part of the quarter+ party tonight (we had 4 with 25+) Nifty, for sure What impressed me nearly as much was his ability to repeatedly find Bron when AR is in the post, in a crowd. They've got a really good chemistry and feel of where the other is going to be. The block was big time
Good offensively , we'll see how he looks on defense in the play-in/offs but he's been terrible on that end , IQ wise too
I take exception to those who routinely comment here that AR is poor or sucks on D. Yes he's not quick enough usually to stay in front of the fastest guys he has to guard. But he competes his a** off on D, takes charges, makes smart plays often, and it seems like the games he does objectively well on D against the tough matchups he's routinely give when on the floor .... drift off into the recesses of these detractors' memories quickly to just come back and say the same thing all over again. Anyone recall the job he did on SGA the last game? If he is "below average" for a guy at SG size tasked often with taking the PG, then it can't be a hell of a lot "below" IMO.
He used to compete his a** off and to do the little things on defense but the pb is he doesn't try on many occasions this season ..
I also take exception to all the mind readers who watch our team sometimes just get "beat" and come with they didn't even "try" and there was NO effort or NO pride. LMAO. There's a lot of parity in the league and sometimes the ball bounces certain ways that don't mean the closest Lakers weren't trying for the rebounds, or other teams get hot and make more shots than the Lakers, not as hot. But then I'm sensitive to a lot of the unwarranted criticisms IMO that go on here as soon as we lose a game. My problem I guess.
We won the game lol and I barely commented in this thread for some time ( last time was on February 2nd and it wasn't about his defense ).
I couldn't agree with @LTLakerFan more. He does not suck on D. He can't, of course, guard Fox. Very few can. But he can guard normal-size SGs and he'd done so this season plenty.
And as mentioned SGA last time we played who out strengths and of course out athletes him. He’s always getting tasked frequently on the elite PGs we face.
Take the greatest defensive teams of all time: a good pick 'n roll STILL works against it. It's a huge challenge to stay in front of an NBA guard. What you need is a really great second line of defenders - plural - down low, guarding the rim, switching off, communicating well. One weak defender puts pressure on the entire team's defense. AR is getting better at anticipating where his man is going, moving his feet. And when his guy gets around him and they score, you see it on his face. He draws attention to himself because he wants to get a stop every time. Our main problem is not AR's defense, but our lack of a strong 2nd line to augment AD's awesomeness. That's where I can't shake the belief that a healthy Vando this season has us around 4th in the West, not 9th or 10th. Another way to put it: if you have Vando in there, suddenly, somehow, AR looks much better on defense. Everyone does. Even frikkin' D-Lo. (I like D-Lo the player, despite his faults on D. I'm a fan. I LOVE Austin Reaves, though. Hillbilly Mamba, beotches!)
IF Austin was a top tier defender AND did all of this on offense, he would have been the first or second pick in the draft. Man, the expectations on an undrafted STEAL are just wild. Did is out there literally passing the rock like a smaller Larry Bird, running the point AND scoring. This dude may just turn out to be the best non drafter player of all time once his career is over.
Hes definitely not as a bad a one on one defender as his rep has him be. He will be targeted in the playoffs but unlike DLo he's not bad enough where he can't be in a finishing lineup Problem I have him with this year is his off ball defense. He's been constantly out of position to help at the 3 point line and like in the Pacers games hes going under screens for some reason
Awesome compilation! He is so much fun to watch because his skills are so great. In the Pacers game they said he was like 6th in the league at the rim wth 75% completion. To the few who think nothing of including AR's name is these quests for "better" "star" players, ESPECIALLY now at his ridiculously low salary for the talent and value to the team that he is, and clearly hasn't peaked yet .....
I am absolutely positive it's the Pimple "schemes". He is not stupid to so often find himself super out of position, overhelping and such...
What I like about that video is you see so many wild moves by AR that you tend to think, man that was pure luck, or this is just a one off move, one of a kind, yet when you stop and think about it, these are what he does and what makes him so unique. Grant you, he will never be fast enough and athletic enough to be a first string defensive specialist, but he is clearly a solid player who will likely end out starting for almost any team he ends out being on. Rosters have to be balanced, it is more than rare to have 5 starters who are all equally skilled at offense and defense. Most teams balance their starters. This is why us losing guys like Vando and Cam hurt us so much. That being said, if they were starters, they would surely slow our offense down and as much as it pains me to say it, this is an offense first league and you simply have to compete there first, defense is second and something that is largely used in the playoffs.
