04-18-2021, 04:27 AM
(04-18-2021, 03:25 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: I have no idea why you decided to criticize my original post that simply noticed some similarity between San Antonio and Memphis potentially employing sweet shooting PF’s, dynamic PG’s and very large white European Centers. I get that you are trying to proffer a style of play comparison while I was noticing physical attributes. Surely you see that.
Not sure how or why most triggered you. I am not a fan of shallow player comparisations. In your initial post you did not clarify that it was just about their physical attributes. In my opinion lesser version implies that both have a similar play style but Valanciunas is better. With both of them having completly different roles, strengths and weaknesses I just thought that it was a bad comparisation. Nobody would say that Marcus Smart is the lesser version of James Harden just because both are bulky guards.
(04-18-2021, 03:25 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: I’m not sure, if I were you that my best current NBA comparison for Poeltl (who shoots 60% of his shots within 3 feet of the basket) would be two guys who shoot 60% and 50% of their shots from three.
or a defense only version of Marc Gasol/Brook Lopez.
I guess you missed the most important part. I compared him to the mentioned guys because he is more of an old school big. Not the best athlet. Lacking lateral quickness (still solid for a 7´1 guy). On paper he should be a big liability in the pick and roll but just like Gasol (in his prime, starting to get worse) he is doing a really good job. Good positioning, smart rotations, rim protection and the bulk/size to play great post defense.
Already mentioned that he is really limited on offense. That´s why I focused on the defensive end.
(04-18-2021, 03:25 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: The funny part, at least to me, is the “offensive minded big” as you describe him has the same D-RPM as the two guys you think are the best comparisons to “defensive specialist” Poeltl. Gasol, Lopez and Valanciunis are literally 18, 19 and 20 in the center rankings for D-RPM. No need to point out to me that all other metrics show Gasol and Lopez are better defenders than JV. I’m aware. You are arguing the sky is blue and I’m arguing the grass is green. I just thought it funny that one of the metics you used originally (DRPM) did a really poor job of making your point.
Feels like your just trying to double down on a bad take to win a debate that actually isn´t even a debate. You just mentioned that you focused on their physical tools. Not the play style. Or do you want to make a case for Valanciunas defense?
I compared Valanciunas and Poeltl and listed the most common advanced defensive metrics to show case that both have different strengths/weaknesses.
Not suprised that a metric with a heavy focus on rebounding has Valanciunas in the Lopez/Gasol range but thankfully you already mentioned that he is clearly worse in other metrics. I did not look up their numbers prior to my post. Wasn´t even thinking of a specific year. More about the play style that I already described but if you want to make this about numbers just look at 19/20 stats. They ranked 3rd and 5th in DRPM (among centers).