Why Can't Kanter Play Defense

[rollie mass]

He hits the boards has great footwork and he might be able to develop a shot.
.Can drills increase lateral.Will hours of film and working defensive technique help.Maybe Smart and Jaylen can inspire him.Or Brad  said he misses getting out on the court  and coaching.
Does he desire to play good defense.

[KG Living Legend]

 I think he can do a decent job in his space. However that space is limited to down close to the rim. We don't wanna see him in space very often.

[Fafnir]

In the past three reasons: poor effort, poor instincts, and poor lateral quickness.

He showed a lot better effort in Portland, hopefully he can sustain that in Boston. The other two aren't something you can fix at this point, but you can scheme to hopefully minimize the damage.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Mainly poor effort and poor natural instincts. I think his foot speed is fine.

One thing I like about him is that he doesn't foul. In fact, he probably could challenge shots more aggressively than he does -- that might be one reason he is easy to score against.

He got a bad reputation in his first two NBA stops, and then his third team was terrible. In Utah, he played next to another true big (Favors or Gobert) right around the small ball revolution. He was a young player who could have put more effort into defense (which is pretty normal), but he was also in a terrible situation where he was consistently taken advantage of by smaller players.

In his second NBA stop, he played for OKC in the infamous playoffs when Billy Donovan mouthed the words on live TV, "Can't play Kanter." Again, in OKC he either played next to Ibaka or Adams during the small ball revolution when he was isolated and taken advantage of.

In his third NBA stop he played for one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA.

I'm not saying he is Ben Wallace or anything, but I think his reputation as a defender is worse than his actual on court play.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Also, if CBS' system can turn Sullinger and Olynyk into drpm darlings, I think he could do the same with Kanter.

[RodyTur10]

He's just too slow. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that Kanter is one of the worst big men defensively.
That's why I don't want to start him on a below-par-defense or undersized starting unit. Kanter isn't going to cover for others, he needs to be covered!

There's a reason why nobody wanted to pay a 20/15 (per 36) center big money.

[Who]

Kanter has the physical tools to be adequate defensively. It is his lack of desire & effort that is the problem. He has great strength, solid size and okay mobility. His lack of length limits him as a shot-blocker. He'll never be a plus player there. But he does have the physical tools to be a sound team defender and man defender if he put some effort into improving his defensive footwork and positioning off the ball.

This has been the same situation for about 6-7 years now. So I wouldn't hold your breadth on Kanter suddenly deciding he'll work on improving now.

There has been the odd false dawn before (improving defensive effort) but he always goes back to being a lazy bugger on defense. He just doesn't like playing defense. He enjoys rebounding and he enjoys scoring. So he plays with effort there. It's the rest of the game he doesn't care about (doesn't like passing much either). Selfish player. Has been one throughout his NBA career.

[Tr1boy]

He hits the boards has great footwork and he might be able to develop a shot.
.Can drills increase lateral.Will hours of film and working defensive technique help.Maybe Smart and Jaylen can inspire him.Or Brad  said he misses getting out on the court  and coaching.
Does he desire to play good defense.

He is adequate. Good low post defender and  plus rebounder

In the playoffs vs OKC and Denver is proof

Bad defense as a Knick doesnt really count.

Kanter is a system defender... not one that can bail you out however

[Tr1boy]

A poor defender is Olynyk

Who is an unreliable post defender, perimeter defender and unreliable rebounder

[Fafnir]

A poor defender is Olynyk

Who is an unreliable post defender, perimeter defender and unreliable rebounder

Olynyk has been a neutral to plus defender most of his career in the league.

He can get bullied in the post and on the boards by stronger Cs, but he's a good defender overall.

[Muzzy66]

A poor defender is Olynyk

Who is an unreliable post defender, perimeter defender and unreliable rebounder

Olynyk has been a neutral to plus defender most of his career in the league.

He can get bullied in the post and on the boards by stronger Cs, but he's a good defender overall.

This is correct.

Olynyk was always horribly underrated as a defender.  He actually is an incredibly high IQ guy who moved relatively well and played strong positional team defense. 

The team always seemed better defensively when hew as on the court.

[Muzzy66]

In the past three reasons: poor effort, poor instincts, and poor lateral quickness.

He showed a lot better effort in Portland, hopefully he can sustain that in Boston. The other two aren't something you can fix at this point, but you can scheme to hopefully minimize the damage.

Considering how bad his defensive stats were in Portland, that isn't very promising

[Ty_Unabi]

He hits the boards has great footwork and he might be able to develop a shot.
.Can drills increase lateral.Will hours of film and working defensive technique help.Maybe Smart and Jaylen can inspire him.Or Brad  said he misses getting out on the court  and coaching.
Does he desire to play good defense.

I agree with your premise, their is no reason he can't be a good team defender. He is athletic enough.

[droopdog7]

He hits the boards has great footwork and he might be able to develop a shot.
.Can drills increase lateral.Will hours of film and working defensive technique help.Maybe Smart and Jaylen can inspire him.Or Brad  said he misses getting out on the court  and coaching.
Does he desire to play good defense.

I agree with your premise, their is no reason he can't be a good team defender. He is athletic enough.

I know people want to put it on effort but kanter really is limited laterally.  That’s his biggest issue and not something he can fix.  Only we can do is put lipstick on this pig.

[keevsnick]

He hits the boards has great footwork and he might be able to develop a shot.
.Can drills increase lateral.Will hours of film and working defensive technique help.Maybe Smart and Jaylen can inspire him.Or Brad  said he misses getting out on the court  and coaching.
Does he desire to play good defense.

I agree with your premise, their is no reason he can't be a good team defender. He is athletic enough.

I know people want to put it on effort but kanter really is limited laterally.  That’s his biggest issue and not something he can fix.  Only we can do is put lipstick on this pig.

Yep, he's slow in space. Footwork is fine, he knows where to put his feet. he just cant get them where they need to go fast enough. I think maybe, maybe, at best you can squeeze adequate defense out of him during the regular season when teams dont game plan as much, but it could be a serious problem come playoff time. There is a gigantic chasm between him and Horford defensively.