Ranting and by the way, Anthony Davis isn’t helping the defense much

Published: November 17, 2016

Before I get to the one little stats tidbit I noticed this week, I do have to express my frustration. WHY THE HELL CAN THIS TEAM NOT STAY HEALTHY?!?!? WHY IS EVERY PIECE OF GOOD NEWS FOLLOWED BY A KICK IN THE NUTS?!?!? WHY DOES EVERY FREE AGENT THIS TEAM SIGNS PROVE INCAPABLE OF PLAYING UP TO THEIR PREVIOUS LEVEL?

What the HELL?

Seriously. This year the team signed Moore, Hill, Frazier, Jones, Gallolway and Stephenson. Do you know how many of those players are having a better season so far than last year? (today I’m using Win Shares/48 minutes)

Jones. That’s it. And he’s improved his Win Shares/48 by 10%. 10% after he posted a god-awful season last year.

The rest average a 70% reduction to their score.

Yes, multiple of these guys are asking to do more than they did last year. But holy crap, can we ever have anyone step up to the challege? Even under Byron Scott, David West and Tyson Chandler had breakout seasons that kickstarted their rise.

And guess what happens if I do this same excercise last year? Unless you could Davis’s extension, the same thing. The SAME damn thing. Players not just not improving, but not even living up to what they did before.

It’s garbage. It pisses me off.

Anthony Davis, Defensive Anchor?

Anthony Davis is an offensive monster. Everyone can see that. The team scores 10.7 more points per 100 possessions with Davis on the floor.

However, the early returns on Anthony’s defensive impact is not favorable. Now, we have to take it with a grain of salt, because Davis is on the floor so much – and when he does sit down, inevitably the other team has their bench in, and will struggle to score efficiently anyways. That all said, the numbers still don’t tell a great story. When Anthony Davis is on the floor, the team allows 9.7 more points per 100 Possessions than when he’s off the floor. It’s strange, because the team generates more turnovers, rebounds better, gets more blocks, and allows fewer shots at the rim. But opponents simply shoot better when he’s on the floor, posting an eFG of 51.2%. When he’s off the floor, they shoot 48.6%.

Two years ago, Davis was a plus defender overall. Last year, he was not. This year, he is more not.

That’s not a good trend.