best defense in the league to be 6th. At some point the combo Luka/THJ played ~ 500 min together, and were dead last in DefRtg. Right now they are hovering around 25th i think.
People made fun of the offseason, but the "new guys" + Josh Green in my opinion playing a BIG role to the defensive puzzle. This isn't just all Kidd and the coaching staff with a better defensive scheme.
Bullock has the best defensive on/off on the team.
- Bullock +7.2 on defense
- Josh Green +5.4 on defense
- Frank +5.2 on defense
- S. Brown +3.4 on defense
- JRich was -4.8 in comparison
Thanks to Rick ignoring Josh Green, the Mavs roster basically added 4 plus defenders. If i look at the roster last season, the only defenders on the team were DFS/Kleber and maybe WCS. KP was a liability last year, and is basically a top 10 rim protector in the league.
Last season: DFS, Kleber, WCS
This season: DFS, Kleber, KP, Bullock, Josh Green, Frank, S. Brown
Mavs without Bullock are 22th on defense. Tho i would be careful with getting rid of him. Its hard to say, but i fully believe the main reason for the better defense is also having more defenders on average on the floor.
Luka + Bullock on the floor = best defense in the league
Brunson + Bullock on the floor = best defense in the league
KP + Bullock on the floor = best defense in the league
Luka/Green +7.9
Luka/Bullock +6.2
Luka/all the other guys: negative (from the season start)
KP/Green +10.3
KP/Frank +9.8
KP/Burke +8.6
KP/Bullock +8.2
KP/S.Brown +6.8
KP/DFS +2.9
Imo you see clear pattern that more defenders around Luka/KP are working best.
Luka/KP are -5.5 on the season
Luka/Brunson is -0.5 on the season
But now you see this:
Luka/Bullock/KP are +19.3 in 114 min
Luka/Bullock/Brunson are +14.4 in 144 min
If your argument is that you want to focus on defense, Harris is not a great defender but he is better than THJ, and Green is an elite team defender. He is not going to be a downgrade from Bullock.