Brandon Ingram Discussion: He Is Who We Thought He Could Be

Trodgers I've always admitted AD is far better at defense than BI... but defensive rating systems are far from an exact science at this point.

Utah is a good defensive team and BI put up 35 and 49 against them in consecutive games.
If you put the five best offensive specialists vs. the five best defensive specialists in a game, the offensive specialists would crush them.
(Hard to do because there is some overlap in those categories)

I watched the game last night... BI wasn't AD or even Dwight or JaVale... but he was active on defense and disturbed a lot of shots with his length.
I also believe he is instructed to stay out of foul trouble because he's too crucial to them offensively to guard people too tightly as he was earlier in the season.

 

love what BI is doing in NO

we would not have seen this version of BI had he still been a laker. he showed flashes out of it last season but right now he's the featured weapon in NO and that's why he's thriving

 

Luka's DRPM is worse than Ingram's... yet no one here would argue that Luka's a game changing player.

Obviously his superior passing abilities take him to the next level as does aging LBJ's.

If you fashioned a team from the best DRPM list with a negative ORPM and put them against the best ORPM with a negative DRPM you'd get something like this using ESPN's positions

Top DRPM players with negative ORPM

Alex Caruso SG
Kris Dunn PG
Tobias Harris SF
Wendell Carter Jr C
Richaun Holmes PF

Top ORPM players with negative DRPM

Devin Booker SG
Trae Young PG
Luka Doncic SF
Karl Anthony Towns C
Jabari Parker PF

The ORPM players would destroy the DRPM players... yet the weight for both ratings is the same. I think offense should be given more weight as great offensive players have more impact than great defensive players.

This is why I take these advanced defensive stats with a huge grain of salt.

Maybe in ten years they will come closer to matching reality.

But I would love to see that game more than the all star game... maybe the defensive team would surprise me.

 

Luka vs Ingram is a blowout.

 

How did "defense wins championships" come to be an accepted truism in the NBA, SM? Acknowledging good to great offense needed too.

 

I've said Luka is better... we were talking about DRPM

20 year old Luka is even better than 20 year old LBJ.

https://www.basketball-reference.co...ames&y2=2005&player_id2=jamesle01&idx=players

 

You brought him up. It’s not a name you want in this thread.

 

The discussion was about how Ingram had a bad DRPM.

I simply pointed out that LBJ was rated the best defender and it perhaps isn't a perfected stat and the best criteria by which to rate a player.

 

Lebron has played much better on that end this year.

anyway, I don’t love any defensive metric that much. But it’s hard to find one that speaks favorably for Ingram.

surprised me is all. He should be better there, in theory.

 

He's still clumsy and underdeveloped compared to Luka, AD or LBJ

If you think his body is fully matured then you'd think this is ceiling... if you think it isn't... then maybe he has a little more improvement coming his way.

At the beginning of the season, he kept getting into foul trouble due to his weakness and clumsiness. On a team where he wasn't the focal point this wouldn't matter too much. However, it's necessary for him to stay in the game on this team.

I noticed he's become better at staying in the game and I think that's because he's not challenging as much on defense... but I'm thinking that's more because of coaching rather than a lack of effort

My prediction is that when Zion comes back he will be better at defense and fall into the low twenties for scoring because he won't be as crucial for them on offense.

LBJ has been better but he's not the best defender in the league.

 

I was impressed how smooth his highlights looked. Not as herky jerky as when he was here. You knew it would come.

I think everyone will end up looking at this trade as a win win down the road. The Pelicans reloaded just fine and have additional picks as well.

Glad to see the former Lakers doing well. I hope Lavar is muzzled forever, but I bet that's over starting next year when his youngest gets drafted.

 

^^^ and Lonzo up for extending or being traded.

 

my fear with ingram was that for him to look his best, your team had to be a bad one. this is because he needed the ball a lot to be successful, and i didn't think he was good enough to warrant that. now, if zion ends up being able to be effective without the ball in his hands, maybe it works out in NO. but if both need the ball, zion's probably going to be the one you want to give it to. then what happens? does ingram slot in as a secondary playmaker and scorer? again, if he does, great. if not...yikes. add in that he's still not a good defender, and i'm just not wringing my hands over it.

well, that and...we got AD.

 

sabonis has bad offensive numbers?