#360view: Leonard and Green are setting defensive standards

Jay Asser 08:23 19/04/2016
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  • Defensive star: Kawhi Leonard.

    Kawhi Leonard and Draymond Green are in a tier of their own for best defensive players in the NBA, and it’s not even close.

    Because only one individual can be named Defensive Player of the Year though, the honour went to San Antonio Spurs’ star Leonard for the second straight season on Monday. He received 84 first-place votes from the writers and broadcasters polled, and 547 total points to edge Green’s 44 first-place votes and 421 points.

    Picking between the two, whether it’s an argument for who deserves the award or who you would choose first to build your ultimate fantasy defence, is like choosing between pie and cake. You can’t go wrong either way. They’re both so elite and good at what they do that putting one above the other seems unfair.

    For voters, what likely tilted the axis slightly in Leonard’s favour is that his relatively conventional style – at least when compared to Green – is more visually obvious. Using the word ‘conventional’ to describe Leonard feels wrong, but his defence is closer to something we’ve seen before, whereas Green has become one of the most unique defenders in league history.

    Remember when you were a child and would try to outrun your shadow, only to eventually give up from exhaustion and an understanding that you were never going to shake it? That shadow is Leonard, only he’s doing it against some of the best athletes in the world.

    It’s remarkable how easily the bundle of limbs in a Spurs uniform mirrors his assignments, but his alien-like wingspan and hand size make it nearly impossible for opposing players to get past him.

    San Antonio as a whole were the best defensive team in the league with 92.9 points allowed per game and a defensive rating of 96.6 points surrendered per 100 possessions, but Leonard was a major reason why.

    The Spurs’ defensive rating dropped to 94.9 when the swingman was on the floor and jumped to 99.2 when he was on the bench. His ability to hound the game’s best perimeter players, particularly top scorers like LeBron James and Kevin Durant, makes him an invaluable asset. That’s why he’s the first non-centre to receive the award in consecutive seasons since Dennis Rodman in 1991, while becoming just the second perimeter player to earn the honour in back-to-back years since Sidney Moncrief in 1984.

    While Leonard is the silent assassin, Green is the barking maestro of Golden State’s amoeba defence. Versatility is what makes the Warriors’ attack so swarming and why they ranked as the fourth best defence in the league this season with 100.9 points allowed per 100 possessions.

    Green is at the centre of it all, often literally. Despite standing 6ft 7ins, which is the same height as Leonard, Green can guard every position. He doesn’t just hold his own against the biggest opposing players, but is a plus-defender, which allows Golden State to utilise him at centre in their ‘Line-up of Death’.

    That quintet – Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes and Green – leverages its pace and space to the tune of 142.0 points per 100 possessions, while holding opponents to a stout defensive rating of 95.0, for a preposterous net rating of 47.0. It’s a near-unstoppable number.

    Green’s ranginess allows for constant switching off screens without compromising match-ups, as well as synchronised rotations and timely weak-side help. Many teams want to emulate the small-ball success the Warriors have used to write themselves into the history books, but none of them have the nuclear weapon that is Green.

    In ESPN’s defensive real plus-minus stat, which measures a player’s estimated on-court impact on team performance by measuring net point differential per 100 possessions, Green and Leonard are ranked fourth and fifth in the league, respectively. They’re the only non-centres in the top 15, proving how dynamic they are on what is often the more overlooked end of the floor.

    It’s also not a coincidence they’re on the best teams in the league and top contenders for the title. If the Warriors are to repeat as champions or the Spurs are to add their sixth banner, it will be in large part because of Green or Leonard.

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