Rondo and Garnett make the Basketball Prospectus All-Defensive First Team

[drza44]

I paid close attention to Garnett after that Rashard Lewis blowby vs Orlando in Orlando. And he still was elite for a majority of the season.

I agree with your points, I'm only quoting you because you're the first in this thread to mention the Lewis play.  That play got a lot of attention, so when KG's strong defensive numbers are held up as a counterexample it isn't as visceral or convincing as the specific example.

The thing is, people NEVER talk about all of the defensive shutouts that KG threw this year.  And I'm not talking about playing solid-to-good defense, I'm talking KG completely out-and-out erasing a bunch of good and/or hot offensive players this season.  For examples:

1) 11/1 David West: Holds him to 10 points (4-for-14 FG) and 2 boards (averages 19 and 8 on 50% for the year)

2) 11/29 Mike Beasley 4th Q: Beasley torching the Cs for 11 4th Q points in first 5 minutes, then KG comes in and blanks him rest of way

3)1/20 Craig Smith 4th Q: Smith torching the Cs for 11 4th Q points in first 6 minutes, then KG comes in and blanks him rest of way

4) 2/1 Antawn Jamison: Holds him to 8 points (2-for-17 FG), against his average of 20.5 ppg on 45% shooting with Wiz

5) 3/20 Dirk Nowitzki: Holds him to 11 points on 10 shots with 1 rebound in the 29:09 when they're on the court together (Dirk scored 17 points on 9 shots with 4 boards in the 12 minutes he played with KG on bench)

That's not an exhaustive list, but it gets the point across.  And look at the dates...he's been doing this all year, even as he's been trying to work the knee into shape.  The one stat guy that pointed out that KG was holding opponents to 25% under their normal production...he didn't pull that number out of the air.  When he can lock in on one guy, KG can still take an opponent out of the game better than any other PF in the NBA.  And as many have pointed out, KG's effect on the team defense speaks for itself.  Again, he's still one of the best team-defensive big men in the NBA in conjunction with his strong 1-on-1 D.

I agree that KG hasn't been what he used to be this year, but he's still been a beast defensively.  KG a couple of years ago was very arguably the best defensive power forward of all-time.  Losing a step down to just the best defensive power forward currently in the league isn't ideal, but it's still a heck of an asset that I don't think is really getting the notice/appreciation that it deserves.

[Drucci]

I hate to go against the company line, but KG absolutely doesn't belong anywhere near an all-defensive team this year.  He just hasn't been that good, and for many games this year, had noticeably lost a step.

Agreed. Rondo deserves to be in the first team but KG doesn't this season, he should be in the second team.

By the way I hate to see defense measured by statistics, I know it's tough to define some area of the game without statistics but... to me, KG was far away from his usual defensive level this season, getting beat by a lot of opponents, even bad ones, and lacking laterality or lift.

Sure, KG had some good to great defensive games here and there but not enough to deserve to be named in the first team.

[Bahku]

I paid close attention to Garnett after that Rashard Lewis blowby vs Orlando in Orlando. And he still was elite for a majority of the season.

I agree with your points, I'm only quoting you because you're the first in this thread to mention the Lewis play.  That play got a lot of attention, so when KG's strong defensive numbers are held up as a counterexample it isn't as visceral or convincing as the specific example.

The thing is, people NEVER talk about all of the defensive shutouts that KG threw this year.  And I'm not talking about playing solid-to-good defense, I'm talking KG completely out-and-out erasing a bunch of good and/or hot offensive players this season.  For examples:

1) 11/1 David West: Holds him to 10 points (4-for-14 FG) and 2 boards (averages 19 and 8 on 50% for the year)

2) 11/29 Mike Beasley 4th Q: Beasley torching the Cs for 11 4th Q points in first 5 minutes, then KG comes in and blanks him rest of way

3)1/20 Craig Smith 4th Q: Smith torching the Cs for 11 4th Q points in first 6 minutes, then KG comes in and blanks him rest of way

4) 2/1 Antawn Jamison: Holds him to 8 points (2-for-17 FG), against his average of 20.5 ppg on 45% shooting with Wiz

5) 3/20 Dirk Nowitzki: Holds him to 11 points on 10 shots with 1 rebound in the 29:09 when they're on the court together (Dirk scored 17 points on 9 shots with 4 boards in the 12 minutes he played with KG on bench)

That's not an exhaustive list, but it gets the point across.  And look at the dates...he's been doing this all year, even as he's been trying to work the knee into shape.  The one stat guy that pointed out that KG was holding opponents to 25% under their normal production...he didn't pull that number out of the air.  When he can lock in on one guy, KG can still take an opponent out of the game better than any other PF in the NBA.  And as many have pointed out, KG's effect on the team defense speaks for itself.  Again, he's still one of the best team-defensive big men in the NBA in conjunction with his strong 1-on-1 D.

I agree that KG hasn't been what he used to be this year, but he's still been a beast defensively.  KG a couple of years ago was very arguably the best defensive power forward of all-time.  Losing a step down to just the best defensive power forward currently in the league isn't ideal, but it's still a heck of an asset that I don't think is really getting the notice/appreciation that it deserves.

Awesome post, Drza44 (TP), and spot-on. People also forget to acknowledge the fact that KG has done this while fighting back from an injury that can take a great deal of time to recover from 100%, and very often, never get back to the point they were prior to it. I'm very confident that he's stil progressing, and he seems to be about 90%, but he's still being affected by it and may always be. That said, he's still been huge on defense this year, and has gone about his job more quietly because his offense hasn't attracted as much attention. I totally agree that KG deserves to be on this list, but I'mobviously very biased in this respect.

[rav123]

I paid close attention to Garnett after that Rashard Lewis blowby vs Orlando in Orlando. And he still was elite for a majority of the season.

I agree with your points, I'm only quoting you because you're the first in this thread to mention the Lewis play.  That play got a lot of attention, so when KG's strong defensive numbers are held up as a counterexample it isn't as visceral or convincing as the specific example.

The thing is, people NEVER talk about all of the defensive shutouts that KG threw this year.  And I'm not talking about playing solid-to-good defense, I'm talking KG completely out-and-out erasing a bunch of good and/or hot offensive players this season.  For examples:

1) 11/1 David West: Holds him to 10 points (4-for-14 FG) and 2 boards (averages 19 and 8 on 50% for the year)

2) 11/29 Mike Beasley 4th Q: Beasley torching the Cs for 11 4th Q points in first 5 minutes, then KG comes in and blanks him rest of way

3)1/20 Craig Smith 4th Q: Smith torching the Cs for 11 4th Q points in first 6 minutes, then KG comes in and blanks him rest of way

4) 2/1 Antawn Jamison: Holds him to 8 points (2-for-17 FG), against his average of 20.5 ppg on 45% shooting with Wiz

5) 3/20 Dirk Nowitzki: Holds him to 11 points on 10 shots with 1 rebound in the 29:09 when they're on the court together (Dirk scored 17 points on 9 shots with 4 boards in the 12 minutes he played with KG on bench)

That's not an exhaustive list, but it gets the point across.  And look at the dates...he's been doing this all year, even as he's been trying to work the knee into shape.  The one stat guy that pointed out that KG was holding opponents to 25% under their normal production...he didn't pull that number out of the air.  When he can lock in on one guy, KG can still take an opponent out of the game better than any other PF in the NBA.  And as many have pointed out, KG's effect on the team defense speaks for itself.  Again, he's still one of the best team-defensive big men in the NBA in conjunction with his strong 1-on-1 D.

I agree that KG hasn't been what he used to be this year, but he's still been a beast defensively.  KG a couple of years ago was very arguably the best defensive power forward of all-time.  Losing a step down to just the best defensive power forward currently in the league isn't ideal, but it's still a heck of an asset that I don't think is really getting the notice/appreciation that it deserves.

Exactly. It's that one Rashard Lewis play. Schumann referenced it as well, and it's what everyone points to as basis for saying KG is not an elite defender anymore. But they forget that for every one time he is blown past, he shuts down his man another 10. I hope your list shows them. TP.

[BballTim]

I would have Russell Westbrook in the first team and no point guard on the second team. So no Rondo on either team.

  They seem to have removed the performance by opponents from the individual player pages but the Celts seem to do a little better against pgs than the Thunder. The Celts give up 19 points, 4.3 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 4.3 turnovers. The Thunder give up 18.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 8 assists and 3.7 turnovers. The difference in assists/turnover is 1.7 for the Celts to 2.2 for the Thunder. And I don't think that House or Nate have been bringing those numbers up. Also, while I don't know exactly where they get the info, I've heard the announcers say at many of the games that the Celts are best in the league in transition defense, and Rondo must play a big role in that.

[housecall]

I would have Russell Westbrook in the first team and no point guard on the second team. So no Rondo on either team.

Not sure where I fall on Garnett. Need to put some more thought on it. His defense has fallen off but for most of the season he was still very good-to-excellent defensively and still solid-to-good defensively the rest of the time with the exception of a few games here and there. So he has a pretty good case but not a lock

I have three certainties out of the four big man spots -- Dwight Howard + Andrew Bogut + Anderson Varejao -- I'm not sure who I'd give that final big man spot too though. Or one could just go with a combo forward like Mbah a Moute or Gerald Wallace as their PF.

Anyway, Garnett is clearly in the race but I'm not sure if he makes the final cut.

I agree ,i can't see where Rondo makes any all defensive team this season.I feel Rondo is a poor defender.

[nickagneta]

In some of the advance metric stats for defense in a lot of sports, I just don't agree with them. In basketball, those advanced defensive metrics rely quite a bit on on-off court stats. But if you are a team with a great starting five and a horrible bench and a coach that is in love with two distinctive teams of starters and subs, those on and off the court metrics are going to be very skewed in relation to a team that has a great starting five, a strong bench and a coach that inter-weaves his substitutions so that starters and bench players play quite a bit together.

The variables between teams for many advanced metrics are too great, IMO to rely on them solely as a tool for determining something like All-Defensive teams. For me, clearly the best defensive PF in the game this year has been Anderson Varejao. Kevin Garnett has taken a major step back and had too, too many night like these:

Washington 106 Boston 96

KG: 8 pts, 4 rebs, 0 blocks, 0 steals 3-12
Blatche 31 pts, 11 rebs, 2 blocks, 1 steal, 12-24

New York 104 Boston 101

KG: 14 pts, 4 rebs, 0 blocks, 1 steal, 7-12
Barron: 17 points, 18 rebs, 0 blocks 1 steal, 8-13

Houston 119 Boston 114

KG: 12 pts, 3 rebs, 0 blocks, 1 steal, 4-12
Scola: 27 pts, 11 rebs, 4 asts, 0 blocks, 1 steal, 11-22

This is when KG has been determined to be "healthy" and the stats show that he couldn't out rebound or hold his opponent down and that the other team went in the direction of KG's man to score. This is just a week's sample. Stats like this have littered the Celtics box scores all season long. I don't care what the advanced stats say, my eyes and some of the more simpler stats paint a vastly different picture regarding his defense.

And Rondo's defense this year has taken about three steps backwards and I just do not know what people are saying when they tout him as 1st team All-Defensive PG. And this coming from one of the biggest Rondo schills on this site.

[Neurotic Guy]

If Rondo and Garnett are really 1st team All-Defensive, the C's are on their way to #18.   I feel much better now.
 

[GreenFaith1819]

In some of the advance metric stats for defense in a lot of sports, I just don't agree with them. In basketball, those advanced defensive metrics rely quite a bit on on-off court stats. But if you are a team with a great starting five and a horrible bench and a coach that is in love with two distinctive teams of starters and subs, those on and off the court metrics are going to be very skewed in relation to a team that has a great starting five, a strong bench and a coach that inter-weaves his substitutions so that starters and bench players play quite a bit together.

The variables between teams for many advanced metrics are too great, IMO to rely on them solely as a tool for determining something like All-Defensive teams. For me, clearly the best defensive PF in the game this year has been Anderson Varejao. Kevin Garnett has taken a major step back and had too, too many night like these:

Washington 106 Boston 96

KG: 8 pts, 4 rebs, 0 blocks, 0 steals 3-12
Blatche 31 pts, 11 rebs, 2 blocks, 1 steal, 12-24

New York 104 Boston 101

KG: 14 pts, 4 rebs, 0 blocks, 1 steal, 7-12
Barron: 17 points, 18 rebs, 0 blocks 1 steal, 8-13

Houston 119 Boston 114

KG: 12 pts, 3 rebs, 0 blocks, 1 steal, 4-12
Scola: 27 pts, 11 rebs, 4 asts, 0 blocks, 1 steal, 11-22

This is when KG has been determined to be "healthy" and the stats show that he couldn't out rebound or hold his opponent down and that the other team went in the direction of KG's man to score. This is just a week's sample. Stats like this have littered the Celtics box scores all season long. I don't care what the advanced stats say, my eyes and some of the more simpler stats paint a vastly different picture regarding his defense.

And Rondo's defense this year has taken about three steps backwards and I just do not know what people are saying when they tout him as 1st team All-Defensive PG. And this coming from one of the biggest Rondo schills on this site.

Nick,

TP for pointing those players out. Yes they did in fact torch KG.

But none of them are playing past Wednesday. Their teams aren't going anywhere, no matter how bad they made KG look.

I'm not trying to make KG out to be All-World. But those three you named are few and far between, I think.

I've been as concerned about KG's health and decline as the next man.

But I don't want Anyone else on Beasly, Gasol, or Lewis in the playoffs...except KG.

When it matters, KG will be there.

[jdpapa3]

I disagree with you nick. And you are using games in the past week where KG has started dragging leg and the entire defense suffered.

I don't get why people disagree with how advanced defensive stats are measured. They basically tell facts about team defenses. The backup unit does kill our team's defensive rating, but the starting unit has a defensive rating of 100.18, or allows 100.18 points per 100 possessions. And that is in 1100 minutes. Out of any other lineup that has played more than 400 minutes this year and is still assembled, only Dallas has a better Defense than that.

[Drucci]

In some of the advance metric stats for defense in a lot of sports, I just don't agree with them. In basketball, those advanced defensive metrics rely quite a bit on on-off court stats. But if you are a team with a great starting five and a horrible bench and a coach that is in love with two distinctive teams of starters and subs, those on and off the court metrics are going to be very skewed in relation to a team that has a great starting five, a strong bench and a coach that inter-weaves his substitutions so that starters and bench players play quite a bit together.

The variables between teams for many advanced metrics are too great, IMO to rely on them solely as a tool for determining something like All-Defensive teams. For me, clearly the best defensive PF in the game this year has been Anderson Varejao. Kevin Garnett has taken a major step back and had too, too many night like these:

Washington 106 Boston 96

KG: 8 pts, 4 rebs, 0 blocks, 0 steals 3-12
Blatche 31 pts, 11 rebs, 2 blocks, 1 steal, 12-24

New York 104 Boston 101

KG: 14 pts, 4 rebs, 0 blocks, 1 steal, 7-12
Barron: 17 points, 18 rebs, 0 blocks 1 steal, 8-13

Houston 119 Boston 114

KG: 12 pts, 3 rebs, 0 blocks, 1 steal, 4-12
Scola: 27 pts, 11 rebs, 4 asts, 0 blocks, 1 steal, 11-22

This is when KG has been determined to be "healthy" and the stats show that he couldn't out rebound or hold his opponent down and that the other team went in the direction of KG's man to score. This is just a week's sample. Stats like this have littered the Celtics box scores all season long. I don't care what the advanced stats say, my eyes and some of the more simpler stats paint a vastly different picture regarding his defense.

And Rondo's defense this year has taken about three steps backwards and I just do not know what people are saying when they tout him as 1st team All-Defensive PG. And this coming from one of the biggest Rondo schills on this site.

Nick,

TP for pointing those players out. Yes they did in fact torch KG.

But none of them are playing past Wednesday. Their teams aren't going anywhere, no matter how bad they made KG look.

I'm not trying to make KG out to be All-World. But those three you named are few and far between, I think.

I've been as concerned about KG's health and decline as the next man.

But I don't want Anyone else on Beasly, Gasol, or Lewis in the playoffs...except KG.

When it matters, KG will be there.

These players won't be in the playoffs but what's the point? On the contrary, they are supposed to be worse players than the ones the Celtics will face in the playoffs at this position, like Rashard Lewis or Antawn Jamison, so I would be more concerned than relieved to see that KG couldn't defend guys like Barron or Blatche (Scola is a very good offensive player so I don't put him in that category) when he will have to defend bigger threats like Lewis in a series.

[GreenFaith1819]

In some of the advance metric stats for defense in a lot of sports, I just don't agree with them. In basketball, those advanced defensive metrics rely quite a bit on on-off court stats. But if you are a team with a great starting five and a horrible bench and a coach that is in love with two distinctive teams of starters and subs, those on and off the court metrics are going to be very skewed in relation to a team that has a great starting five, a strong bench and a coach that inter-weaves his substitutions so that starters and bench players play quite a bit together.

The variables between teams for many advanced metrics are too great, IMO to rely on them solely as a tool for determining something like All-Defensive teams. For me, clearly the best defensive PF in the game this year has been Anderson Varejao. Kevin Garnett has taken a major step back and had too, too many night like these:

Washington 106 Boston 96

KG: 8 pts, 4 rebs, 0 blocks, 0 steals 3-12
Blatche 31 pts, 11 rebs, 2 blocks, 1 steal, 12-24

New York 104 Boston 101

KG: 14 pts, 4 rebs, 0 blocks, 1 steal, 7-12
Barron: 17 points, 18 rebs, 0 blocks 1 steal, 8-13

Houston 119 Boston 114

KG: 12 pts, 3 rebs, 0 blocks, 1 steal, 4-12
Scola: 27 pts, 11 rebs, 4 asts, 0 blocks, 1 steal, 11-22

This is when KG has been determined to be "healthy" and the stats show that he couldn't out rebound or hold his opponent down and that the other team went in the direction of KG's man to score. This is just a week's sample. Stats like this have littered the Celtics box scores all season long. I don't care what the advanced stats say, my eyes and some of the more simpler stats paint a vastly different picture regarding his defense.

And Rondo's defense this year has taken about three steps backwards and I just do not know what people are saying when they tout him as 1st team All-Defensive PG. And this coming from one of the biggest Rondo schills on this site.

Nick,

TP for pointing those players out. Yes they did in fact torch KG.

But none of them are playing past Wednesday. Their teams aren't going anywhere, no matter how bad they made KG look.

I'm not trying to make KG out to be All-World. But those three you named are few and far between, I think.

I've been as concerned about KG's health and decline as the next man.

But I don't want Anyone else on Beasly, Gasol, or Lewis in the playoffs...except KG.

When it matters, KG will be there.

These players won't be in the playoffs but what's the point? On the contrary, they are supposed to be worse players than the ones the Celtics will face in the playoffs at this position, like Rashard Lewis or Antawn Jamison, so I would be more concerned than relieved to see that KG couldn't defend guys like Barron or Blatche (Scola is a very good offensive player so I don't put him in that category) when he will have to defend bigger threats like Lewis in a series.

Good Points, Drucci, but in a Seven Game series KG will be effective against those two.

I think the key is Team Defense, and KG anchors that. As long as everyone else is picking up their assignments, then KG won't have to shoulder the entire load.

[nickagneta]

In some of the advance metric stats for defense in a lot of sports, I just don't agree with them. In basketball, those advanced defensive metrics rely quite a bit on on-off court stats. But if you are a team with a great starting five and a horrible bench and a coach that is in love with two distinctive teams of starters and subs, those on and off the court metrics are going to be very skewed in relation to a team that has a great starting five, a strong bench and a coach that inter-weaves his substitutions so that starters and bench players play quite a bit together.

The variables between teams for many advanced metrics are too great, IMO to rely on them solely as a tool for determining something like All-Defensive teams. For me, clearly the best defensive PF in the game this year has been Anderson Varejao. Kevin Garnett has taken a major step back and had too, too many night like these:

Washington 106 Boston 96

KG: 8 pts, 4 rebs, 0 blocks, 0 steals 3-12
Blatche 31 pts, 11 rebs, 2 blocks, 1 steal, 12-24

New York 104 Boston 101

KG: 14 pts, 4 rebs, 0 blocks, 1 steal, 7-12
Barron: 17 points, 18 rebs, 0 blocks 1 steal, 8-13

Houston 119 Boston 114

KG: 12 pts, 3 rebs, 0 blocks, 1 steal, 4-12
Scola: 27 pts, 11 rebs, 4 asts, 0 blocks, 1 steal, 11-22

This is when KG has been determined to be "healthy" and the stats show that he couldn't out rebound or hold his opponent down and that the other team went in the direction of KG's man to score. This is just a week's sample. Stats like this have littered the Celtics box scores all season long. I don't care what the advanced stats say, my eyes and some of the more simpler stats paint a vastly different picture regarding his defense.

And Rondo's defense this year has taken about three steps backwards and I just do not know what people are saying when they tout him as 1st team All-Defensive PG. And this coming from one of the biggest Rondo schills on this site.

Nick,

TP for pointing those players out. Yes they did in fact torch KG.

But none of them are playing past Wednesday. Their teams aren't going anywhere, no matter how bad they made KG look.

I'm not trying to make KG out to be All-World. But those three you named are few and far between, I think.

I've been as concerned about KG's health and decline as the next man.

But I don't want Anyone else on Beasly, Gasol, or Lewis in the playoffs...except KG.

When it matters, KG will be there.

Few and far between?

Utah 110 Boston 97

KG 10 pts, 3 rebs, 1 block, 0 steals, 5-9

Boozer 19 pts, 9 rebs, 2 blocks, 0 steals, 8-10

Cleveland 104 Boston 93

KG 18 pts, 7 rebs, 1 block, 1 steal, 5-11

Varajao 17 pts, 10 rebs, 1 block, 0 steals, 6-8
Jamison 15 pts, 12 rebs, 2 blocks, 0 steals, 6-17

Boston 86 Washington 83

KG 8 pts, 10 rebs, 0 blocks, 1 steal 0-7

Blatche 23 points, 9 rebs, 1 block, 1 steal, 10-20

Orlando 96, Boston 94


KG 6 pts, 7 rebs, 0 blocks, 2 steals, 2-8

Lewis 23 pts, 9 rebs, 0 blocks, 0 steals, 8-13

Boston 98, Portland 95

KG 13 pts, 4 rebs, 2 blocks, 0 steals, 4-9

Aldridge 19 pts, 10 rebs, 0 blocks, 0 steals, 7-18


Sorry GF but these type of stats that show that KG's direct opposition not only played well, but much better than KG and also took a bunch of shots as if they we going in KG's direction are not uncommon this year. Lest we forget there were some pretty obvious defensive failings on his part this year as well that cost the Celtics games. Jeff Green's two three pointers where KG was just too slow switching back to Green on the perimeter and that Rashard Lewis play where he just blew by KG and also Varejao's game against him where AV basically had his way with KG all day all come to mind.

I love KG. Really do. But I can not defend him as being an All-Defense 1st team member this year.

[drza44]

In some of the advance metric stats for defense in a lot of sports, I just don't agree with them. In basketball, those advanced defensive metrics rely quite a bit on on-off court stats. But if you are a team with a great starting five and a horrible bench and a coach that is in love with two distinctive teams of starters and subs, those on and off the court metrics are going to be very skewed in relation to a team that has a great starting five, a strong bench and a coach that inter-weaves his substitutions so that starters and bench players play quite a bit together.

The variables between teams for many advanced metrics are too great, IMO to rely on them solely as a tool for determining something like All-Defensive teams. For me, clearly the best defensive PF in the game this year has been Anderson Varejao. Kevin Garnett has taken a major step back and had too, too many night like these:

Washington 106 Boston 96

KG: 8 pts, 4 rebs, 0 blocks, 0 steals 3-12
Blatche 31 pts, 11 rebs, 2 blocks, 1 steal, 12-24

New York 104 Boston 101

KG: 14 pts, 4 rebs, 0 blocks, 1 steal, 7-12
Barron: 17 points, 18 rebs, 0 blocks 1 steal, 8-13

Houston 119 Boston 114

KG: 12 pts, 3 rebs, 0 blocks, 1 steal, 4-12
Scola: 27 pts, 11 rebs, 4 asts, 0 blocks, 1 steal, 11-22

This is when KG has been determined to be "healthy" and the stats show that he couldn't out rebound or hold his opponent down and that the other team went in the direction of KG's man to score. This is just a week's sample. Stats like this have littered the Celtics box scores all season long. I don't care what the advanced stats say, my eyes and some of the more simpler stats paint a vastly different picture regarding his defense.

And Rondo's defense this year has taken about three steps backwards and I just do not know what people are saying when they tout him as 1st team All-Defensive PG. And this coming from one of the biggest Rondo schills on this site.

I'd respond to this in two ways.

First, Pelton's article pointed out that opposing power forwards as individuals were 25% less productive against KG than the norm, the best mark among power forwards in the NBA.  That would suggest that if you add up all of the good games and all of the bad games, the net result is that KG was throwing a lot more shutouts than he was having bad games.

Second, that ties into the rebuttal of your main point: KG's good defensive stats DON'T depend purely upon the on-off court stats.  In fact, there are 3 main categories of "advanced" defensive stats out right now:

1) On-off court, +/- stuff
2) Directly measuring output of your individual opponent
3) Box score estimates (like defensive rating, which I hate but still)

These are 3 different approaches, all of which have noise/error potential, but when you look at all 3 of them they help to clear out some of that noise.  And in all 3 ways, KG measures out on top of the league in defense.  As the articles point out, he's topping the charts in holding down individual opponent production, he's currently among the leaders in defensive rating (have I mentioned I hate that stat?), and he's also at the top of the on-court/off-court stats.

Then, as a final sanity test, the Celtic's defense went through the floor in the games he had to sit out earlier in the year.

If every stat says the same thing, and the results of a test (i.e. what happens to the team without this player) supports those results, I think the sum story has too much credence to be easily dismissed by the "eye test" or cherrypicking the bad games.  The eye test is notoriously deceptive, especially on defense, and then there's the fact that everyone's eye test is going to tell a different story anyway.  I cherrypicked some of his excellent games as a support to what the stats were saying, not as a replacement for them.  If the numbers they're using contains both the good and bad games and KG still measures out on top, that would suggest again that the good dramatically outweighed the bad.

[Chris]

Interesting.  And all the more reason to try to move KG to Center.  Even though he does not have the quickness to hang with some PF's, he still is an exceptional team defender.  If you put him against slower centers, he could really flourish, and it would allow you to bring in a quicker player to run around with the PF's.